The 12 Apostles
Week 3 – Philip
Dr. Rik B. Wadge, Ph.D.
"Commonness and the Uncommon God"
The Art Collector
A famous art collector is walking through the city when he notices a mangy cat lapping milk from a saucer in the doorway of a store. He does a double take. He knows that the saucer is extremely old and very valuable, so he walks casually into the store and offers to buy the cat for two dollars. The storeowner replies, "I’m sorry, but the cat isn’t for sale."
The collector says, "Please, I need a hungry cat around the house to catch mice. I’ll pay you 20 dollars for that cat." And the owner says "Sold," and hands over the cat.
The collector continues, "Hey, for the twenty bucks I wonder if you could throw in that old saucer. The cat’s used to it and it’ll save me from having to get a dish." The owner says, "Sorry buddy, but that’s my lucky saucer. So far this week I’ve sold sixty-eight cats."
How many of you have been in the same type of situation. You wander into a thrift store hoping to come out with a Mona Lisa.
I think much of life is looking for the uncommon in the midst of the common.
The beautiful flowers we find in the midst of the desert sand.
The silver lining found in the midst of life’s clouds.
That perfect man of your dreams.
That perfect girl of your dreams.
The job that’s just right for you, among the multitudes that aren’t.
The priceless antique saucer for just $20 bucks.
In a world of common occurances, common reactions, common expressions, common languages, common skills.... common everything..... there is the uncommon God!
And Philip’s about to meet Him.
John 1:43-46
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
Philip’s name means: “lover of horses.” Philip was an ordinary Greek name commonly used in the first century. It described a common person’s fondness to a common animal.
Here, Philip, this common guy meets the uncommon God of the universe. Look at the situation, Philip has met God. And He goes out of his way to tell his friend about Him. “Philip found Nathanael ...” It’s the picture of Sherlock Holmes tracking down a suspect.
Look at how thoughtful and articulate Philip becomes: vs 45. “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
This tells us a couple of things One: Philip was somewhat educated in the Old Testament, and two: He was impressed by Jesus!
Are you impressed with Jesus? Do you still possess the wonder of knowing the God of the Universe? Or has your relationship with God become commonplace?
Illustration:
One person even went so far as to compare his relationship with God with that of his Pastor. He said, God is a lot like our pastor. I don’t see him throughout the week and I don’t understand him on Sunday.
There are no humans, not even Pastors, who are on the same level as God.
During Sunday school, a pastor, was teaching the adult bible class, he selected a elderly couple to act out the burning bush scene from the Old Testament. The husband was asked to supply the voice for God and his wife would read Moses’ lines.
All went well until they got to verse 15. The wife, as Moses, mistook her husband’s dialogue for her own and read, "Say to the Israelites, ’The Lord, the God of your fathers--’"
The pastor interrupted her. "Wait a minute. You’re not God."
Without missing a beat, her husband said, "I’ve been trying to tell her that for 40 years."
Jeremiah 10:6
6 No one is like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.
Exodus 15:11
11 “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory, working wonders?
Now, Philip is out in the wilderness with Jesus and the other disciples and whole ton of other people listening to Jesus teach....
John 6:5-7
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Let’s look at the situation: 5,000 people go out into the desert, without any food, or any supplies to listen to a Holy man preach.
Would you say this was a common situation or an uncommon one? Uncommon, right!
First let me say, these were not Presbyterians; these were not Lutherans; and these certainly weren’t Baptists. because Baptists won’t go anywhere without food.
You see God goes into the most common of situations of our lives and makes them uncommon.
God calls us “saints.” Another translation of that word could be.... “Uncommon ones”
While Philip’s using his calculator to figure out how many days of work it would take to feed these people, God’s already got it figured out. He’s just perform a miracle!
You see, there are too many times in our lives that we assume that God is bound by common methods to work things out!
And We forget that God is uncommon!
Psalm 86:8
8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours.
God is uncommon!
Isaiah 40:18
18 To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to?
God is uncommon!
Isaiah 40:25
25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Which of you would choose a trumpet over an army to bring down a wall?
Which of you would choose a whale over a replacement to get through to a prophet?
Which of you would choose to speak through a burning bush instead of a P.A. System? A donkey instead of a president, or a stutterer instead of a lecturer?
Which of you would give up your only precious and holy son to save criminals... like you and me?
God is uncommon! And Philip was trying to use common sense to figure Him out.
It’s as if Philip is saying, ’Come on Jesus, do the math!’ It’s not humanly possible!
And God says... “that’s right. I’m not human.”
Isaiah 46:5
5 “To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?
Last story, Philip and the other disciples are with Jesus in the upper room. As they take their final meal together Jesus makes a tremendous theological statement.
John 14:6-9
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Here Philip after 3 years of being with Jesus, still is struggles with seeing Jesus as anything more than a teacher, a prophet, a common man.
And this is still the struggle today.
How uncommon is your God? Uncommon enough to fill the emptiness in your soul? Uncommon enough to meet the needs in your life? Uncommon enough to heal the wounds from your past? Uncommon enough to satisfy the longing of the multitudes?
Philip saw the miraculous and yet still struggled to see their source.
God has done so much in our lives, but when we’re faced with life’s challenges....
Is He big enough, is He great enough, Is He uncommon enough?
1 Corinthians 10:13
13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Do you know what that says? It says that what you are going through is common, but God is not.
It says that no matter what the situation, the feeling, the dispair, the heartache....
God is uncommon enough to handle it!
Isaiah 46:9
9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Philip struggled to see the Uncommonness of God.... How about you?
