God does great things...
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Object:
God does great things with ordinary people. This theme, emphasized in the lesson, is also evident in the history of Christian origins. So said the famed preacher of the early church John Chrysostom: "For the gospel is divine, even from hence is evident; namely, whence could it have occurred to twelve ignorant men to attempt such great things? Who… never at any time perhaps had entered into a city" (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 12, p. 20).
Martin Luther developed this theme and asserted that "the person who wants to know God, free from unsubstantial speculation about him, must begin at the bottom..." (Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, pp. 212-213).
If we want to follow Luther's advice, a good place to start is with our ordinary jobs and the ordinary events in our lives. Twentieth-century Catholic saint Josemaria Escriva wrote:
... it is in the simplicity of your ordinary work, in the monotonous details of each day, that you have to find the secret, which is hidden from so many, of something great and new: Love.
(Furrow, 489)
Have you seen how that imposing building was built? One brick upon another. Thousands. But, one by one. And bags of cement, one by one... And beams of steel. And men working, the same hours, day after day... Have you seen how that imposing building was built?... By dint of little things!
(The Way, 823)
Little things; ordinary people and ordinary jobs do great things. The business community and other guilds (including education) would have us spend a lot of energy on self-promotion and working on our image, life orientations that produce a lot of anxiety. Christians know the futility of this, since what is good and great in life is God's doing. It is as Jonathan Edwards once said, that "faith abases man and exalts God" (Works, Vol. 2, p. 7). Such humility is not self-abasing. C.S. Lewis made that clear: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less." That perspective, a sense that there is greatness in ordinariness with God, happily sets you free from all the anxiety of self-promotion.
Martin Luther developed this theme and asserted that "the person who wants to know God, free from unsubstantial speculation about him, must begin at the bottom..." (Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, pp. 212-213).
If we want to follow Luther's advice, a good place to start is with our ordinary jobs and the ordinary events in our lives. Twentieth-century Catholic saint Josemaria Escriva wrote:
... it is in the simplicity of your ordinary work, in the monotonous details of each day, that you have to find the secret, which is hidden from so many, of something great and new: Love.
(Furrow, 489)
Have you seen how that imposing building was built? One brick upon another. Thousands. But, one by one. And bags of cement, one by one... And beams of steel. And men working, the same hours, day after day... Have you seen how that imposing building was built?... By dint of little things!
(The Way, 823)
Little things; ordinary people and ordinary jobs do great things. The business community and other guilds (including education) would have us spend a lot of energy on self-promotion and working on our image, life orientations that produce a lot of anxiety. Christians know the futility of this, since what is good and great in life is God's doing. It is as Jonathan Edwards once said, that "faith abases man and exalts God" (Works, Vol. 2, p. 7). Such humility is not self-abasing. C.S. Lewis made that clear: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less." That perspective, a sense that there is greatness in ordinariness with God, happily sets you free from all the anxiety of self-promotion.
