Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
Dec. 14, 2011

Daily Ornament!
A Week of Joy: Wednesday, Day Eighteen of Advent
“This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. But God will redeem my life from the grave; He will surely take me to Himself.” – Psalm 49:13-15

Gospel Reading: Matthew 24:45-51

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. – Matthew 24:45-47

Max Lucado writes about a group of people he calls “heroes in coveralls.” These people are not celebrities. They are not great athletes. They are not the highest paid members of society. They hold no significant public office. They are not famous at all. They are not recognized by their peers as persons of note. Their names never appear in print in the media. In fact, they are rather ordinary people. Almost anyone could be included in this list. And by any reasonable standard they are…well, ordinary. These heroes “don’t get press…don’t draw crowds.” They certainly don’t write best-selling books! Lucado argues that these are life’s real heroes.
He concludes: “Behind every avalanche is a snowflake…behind a rock slide is a pebble…An atomic explosion begins with one atom…and a revival can begin with one sermon.”
Some of my heroes are the bi-vocational pastors and spouses that work for low (or no) salaries in very small churches in settings where few people notice and where their efforts are seldom praised. They labor month-in, month-out in situations that never make the news. Their victories are few. Public recognition is not high on their list of things to achieve. But their work is critical, and I value each one of them. They touch lives up close. They seek only the praise of the God who called them to their places of service. They do “snowflake” work, and I am blessed when I realize that someday an “avalanche” of praise will be theirs.
Have you ever heard of John Egglen, a deacon in a Methodist church in Colchester, England? Only a handful of people were in attendance in church one snowy night. The minister of his church didn’t make it, but John did. He preached a simple, poorly-prepared sermon. A thirteen-year-old visitor that night was touched by the message and said later, “Then and there the cloud on my heart lifted, the darkness rolled away, and at that moment I saw the sun.” That thirteen-year-old visitor was Charles Haddon Spurgeon! Five years later Spurgeon took charge of a small congregation at Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, and at 20 years of age he went to London as pastor of the famed New Park Street Chapel. His immediate popularity made necessary the construction of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in 1861. He often preached to as many as 10,000 on any given Sunday. His sermons, published weekly from 1854, were collected in 50 volumes.
God raised up a man—John Egglen—who obeyed God on a snowy night and preached a sermon that led to the conversion of a man who became one the best-known preachers of the second half of the 19th Century.
What does this have to do with Christmas/Advent? Everything! The Scriptures above are entirely about “Faithfulness.” It was through the faithfulness of four people, Zechariah and Elizabeth; Mary and Joseph that we have the beginnings of the Christmas story—but more importantly, the faithfulness of God to show the world that He would go to any length to bring people back to Himself!
We truly need to be faithful! We also need to stop thinking of ourselves as just a small person in a small church in a small community. We belong to the God who made the universe! His ability is unmatched. He can use us to change the world! It is time to stop looking at our size and begin looking at His! It is time to realize that the smallest seed can be used by God to make an eternal impact. We need to stop asking what we are able to do and start imagining what He can do in and through us.
I heard the story about a man who had a tattoo painted on his arm. The tattoo simply said, “Success.” However, after the tattoo artist was done, they were shocked to see that the word “Success” was misspelled! The artist made a huge mistake, and the man realized he would have to live with a misspelled tattoo on his arm for the rest of his life.
Do you ever feel that you are unsuccessful in your life? Do you have scars that remind you that failure has followed you closely for a portion of your life? Do you measure your success by comparing yourself to others? You can change, you know. Start with your attitude. Instead of pouting over past failures, consider yourself successful if...
…you are living for Christ
…you love others
…you are faithful and obedient to the call of Christ
…you get the big picture.
Let “Success” be correctly written all over your life! Just be Faithful and allow God to work in you...and let the Joy begin!
Pastor J. T. Carnell