God of the Ordinary

2 Kings 6:1–7 NASB95

Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. “Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.” So he said, “Go.” Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I shall go.” So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. He said, “Take it up for yourself.” So he put out his hand and took it.

INTRO: I don’t know about you, but I love to hear testimonies of God’s grace, healing, and provision. I’ve talked with folks in this congregation who testify of how God, in His grace, rescued them - from cancer, from a dump truck, from paralysis, from addiction, etc. These are miraculous, awe-inspiring accounts that inspire us to sing praises to our King!

Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing

Power and majesty, praise to the King!

Sometimes though, we hear these testimonies and we think that God must not be too interested in me because I don’t have that kind of story.

Right- I don’t have a story of how God rescued me from a life of drugs or a story of how God provided in a seemingly supernatural manner.

But the reality is that God is working all around us all the time. God is no ordinary god- we’ve talked of Naaman’s confession that there is no God in all the world but Yahweh, the God of Israel. No, He is no ordinary God, but He is God of the ordinary.

And that’s what we observe in our passage today. God’s power and grace is on display in what seems like a trivial event. There are some who want to explain away this miracle- after all, it’s impossible for an iron axe head to float in water. But, as Richard Nelson comments:

1 & 2 Kings Connections

God’s power invades the world of the ordinary to effect strange reversals. The lowly are raised to places of honor (Luke 1:51–53). The unrighteous are justified (Luke 18:9–14). The lost are found (Luke 15:3–10). The dead are raised. These are as much incredible reversals as is iron that floats.

In our time together this morning, we are going to look at an ordinary situation, perhaps much like the ordinary lives that you and I live out… much like the ordinary life of the church. In life’s normality, the God of creation inserts Himself in grace to effect our everyday life. My prayer is that you and I will have eyes to see the wonders of our God in the midst of our normal, ordinary life.

The sermon is titled “God of the Ordinary”. If you picked up a bulletin, I invite you to follow along in the provided sermon guide as we learn together.

We first observe that in our ordinary lives,

Growth is Normal (1-3)

Let’s read v. 1 (READ)

Notice that we have switched our focus back to the sons of the prophets or prophets in training - the men and their families who were devoted to Yahweh and were training to live and speak on His behalf. This group was experiencing growth in numbers so much that their facility needed an expansion. Note- This happened even though the culture around them was consumed with idolatry and wickedness.

This, folks, is normal. Healthy organizations and organisms grow. Think back to the church in the book of Acts- GROWTH was taking place daily. In the church of Jerusalem first, then on missionary journeys where the Gospel was proclaimed to the lost.

Actually, I think it’s fair to say that not only is growth normal, it’s necessary. Consider the trend of population of our community. It’s been increasing steadily for years and only makes sense that our church would grow as we are faithful to proclaim God’s Good News. If we never grew, there would be no new Sunday School teachers, no new deacons… or any need for them I suppose because death would prevail.

If there were no growth, it would indicate that we were not healthy - that we were not faithfully reaching out. Now, there are certainly all sorts of levels of heath and numerical growth is not the only measure. But, it is one measure.

Naturally, since growth is normal, so too is accommodating for growth. (READ v. 2-3)

Now, look, this was not a rash decision. In fact, it required godly counsel, hard work, and personal investment. Just because growth is normal does not mean that it is accomplished without effort.

Farmers must do the hard work of plowing, sowing, and watering in order for their crops to grow.

The sons of the prophets understood that each one would have to put in the hard work to make this expansion a reality.

Perhaps one reason they invited Elisha along was so that there would be oversight and accountability, so that everyone would follow through with their commitment. That’s normal… it’s why churches have pastors.

Here’s the thing: the Christian life is intended to be one of growth - what we call sanctification. We should be experiencing it as individuals and corporately.

What’s not normal is stagnation - idleness which leads to death.

In our ordinary lives, we experience growth- evidence of God’s grace even as the world around us may be hostile towards our faith. Growth is normal.

But next, we must note that in our ordinary lives.

Problems are Normal (4-5)

How many of you are surprised by this?

Look at the problem for one particular man - (READ 4-5)

So, as one of the sons of prophets was chopping a tree, his axe head flew off, and plunked into the river.

I don’t know about you, but I can relate to this guy. Out of all the things that could happen- I’m sure he was prepared to sharpen the axe, to haul the tree. He probably brought snacks and bandaids in case he got hurt… but he this!?! The problem has now put a halt to all the progress.

ILL: A while ago, I borrowed Mike Krauter’s dump trailer so I could clean out my workshop. I loaded it up, and hauled it to the landfill. I backed to the dumping spot and held the button as the trailer went up and all the junk slid to the ground. Everything was going as planned… until I went to lower the trailer. It won’t go down. I tried everything. Not the battery, the plug…

So, here I am with a trailer sticking up in the air, and I couldn’t go anywhere until I got it back down. Problems halt the progress. All my other plans for that afternoon were lost. Thanks Mike for coming and rescuing me, BTW.

Well, not only do problems halt progress, but they can drive us to despair.

This son of the prophet was devastated. Now, on top of not accomplishing his goal, he was indebted to the owner of the axe head! I can picture the man just absolutely discouraged and frustrated. 1 step forward, 2 steps back. Maybe you’ve experienced this?

With Mike’s dump trailer, I thought -Man, I done broke his trailer. What am I gonna do? All I could think was “Worst case scenario” - I’m gonna end up having to buy him a whole new something...

But here’s the other thing with problems- They halt progress, drive us to despair, and cause us to fear.

Yep- No doubt the man in our passage thought, I’ll never borrow another thing ever again! I should have never even come on this trip. Maybe this expansion was a bad idea… Do you see how fear can creep in?

Let’s apply this concept to the church for a moment:

As we grow, we will face setbacks- a family who is instrumental in the life of the church leaves.

A long-time mission partnership gets side-lined.

The need for leaders and volunteers at all levels demonstrates a certain weakness in church structure, etc.

Problems are called problems for a reason. But here’s the thing. Problems are normal. We all experience problems every single day. Didn’t Jesus tell us we’d face problems?

John 16:33 NASB95

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Yes indeed, we often like to picture our progress as a straight line, but that’s not how it normally works. Growth is normal, but so are problems and setbacks.

Yet, in all of this, in the midst of our ordinary lives,

Grace is Normal (6-7)

Did you know that there is no problem so menial that God is not interested?

Has He not bid us to worry about nothing, but to pray about everything?

Has He not invited us to cast our cares upon Him?

Has He not promised that His grace is sufficient in all things?

For the fella in our passage, God’s grace was expressed in the miraculous recovery of the lost axe head. Let’s read again verses 6-7 (READ)

Look here- Elisha’s miracle here was not to provide a new axe head, which would have been easy enough, but it was instead to make the axe head float so that it could be put back to work.

How did this come about? Well, first he had to identify where he lost it. Where did things go wrong? In God’s grace, when we acknowledge where we lost our place, there is then made a way to recover- it doesn’t mean he didn’t have to get wet!

Some scholars have pointed from this passage a direct connection to the cross of Christ. When Elisha applied the stick (perhaps symbolic of the cross) to the problem, the grace of God resolved the problem! And through that grace, he was restored.

But look here - he didn’t just take the axe head and return home. No, he had to take up that axe head and put it back to work! The job still needs to be completed.

If the axe head is representative of the progress of this ordinary life, then what we see here is that when the progress is halted, the answer is not necessarily a new path, but a recovery of the path that was blessed by God in the first place. There is work yet to be done!

Folks, here’s what I want you to see this morning: We can often feel like our ordinary life is un-noticed by God. We can feel like the problems we face are too trivial to bother God with. And we can sometimes allow ourselves to become so accustomed to ordinary that we miss the miraculous grace of God in our midst.

In our personal lives and in the life of the church, it is normal that we are growing and it is normal that we face problems and discouragement. But, thanks be to God, it is normal that as we express our need, God’s grace abounds.

This morning, I want to encourage you that there is work to be done. LRBC is growing and as we accommodate for that growth, we will face problems. But, let’s not be driven to fear or stagnation because of them. Perhaps you are discouraged- maybe you feel like you don’t know where you fit or you are afraid to move forward.

Folks, that’s normal. But God’s grace affords for us not to remain in our fears and doubts. Take up your axe head, and put it to work.

Discuss: How is growth normal?

Discuss: Describe a time when you faced challenges which caused you to despair or fear?

Discuss: Where do you need God’s grace to restore your path?