For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 NIV
The word, “Special” is so overused in our society, and its meaning so diluted that, well, it just isn’t very special anymore! For example, the lunch special at my diner, really is just the meal that almost everyone orders because it is cheaper than anything else on the menu. We call our friends, dreams, days and even moments special in our struggle to give them greater value. The phrases “You are special,” or “Everyone is special, have become so ingrained in us, that when experience shows us that we are just ordinary, we get depressed. Uncounted angry words are spoken, and violent acts are committed, demanding that others recognize our specialness. But in our insistence on being treated as special, we have lost sight of one of the greatest truths of all: God loves ordinary people.
The Bible is filled with stories of God dressing ordinary wildflowers in brilliant colors, feeding common ravens, and spending His time counting the hair on every person’s head. In fact, the greatest hope we have from today’s verse is that God is not looking for special people. God is interested in fat people, skinny minnies, wise guys and dummies, kids who are in trouble and adults whose lives lie in ruins. God is just as interested in listening to the elderly, no longer able to communicate as He is to children who seem to never stop talking. God welcomes ordinary people of all kinds, who have put their faith in His Son Jesus Christ. He loves sinful selfish people like you and me and freely forgives as we ask for it. He turns no one away, no matter how ordinary, and He washes feet no matter how dirty, because “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life!” And that, my friend is something that is truly special!
In England of 1763, when Augustus Toplady wrote this song, he could not have known that a storm was brewing on the horizon. In just three short years, the American Revolution broke out, claiming the lives of 25,000 colonists and another 12,000 young British boys. For those losing a father, a brother or a son, the political outcomes paled in comparison to their personal losses. Today, it feels as if our society, our nation and our world stand on the precipice of another cataclysmic change. It is like the storms that blow in from the Gulf, here in Florida. While standing on the beach, the outlook seems sunny and hot, but just over the horizon dark clouds begin to form, the wind begins to blow and there comes the distant sound of thunder. Soon the lifeguards begin to yell, “Get out of the water! Get off the beach! Find shelter!”
In the lyrics of this great hymn, our God, who knows what griefs and sorrows lie just over our horizon, also calls and gives us an invitation to run from the storm and find our refuge in the Cross of Jesus Christ!
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