29 March, 2024

God and Your Average Joe: Lessons from the Life of Isaac

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by | 3 February, 2008 | 0 comments

By Mike Grooms

The patriarch Isaac has been ignored by most as a sermon or study topic; there”s just not much to say about him. I”d never preached a sermon about him till a series through Hebrews 11 forced me to do so. I studied his life in Genesis, and frankly, he”s unremarkable. He”s always the supporting actor and never the star. He”s average, mediocre, and blasé.

Yet he”s right there in Hebrews 11 with other Old Testament greats. I wondered why a boring, run-of-the-mill sort of fellow gets mentioned alongside superstars like Noah, Abraham, and Gideon. Isaac never did anything spectacular. He was just the sort of guy who muddles through life like most of us. And then it hit me.

Let”s face it. I”m not going to get invited to preach at the North American Christian Convention. I won”t take the spotlight at the National Preaching Summit, and the only reason I got my picture in a recent issue of Christian Standard is because my wife is pretty and I happened to be in the photo with her. I”m your average Joe.

I”ll never make a lot of money in the ministry. I”ll always live in a parsonage. I”ll always feel the pressure to exaggerate the attendance at my church, and I”ll never be invited to those fancy parties where they have ice sculptures and all the cold, boiled shrimp you can eat. I”m your average Joe.

Some of my colleagues drive new cars and live in nice houses. They”ll be able to retire comfortably, playing golf till the end of their days, but that ain”t me. I”m your average Joe.

Most of the celebrities in Scripture are magnificent. Even their failures are the stuff of Sunday school lessons. Then there”s Isaac. Always in the shadow of first his father and then his son, Isaac never takes center stage. According to the ancient text, his neighbors didn”t like him, his wife took advantage of him, and his sons betrayed him. Yet Hebrews 11 lists him as a wonderful example for us to follow. What”s the lesson to be learned?

Perhaps God”s point is the measure of a man isn”t found in spectacular circumstances or singular accomplishments, but rather on the condition of his heart. To the world, Isaac may have been average and common, but to God, Isaac is somehow a valued ally.

TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE

There are two types of people””Isaacs and non-Isaacs.

Within our church community, it”s the non-Isaacs who get all the attention. From Sunday school lessons to sermons to articles, they”re the stars. It”s their examples that count and their words that are weighed. Even when they fail, it”s spectacular. There”s nothing ordinary or mundane about them; they”re a cut above the rest of us.

I”m not really begrudging their status, and I”m only a little jealous of their place in life. I happen to know a few of these celebrities, and I like them.

Still, we who are Isaacs wonder if there”s a place for us. Do we count? Are we as insignificant as it seems? How does God really feel about us?

Here”s where the lesson of Isaac hits home. While I”d like to identify with a John the Baptist, or a Daniel, Moses, or Paul, I”m an Isaac. My life isn”t a series of conquered obstacles and noteworthy achievements. Guys like Isaac and me, we”re a dime a dozen.

REMARKABLY UNREMARKABLE

How do things usually work out for Isaac, me, and probably you? Are there spectacular displays of God”s might? Does an angel swoop in at the last second? Even in times of trouble, is it a dramatic setback that will test our trust in God? No. With Isaac, me, and probably you, we just sort of muddle along.

As a matter of fact, it”s remarkable how unremarkable we are. But there is good news for Isaacs like you and me, for the life of Isaac, as mundane and mediocre as it was, holds great promise.

I might never have realized it, except for that sermon series through Hebrews 11. In that chapter, 16 individuals are mentioned by name. As I studied, I was forced to ask myself why these particular individuals are held up as examples. Why mention Rahab along with Gideon? What did Abel do to make the list, and how can a guy like Isaac merit attention?

Naturally, Abraham and Moses get the most ink, but then I looked at the others. Why out of the dozens of characters were these particular ones mentioned? Why Caleb? Why not Nathan? Why not Joshua, Deborah, or Job?

Then it struck me. What makes Hebrews 11 click isn”t that it”s a list of the people with the most faith. Rather, it”s a list of the tremendous variety of people who found faith. From Moses the lawgiver to Rahab the prostitute, from the old and frail Sarah to the young and strong Samson, from a murderer like David to the murder victim Abel. Jew and Gentile, male and female, young and old, strong and weak, all these individuals have something in common. They all found faith.

Still, how does Isaac fit in? What is his niche? Herein is the good news for Isaacs like you and me. It didn”t matter to God that Isaac was an everyday Joe. It didn”t matter that he slew no lions or converted no multitudes. It didn”t matter that he was just average. He”s a wonderful example of faith. He is God”s friend.

Having faith isn”t a matter of accomplishments. It isn”t how rich you are or how large your church is. It isn”t, and this is especially important, what others think of you. When I read Genesis, I”m pretty sure that most of Isaac”s friends and family looked at him as a clumsy fuddy duddy. From a Divine perspective, it”s just the opposite. After all, being in Hebrews 11 puts Isaac in some pretty good company.

CLOSE TO GOD

The same is true with us. So maybe you rent instead of own. Maybe your car is used instead of new. Maybe it seems like all your friends have more. It just doesn”t matter. If Isaac was very close to God, then you and I can be just as close. The people with great faith aren”t always those who have it made. Often the opposite is true.

Ask yourself, which field is more fertile? Is it the church in the suburbs, with video projectors and a parking lot filled with new SUVs? Or might it be in the jailhouse, hospital room, or dilapidated church in the middle of town, the one whose future seems only gray?

I know how the church often measures success. I have this sneaking suspicion that if I preached at a congregation that appeared in the annual megachurch list, I”d get invited to a lot more places. Many people think the amount of influence a seminary has is directly proportional to the number of students enrolled. And obviously, the better preacher is the guy with the bigger congregation.

God”s yardstick is different. He looks to the inside. With him, it”s the heart that counts, and I”m tempted to say it”s the only thing that counts. While I”m sure there are exceptions, with God the intention is more important than the action. As demonstrated in Hebrews 11, this is true even if the action is a mistake or a misunderstanding. “By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau . . .” (v. 20) even though it was the result of being lied to.

A saying I heard many years ago makes a lot of sense to me: “I”d rather do the wrong thing for the right reasons than the right thing for the wrong reasons.” When it comes to my relationship with God, it”s hard to think of an exception to this rule. Isaac was proof that it”s true. Even when we”re wrong, we can be right with God. It”s the inside that counts.

Three cheers for Isaac! While you may never hear a sermon or lesson about him, he”s the champion of everyday people like you and me. He is like us. He was an ordinary man who found extraordinary faith in God.




Mike Grooms moved to Kosovo this summer to serve with Comenserv ministries.

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