Choosing the Uncommon

On Sunday a group of us went to church with one of the missionary families that we work with. The church they go to is in English and the songs are similar to those back home. As much fun as it is to worship with the Swazis and to attend church with them, I love that there is the opportunity to also have church in a familiar setting. The pastor wasn’t there this past Sunday, so a member of the congregation did his best to share a message with us. He spoke mostly from Matthew 26, preaching on the woman anointing Jesus with the expensive perfume. When the disciples saw what the woman did, they were almost appalled, asking why the waste? The perfume could have been sold for a lot of money and given to the poor. Jesus’s reply was, “This woman has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you won’t always have me.”

Crystal, the missionary whose church we were at, spoke up and asked if she could share something. She began talking about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Assuming most people of the congregation weren’t familiar with the story, she described how poor Charlie’s family was and explained the reason for the five golden tickets. When Charlie had been lucky enough to find one of the golden tickets, he went to his family and said someone offered him $500 for the ticket. He told them to imagine how much more they could get if they tried to sell it and think about how much they could do with that money. Summarizing what Charlie’s grandpa told him, he said that money is everywhere. They make money everyday, it’s common, but they have only made five of these golden tickets, they’re uncommon. Choose the uncommon.

That’s what Jesus was saying to the disciples. It’s a common thing to see the poor and the needy, but to have the chance to pour perfume on the Son of God is an uncommon thing you shouldn’t question or pass up. Each and everyday God calls us to choose the uncommon thing and to not trade it for the common. I chose the uncommon path of taking a semester off of school to come and serve the people here in Swaziland and I’ve seen God bless me in so many ways because of it. I can’t imagine still being the person that I was and where I would be if I hadn’t listened to God’s calling.

When I made the decision to give my life to Christ, I was choosing the uncommon path. The common thing to do is give into what society says being rich is, but when you put your hope and trust in the Lord, you become rich in love and in peace and in joy and in forgiveness. Why would you ever want to choose the common thing? Choose the uncommon and God will bless you a hundred times over.

In the old covenant, Moses was the only one who had the Spirit of the Lord on him. Even still, he had to go to the tent or the tabernacle to talk to God. Imagine being one of the million Israelites being lead out of Egypt, watching every day one person have the capability to talk to the Lord. In Numbers 11:29, during the time the people were complaining about the lack of meat, Moses replied to Joshua, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”

Thanks be to God for the oath, “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever’” (Psalm 110:4.) Hebrews 7:22 says, “Because of this oath, Jesus became the guarantor of a better covenant.” He became our great high priest, one that we find complete and perfect reconciliation in. He will live forever and has a permanent priesthood. Through this, His Spirit is put on all of us. Finally Moses’s prayer for God’s people came true through the final sacrifice and offering that Jesus paid for our sins. He took away the need for temporary offerings and now we are blessed enough to be the tent and the tabernacle in which we can talk to the Lord. We no longer have to write the commandments on our hands and on our foreheads. We no longer have to write them on our door frames as it says to in Deuteronomy 6. The Lord promised in Jeremiah 31 a new covenant, one where the law will be put in our minds and written on our hearts. How blessed and fortunate are we to be a part of the new covenant, and to have the Spirit of the Lord on us. By choosing the uncommon path you have the Lord’s power on your side. In Numbers 11:23, the Lord asked Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short?” In other versions it asks if the Lord’s power has limits. Of course not. His power is limitless and we underestimate the power it has in our lives. The same power that Jesus had through the Spirit to die on the cross, defeat the enemy, and to rise again from the dead, is the same Spirit with the same power that is inside of us. That’s what it means for me to choose the uncommon. To choose to give my life for the high priest, the one who truly meets my need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Hebrews 7:26.) I challenge each and every person to keep the golden ticket, no matter how much earthly pleasure you may gain from giving it away. There is nothing like the pleasure and power you gain from choosing the Gospel. I promise choosing the uncommon will be worth it every time.