Little old ordinary me

ACTS 20:9-12 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. "Don't be alarmed" he said. "He's alive!" Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

     Despite the obvious miracle here, I am hard-pressed to understand why God would put such a passage in Acts. It is transitional and does not seem to hold any great theological nugget that we can chew on. Until I got to thinking that this might be another passage that God shows that his people are just ordinary, every day people.
     Paul is speaking at this house because he is going to leave the next day. They have broken bread together, which can mean one of two things: They shared Communion, or they shared a meal and fellowship. Or both.
     Paul is speaking very late because of his departure. People want to hear everything they can from their teacher and friend. Haven't you done this at the end of a vacation or a visit with family? You try to squeeze in as much time as possible, spend as much time with family before you leave?
     I love the verse that says Paul "talked on and on". Even Paul gets infected by the preacher's disease of going on and on. Even Paul talks enough that it might bore someone. Though I have never killed anyone by my preaching, I have certainly had people fall asleep on me.
     God uses ordinary people to do his extraordinary.
     Sometimes, I get stuck in my ordinariness. God wants to use me for some extraordinary things but I get a little Moses syndrome going: "Lord, send someone else." The reality is if we were capable, we would not need God. If it is something that we could do without God's intervention and power, may be it is not something God wants done in the first place.
     Being next to Christ means we get to go on some terrific adventures. Adventures we would not go on if we were to lag behind out of fear or uncertainty or jumped ahead out of pride. It is Christ and the power of his Holy Spirit that does the extraordinary through us.
     Paul has been elevated in our minds as extraordinary. Rightly so. Yet he is extraordinary because of Christ. Paul was ordinary in many ways: He was stubborn at times. Got into arguments with his friends. Was rash in some of his decision making. He enjoyed the company of friends. He was hurt when people would say things against him. He expressed thanks and disappointment. At times, when he prayed, God did not answer the way Paul would have wanted. Ordinary. But he allowed God to use him extraordinarily.
    So it is important that I do not say "Lord send some one else" like Moses initially did but to have the response of Isaiah: "Lord send me!" To put it in a more modern vernacular "Lord, send little old ordinary me!"  If we do that, get ready for the extraordinary.