Commonplaces

by John Comer

Have you ever noticed just how ordinary an ordinary day can be, and that almost every day is filled with “everyday” occurrences? Well, a day doesn’t have to be exceptional to be important.

Recently the Phoenix Art Museum hosted a Norman Rockwell exhibit. He may be best remembered for his illustrations which appeared on the cover of the old Saturday Evening Post magazine. Sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, he always delivered a message, and he helped several generations of Americans keep in touch with ourselves.

Rockwell’s subject matter consisted of ordinary people doing everyday things. Once, when asked about this, he said that commonplaces are never tiresome, that what we need is a new point of view. And this, of course, is what he provided for us in his illustrations.

During WWII when bombs were dropping on London, Europe was under Nazi occupation, and the Pacific was a war zone, he painted the Four Freedoms. His Freedom of Worship shows people at prayer. One person holds rosary beads; another, a Bible. In Freedom from Fear, parents are tucking two small children safely into bed. Freedom of Speech has a young man speaking his piece at a town meeting. And Grandma is placing a huge roasted turkey on the Thanksgiving table in Freedom from Want. These illustrations spoke volumes about why we went to war.

What Rockwell did with paint, Jesus did even more vividly with words. Insofar as we know, Jesus never gave a lecture entitled “The Existence and Attributes of God.” He did, however, tell a story about a sheep that wandered away from its shepherd. And a lady who lost a coin. And a son who got so very lost. These stories teach us some things about ourselves, but more importantly they tell us about the merciful, gracious, loving, forgiving God who reaches out to save us.

Jesus told a story about ten girls and a wedding. Do you remember what we learn from the experiences of these young ladies? He told a story about a mustard seed, a dishonest manager, farmers, fishermen, builders, and other equally ordinary and commonplace things and people.

If the Bible consisted only of a series of theological treatises, we might become hopelessly bogged down and never find our way to God. But Jesus revealed God’s deepest truths in easy-to-listen-to illustrations. Thank God, Jesus used commonplace things in an uncommon way.