Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Have you ever asked that same question? I’m a slave. What possible difference can I make? I’m a high school student. What possible difference can I make? I’m old, way past my prime. What possible difference can I make? I feel like I have no talent. What possible difference can I make? I think I’m a nobody. What possible difference can I make? I’m a sinner. What possible difference can I make?

There is a profoundly simple principle about God that we need to learn. God is a God who uses people. God always has and God always will use people. And here’s the rest of this deal. The people He chooses to use are not perfect. The have problems. They have shortcomings. They often have no social position. They seem to be “nobodys.” A lot of times the person that God uses seems to be the most inadequate, unqualified, least likely person on earth. But God uses them nonetheless. God uses the imperfect people that He chooses in powerful ways. He turns these unlikely people into heroes.

If you’re having a hard time swallowing this idea, we’re going to explore a story in the Bible that is an absolutely amazing example of God using an unimaginable person as an unlikely hero.
In Joshua 2, we meet a woman named Rahab. Let me set the story up for you. Joshua had been installed as the successor to Moses in the nation of Israel. Remember that in the Old Testament, Israel was God’s chosen nation, a people that he had called out for himself. Joshua was now the leader of Israel and commander of the Israelite army.

Joshua sent two Israelite men into a foreign land to spy it out so the Israelites, God’s people, could conquer it. As the men entered the land of Jericho, the king of that region found out that they were in his land. The reputation of Israel’s mighty army was well known, so the king was more than a little nervous to hear about two Israelite spies in his realm. He deployed his troops on a search-and-destroy mission.

The two Israelite spies had entered the house of Rahab, a known prostitute in that area. The king’s troops came to her house, looking for the spies.

Picking it up in Joshua 2:4, Rahab told the king’s troops, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”

(But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies…” (Joshua 2:4-7, NIV)

Rahab hid the two spies under some stalks of flax on her roof, steered the king’s men in another direction, and saved the mission of Israel’s spies.

And at this point you’re thinking, “Wow. Neat story, but so what?” Think about what Rahab was. She was a harlot, a hooker, a whore! Pick your word. That’s how she paid the rent.

And here’s where we get really uncomfortable in the story. When you read the New Testament, Rahab is held up as a hero of the faith.

In Hebrews 11, the Bible says, “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” (Hebrews 11:31, NIV)

Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the “Hall of Faith.” It lists all these great heroes of faith from the Old Testament. People like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. And Rahab the prostitute is given equal time in this chapter amongst all these giants of the faith. That just doesn’t compute with a lot us. Doesn’t add up.

But the New Testament takes it a step further.

James 2, the Bible says, “Was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?” (James 2:25, NIV)

Rahab, the righteous prostitute. Somebody’s got to be confused here. Yeah, somebody’s confused…us. Through the story of Rahab, God wants to open our eyes to the way he sees things. He wants us to see how he desires to use even the unlikeliest of people as heroes.

As we explore Rahab’s story, there are three truth points that we’re going to look at. These truths from Rahab’s story can have a profound impact on your story and my story.

The first truth is that God is bigger than our sin.

When you think through the story of Rahab, you can’t miss this point. Rahab was a prostitute. She wasn’t a prostitute in her former life. She hadn’t been to Hookers Anonymous, gone through the 12 step program, and left her former way of life behind. She was a prostitute in the here and now. She could have easily turned a trick right before Israel’s spies arrived.

And God used her anyway. This is a powerful word: anyway. Say it out loud with me. Anyway. Say it again. Anyway. This one word, anyway, is the linchpin of our lives. Anyway.

Look again at what James wrote about Rahab in the New Testament. “Was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?” (James 2:25, NIV)

This is the theology of anyway. God used Rahab anyway. She was a prostitute, but God used her in his plan anyway. She was a sinner, but God called her righteous anyway.

There is great power in “anyway.” God is at his best in the arena of the “anyway.” The cross of Jesus is God’s greatest demonstration that he loves to live in the realm of “anyway.”

Romans 5:8 tells us, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, NIV)

We were sinners, living in opposition to God. We had ignored his commands, made a mess of our lives, and Jesus died for us anyway.

The God who knew Rahab was a prostitute and worked in her life anyway is the very same God who knew you were a sinner and died for you anyway. If God were not a God of “anyway,” none of us would have any hope at all.

If you think you’ve got to get your life totally cleaned up before you come to God, if you think you’ve got to get everything straight before you do something for God, you don’t understand the God of anyway. You’ve missed the whole point of grace. Grace means anyway. We don’t deserve love, but we are loved anyway. We don’t deserve a second chance, but we’re given a second chance anyway.

God didn’t wait for Rahab to get herself cleaned up before he worked in her life. And the cross stands as the greatest reminder of all that God doesn’t reserve his love and his purposes for nice, neat, perfectly religious people. God uses unlikely people in spite of their unlikeliness. He uses them anyway.

And the reason he does this is because God sees future potential, not present problems.

I still remember the day in my high school band class. I played the alto saxophone in our band, but I really wasn’t all that good. I was mediocre, at best. I had made myself comfortable in the third chair of the sax section, knowing that I really wasn’t good enough to move up any higher. Plus the people in the two chairs above me really helped me hide when there was a part that I couldn’t play. I could just fake my way through the difficult parts of the music and no one ever knew.

And then our band teacher, Mr. Cahall, approached me one day after class. He said, “I think you should try to play the baritone saxophone.”

If you’ve never seen a bari sax, here’s a picture. My teacher showed me the instrument, and my first thought was, “This is one huge horn.”

Mr. Cahall said, “I really think you could do well with this instrument.” What in the world was he thinking? I had a horn that was this big, and I couldn’t play it well. Why on earth did he think I could take a horn THIS big, and play it well?

Plus, I would be playing with a totally different section in the band. The baritone sax parts lined up more the tubas, trombones, and other bass instruments. I had never played those parts before.

Plus, I would be the only baritone sax in the entire band. There were no second, third, or fourth chairs. There was only one chair. There was no one else for me to hide behind. No one else to cover for me.

Needless to say, I was pretty hesitant to accept the challenge, but Mr. Cahall kept insisting that he was sure I could do it. I finally caved and agreed to give it a shot.

Long story short, I was far better at the baritone sax than I ever was with the alto. Unbelievably better. I had to be the most unlikely person in the whole band to switch instruments, but my teacher saw something in me. He challenged me to push the envelope, take a risk, and try something new. I was sure I couldn’t do it, but he knew that I could. He looked past my present problems and saw my future potential.

Here’s where the story of Rahab can become very real to us. Put yourself in her place. Do you think she liked what she had become? I seriously doubt it. I’m sure she hated what she saw I the mirror every morning knowing what she had done last night. She was trapped in this business, the only way she had to provide for her family. And yet God saw significance in her that she didn’t see in herself.

Rahab was not in a business that was known for it’s morality or strength of character. And yet God saw strength in her that she didn’t see in herself.

Imagine how she felt when the two spies showed up. Rahab told the spies, “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” (Joshua 2:8-11, NIV)

Rahab knew all about Israel’s military conquests in the region. She knew that these two men represented an army that had become a killing machine thanks to the power of God. You think she was a little scared when they showed up on her doorstep?

And then it gets worse, because some troops from the king of Jericho showed up at her door, demanding to know where the two Israeli spies were hiding. Rahab had wisely hidden the spies under some stalks of flax on her roof. Had the soldiers searched her house and found the spies, she would have been executed as a traitor to the crown. You think she was a little frightened at that prospect?

We can guess from Rahab’s occupation that she probably didn’t have a very high view of herself. Her culture definitely looked down on her. A lot of men would sneak to Rahab’s house at night and then hypocritically criticize and condemn her during the day. So her culture’s view of her was low. Her view of herself was lower. She would seem to be the most unlikely person that God could choose for a mission that would require great courage and inner strength.

But she is precisely the person God chose because God sees future potential, not present problems. God has the uncanny ability to look at us and see what we could be, not what we are.

What if Rahab had chosen not to believe God in this? What if she just decided that she couldn’t handle this mission? The spies would have been found and captured. They might have been tortured to the point where they would have given up the position of Israel’s army. Then the army of Jericho could have launched a surprise attack on God’s people, killing an untold number of Israelite men, women, and children. What would have happened had Rahab not accepted her God-given assignment? It could have been disastrous for God’s people.

Where is God calling you? What is he calling you to do? Something small? Something big? Something crazy? Where have you felt God tugging on you? And what are you doing about that?

Jackie Jump is a new member of our family here at Amelia. Some of you may not have even met her yet, but let me tell you…Jackie is following God’s call on her life.

Jackie has been through a very painful divorce. She suffered a lot of hurt and heartache through this experience, but God is in the process of bringing healing and refreshing into her life. And as he is doing that, he has placed a call on her to extend that same hope and healing to others. Jackie is now a trained DivorceCare counselor. She has recently launched this ministry out of her home, and she already has ladies driving from Dayton to be a part of it. And slowly, these ladies are opening up, sharing the pain and hurt of their own broken relationships. And Jackie is able to touch the wounded areas of their lives with the love of Christ.

But what if Jackie had said, “You know, God, I don’t think I’m up to this. I don’t know what I’m doing. What if they ask me a question that I can’t answer? What if I fail? I can’t do this, God. Find somebody else.” I’m not sure how many lives will be touched through Jackie’s ministry, but I am sure of this. No lives would be impacted if Jackie didn’t accept the assignment God gave her.

What is God calling you to do? If we ignore God’s call on our lives, there will be consequences. The consequences will be shown in lives that could have been touched, in ministry that could have been shared, and in honor and worship that could have been given to God.

Maybe God is calling you to travel across the world to work on the mission field. Or maybe he’s calling you to walk across the room and mend that broken relationship. Whatever God’s call is, big or small, understand that the old saying is true. God doesn’t call the qualified. God qualifies those he calls.

Your present problems, shortcomings, and sins are not going to stop God from pursuing you. They will not stop him from calling you for his purposes. If God’s Spirit is prodding you to do something, you may not feel worthy to do it. In reality, you may not be worthy to do it. Rahab wasn’t worthy of her mission. But God saw her future potential instead of dwelling on her present problems. And God has that same foresight and vision in your life. God is your biggest fan. He sees more in you than you’ll ever see in yourself. The question is are you willing to take a Rahab-sized risk to step out and follow where God is leading you?

God sees future potential, not present problems.

But the people of God tend to get that equation backwards. We tend to look at present problems instead of future potential. We do it in our own lives and we do it in the church.

Rick Bundschuh is a pastor at a church in Hawaii. Rick tells this true story of a girl named Annie.

Annie was a large, rather unattractive girl. Actually, Annie was fat.

A member of a youth group, Annie regularly attended most of the youth ministry activities. During youth group one night, the ministry leader introduced a situational learning game called, “The Lifeboat.”

He instructed the dozen high school students present to arrange their chairs to resemble the seating on a lifeboat. Then he said, “You twelve are the only survivors of a shipwreck. You have managed to make it to this lifeboat. Once you’re aboard, however, you find to your horror that there are only provisions for eleven. Also, the boat can only hold eleven survivors. Twelve people will capsize the boat, leaving you all to drown. You must decide what to do.”

The group stared blankly at each other for a few moments, and then burst into lively discussion. They decided that for the good of the majority of the members of the group, one person must be sacrificed. But who?

As the group discussed who would be left to drown, they eliminated various individuals perceived to be of value as survivors.

The strongest and most athletic boys couldn’t be sacrificed—their strength would be needed to row. Naturally, the boys couldn’t think of letting any of the pretty girls become shark food. Slowly each individual in the group, with the exception of Annie, was mentioned and then discarded as a candidate for sacrifice. Some were too smart, too talented, or too popular.

Finally Annie, who may not have been attractive but who was not dumb, blurted out, “I’ll jump!”

“No, no!” the group protested. But when pressed, they couldn’t think of one good reason why she shouldn’t jump—so they remained silent.

When the game time was over, the group members announced that they couldn’t reach a decision on what to do. The youth worker went on to teach a lesson using the example of the lifeboat. But Annie had already learned a lesson.

The next day, Annie jumped. Her youth group had affirmed her worst thoughts about herself. She truly was of no value.

Her “friends” in the youth group were baffled and deeply saddened by her suicide. After all, she had so much to live for. They just couldn’t think of what it was.

Why do we as God’s church take the cues from our world in judging a person’s worth or value? Our world says thin is in, and that becomes a standard of judgment in the church. Don’t believe me? Explain Annie’s story. Explain why almost every star in Christian music today is thin and beautiful. If somebody has a killer voice and a heart for ministry but doesn’t have the looks to go with it, they’re probably not going anywhere in the Christian music industry.

God sees future potential, not present problems. God sees beneath the surface. He sees the intrinsic value of a person. He sees the potential in the person.

The dichotomy between our view and God’s view is summed up in this verse from 1 Samuel. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b, NIV)

People looked at Rahab and saw a sinful, worthless hooker. God saw something more. What do you see when you look at that sinful person that walks through our doors here at church? What do you see?

Do you see the way he dresses to come to church? Do you see the cigarette she smoked in the parking lot? Are you looking through legalistic eyes that will never see the greater potential in this person?

God sees future potential, not present problems. And we, as God’s people, have got to get that equation in the right order.

Each week our church sends out an email newsletter called The Connection. In my Connection article this past week, I posed this simple question. How would you feel if a prostitute walked in and sat down next to you this Sunday? What would she get from you? Legalism? Judgmentalism? Or grace?

A prostitute may be an extreme example, so let me ask you this. How would you feel if a homeless person sat down next to you? Or an alcoholic? Or a teenage mother?

Our world now believes that the church is the sin police, not a place of amazing grace. They view us as legalistic people who get our jollies by happily condemning sinners to hell. And why would they want to be a part of that?

The only way to turn the tide of this perception is to follow God’s formula. We have to see future potential, not present problems. It’s what God did with Rahab. It’s what God does with you and me. And it’s what God does with every sinful, messed up person that you meet.

God sees the potential in these people to become unlikely heroes. He sees the potential in them for a changed life. He sees that changed life changing other lives. But we can derail everything God sees if we don’t see it as well. If we get bogged down on their present problems instead of seeing their future potential, their lives will not be changed. And they won’t impact the lives of others. Who knows how far that snowball effect will go? All because we chose not to see them as God sees them.

God works through the lives of unlikely people. He turned a whore into a hero. And he’s still doing that same amazing work today. He is still operating in the realm of “anyway.” He is still loving the unlovable. He is still using the unlikely. He has plans for that unlikely person sitting next to you…and he has plans for that unlikely person you looked at in the mirror this morning.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: grace, Joshua 2, judgmentalism, legalism, potential, Rahab, sin