Do you know JJ Witmer? Probably not. Well, he is an ordinary 11-year-old boy who lives in the suburbs of Boulder, CO. He walked dogs, he shovels snow, he retrieves mail for his neighbors when they are on vacation.  He was sitting on the couch, watching the news with his mom a few weeks ago, when he heard about the shooting at the supermarket that took place about 25 miles from his home.  He told his mom he felt like he needed to do something.  After some thought, he decided to use his own money to purchase carnations to hand out to each employee at the 2 supermarkets in his hometown. He simply walked the store, handed a flower to each employee and told them how much he appreciated the work they did.  A simple act, with an ordinary flower. The response, as you can imagine, was extraordinary! Employees cried and several said it was the beginning of the healing they all needed. There are even stories of shoppers (who didn’t receive a flower) who were moved to tears and gratitude by JJ’s actions. An ordinary kid, with an ordinary flower helped others to experience and witness the extraordinary gift of love and healing.          In our Gospel lesson this morning, we read about 3 women who were doing the ordinary, expected ritual of taking proper care of the body of Jesus, their friend and teacher. They awoke that day planning to do what was ordinarily done after any death. They gathered spices and headed off to the grave where Jesus had been placed just over a day before. Clearly, they were not expecting anything but the ordinary as their only concern was who would move the stone away from the opening of the tomb.  What they found when they arrived however, was extraordinary to say the least!  Not only was the stone rolled away, but there was a man inside dressed in white who gave them the extraordinary news that Jesus was not there- He has risen!  These 3 women, because of their obedience to the ordinary ritual were able to experience the extraordinary news that Jesus has risen!          Now, certainly, Jesus’ resurrection is the most amazing and dramatic display of God’s extraordinary power.  We read and listen to, reflect on and celebrate this story every Easter and for good reason!  Jesus’ triumph over death is a defining truth in our faith.  It is the game changer in our understanding of God’s awesome love for each of us. Paul reminds us in the book of Ephesians that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in each of us!  Each ordinary person has that extraordinary power! This power of God, when mixed with the ordinary stories of ordinary people in ordinary situations produces extraordinary results.As I reflected on JJ’s story and on this Easter morning story, I was reminded of just how many times God uses ordinary people, ordinary objects and ordinary stories in order to reveal this extraordinary power. This is, in fact, the overarching story of the Bible. How God so desires to be in relationship with each of his beloved children, that God never sees us as less than, or not enough.  God doesn’t wait for us to get it all right or figure it all out. God isn’t waiting for us to be perfect before we are given this power! God never wastes an ordinary moment or circumstance! This is a foundational truth about the character of God. This pattern is how we live our lives with God. We do what we can, and God does what only God can- the ordinary becomes extraordinary every time!Let’s just look at the story of David. He was just a boy, maybe even just around 11, like JJ. He wasn’t strong or fast or a trained soldier or fighter. His family, the Israelites, were being challenged by the Philistines, most notably in this story, Goliath.  Now Goliath was strong, fast and trained…and he was BIG!  David was willing to fight him, however.  Ordinary David, using his ordinary slingshot and a few ordinary round stones.  You know the story, right?  David kills Goliath. The Israelites were safe! The ordinary does the extraordinary when God’s power is present.We have spent the season of Lent studying the Gospel of Mark.   As one reads Mark’s gospel you quickly see that he is not eloquent in his writing style.  He doesn’t use a lot of words. He doesn’t give a lot of detail. He moves right along with the story. He doesn’t quote a lot of Old Testament like Matthew does, he doesn’t use a lot of metaphors like John.  Mark just tells the story. He uses ordinary language, but tells an extraordinary story, nonetheless.Mark shows us that Jesus used ordinary means to provide for those in need.  He held the hand of Simon’s sick mother-in-law and she was made well.  He touched the man with leprosy, and he was healed. Jesus used a few loaves of plain bread and a few small fish to feed 5000 hungry and tired people! Mark tells us that Jesus chose to eat and socialize with ordinary people- he chose fishermen and tax collectors as his inner circle. He didn’t choose people who had it all together or who had titles or money or prestige. No, he chose the ordinary.We don’t only have to search the scriptures to see this pattern of God using the ordinary to reveal the extraordinary!  Just this week we learned about a mission project where here in the Lima UMC parking lot we would take ordinary wood and ordinary nails and using ordinary people, we would build the walls for a house. These walls will later be used to erect a house for a family- and more than shelter, this house will mean safety, belonging, new beginnings, extraordinary opportunities.  Our ordinary leads to someone else’s extraordinary.This time of year the flowers and trees are all blooming.  These tulips are extraordinary, aren’t they?  Bright reds and yellows and vibrant greens.  Let’s remember where they came from- a brown, ordinary looking bulb! Who could imagine that this flower that makes us smile, brings us hope and makes our homes beautiful started with this ordinary bulb?  Our outreach team delivered Easter flowers to folks from this church who can’t leave their homes. An ordinary bulb changed into an extraordinary act of compassion and love.Consider the seeds in this packet. They are tiny and nondescript on the outside.  If we only look at the seed, we cannot even tell what flower or vegetable or plant may appear in our garden. The seed can’t transform alone, however!  And even our contribution isn’t enough to ensure growth. Sure, we can fill up the watering can and provide water, we can add fertilizer, we can be sure it has a large enough pot to grow.  But, without the mystery of the air and the sun, the seed cannot achieve its fullness. The ordinary seed, our energy and attention and God’s power result in the final outcome- the seed develops into its ultimate purpose. The flower or the vegetable end up looking nothing like the seed from where it started.We are like seeds in this seed packet- ordinary on the outside but bursting with possibility on the inside.  God wants us to embrace the power to transform from those non-descript seeds into something new. Something that doesn’t even look like what it did when we started. God wants us to move from ordinary to extraordinary, even if we don’t know how or what that even looks like!  I love how The Message paraphrases Ephesians 3:20- God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!Do you think that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome imagined that they would get to Jesus’ grave and find it empty because he was raised from the dead?  They probably couldn’t imagine the resurrection and they certainly couldn’t imagine that they, ordinary women doing ordinary chores with ordinary spices, would be part of this extraordinary story! Can you imagine how God wants you to be part of the extraordinary?  Can you imagine how God wants to use our ordinary, sometimes mundane, sometimes boring lives to make extraordinary things happen? It’s hard a lot of the time. We don’t feel like we have the right skills, the right education, the right amount of money, we are not the right weight or height or age.  Before we discount ourselves let’s remember the 2 foundational truths we already talked about today:  God never wastes ordinary because God sees the extraordinary even when we can’t even imagine it! AND The same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead is alive and well in each of us.  I want you to hear that today!  God loves us all, yes all, so much that God sent his only son, Jesus to live here on earth, to show us how to live. God loves us so much that God sent Jesus to die on the cross so that our sins would die with him.  And God loves us so much that God raised Jesus from the dead so that we would never have to fear death again. And God loves us so much that God shares that extraordinary power with us!  Even when we don’t feel worthy of that love, even when we can’t imagine what God can do with who we are, even when we don’t think we have anything to offer.One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about Moses. One day God and Moses were having a conversation. God was telling Moses that he wanted him to stand up to Pharoah, the strong and powerful leader, tell him to free the Israelite slaves and then lead them out of Egypt into the Promised Land.  No big deal, right?  Moses had a ton of excuses- I can’t speak without stuttering, I am not important enough, no one knows who I am. What if they don’t listen to me? God finally asks Moses an interesting question- Moses, what is in your hand? Moses says, “a staff”.  Just a plain, ordinary staff.  God tells Moses to throw it on the ground- it instantly turns into a snake.  Moses grabs it by the tail and it instantly returns to his staff. God uses ordinary, stuttering, guy- with- a- past, Moses and his ordinary everyday tool, his staff, to display the power of God. The power to make Pharaoh free the slaves and the power to persuade the people to follow Moses. Moses was already holding all that was necessary.  Moses already had the tools he needed right there in his hand.          What’s in your hand?  What ordinary tool do you have that God can use?  JJ had flowers. Moses had a staff, David had a slingshot, the women at the tomb had their spices.  Are you holding a pen that could write an encouraging letter to a friend?  Are holding a paintbrush that could create a sign you could carry to protest injustice?  Are you holding the bulletin from today’s worship service that you could share with a neighbor?  Are you holding a hammer to build a house?  Are you holding a wooden spoon to help feed the hungry? Or a crochet hook to help clothe those who are cold?          It is Easter Sunday and we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ!  I hope you have been renewed today! But this is just the beginning, my friends. Celebrating this power of God in us and through us is our collective call- we are Easter people!  People who repeatedly look for and expect the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary.                    Christ is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!  To God be the Glory.  Amen.