The most overlooked worker in the Easter story

About an hour later [a third person] asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with [Jesus], for he is a Galilean.” Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. (Luke 22:59-60)

With Easter fast approaching, I want to spend the next few weeks focusing on five characters in the Easter narrative and what their work can teach us about our own work today. We will start with an overlooked character in today’s passage: the rooster. 

Now, before you roll your eyes at my assertion that the rooster had a job we can glean wisdom from, bear with me. I promise this will be a great encouragement to you today. But first, let’s set the scene.

At the Last Supper, Jesus predicted Peter would deny him three times before the rooster crowed—a prophecy Peter vehemently rejected. But as the third denial left Peter’s lips, we see one of the most cinematic scenes in Scripture: “Just as [Peter] was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered...” (Luke 22:60-61)

God used the rooster’s crow to accomplish something powerful: convicting Peter of his sin and revealing Christ’s sovereignty over all circumstances. But the rooster wasn’t cognizant of the work God was doing through him. He was simply being a rooster: eating, pooping, and waking up Jerusalem at the crack of dawn. But by simply being who God made him to be, God produced something extraordinary through the rooster’s “work.”

There’s a lesson there for you and me. 

Oftentimes we think we must do something extraordinary for our work to have “kingdom impact”: share the gospel with all our co-workers, donate tons of money to ministries, fight for justice, and so on. And yes, we should look for opportunities to do all those things and more. But the rooster reminds us that simply being who God made us to be—in our case, right representations and image bearers of him—is enough. 

It’s the difference between impact and influence. 

The dictionary defines impact as “the strong influence of one thing on another—a significant or major effect,” whereas influence is defined as “the act of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force.”

Impact is big. Influence is small.

Impact is fast. Influence is slow.

Impact is loud. Influence is quiet.

The rooster had zero impact. But it had lots of influence. And its crow is still echoing today. 

So this morning, rather than look for extraordinary opportunities for impact, do the ordinary and yet, in the long run, perhaps more influential thing: Seek first the kingdom of God. Properly reflect Christ in every moment of your day—in how you type emails with love, in how you build spreadsheets with excellence, in how you show care for your co-workers.

Be who God made you to be in the ordinary, and watch the extraordinary things he can accomplish through your simple everyday faithfulness.