Do we want to be SEEN and validated publicly or SIGNIFICANT, even if only anonymously?
Both, probably. I mean, who doesn’t want to make a difference in this life while having people tell them along the way that they’re doing an awesome job? Oh, and whoever “they” are – they can feel free to tell other people too!
I was sitting at LaGuardia Airport last week at my gate, worship filling my ears while reading my Bible, when an unlikely verse jumped out at me:
Matthew 26:18 NIV “He (Jesus) replied, Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'”
A certain man.
No name, no fanfare, nothing about his apparent relationship or background with Jesus, yet extremely significant. He was named in history but didn’t make a name for himself. He was known by the Teacher, and that was enough.
This certain man’s house was where the Lamb had His last supper to fulfill the Passover – death passing over life – the life we all need to truly live was within His blood and the final sacrifice about to take place, once and for all. This certain man’s house was the place of communion before the crucifixion. Did this man know who Jesus really was? Was he a Pharisee, a teacher of the law that connected the dots and realized that “the Teacher” was the Messiah that they – Israel – had been waiting for? Had he & Jesus met on several occasions, so many times so that at the mention of “the Teacher”, this “certain man” offered up His home to be the location for a significant moment on the road to the cross?
What we do know is that at the mention of His name, this man opened the doors of his home. At the request of the Teacher, he didn’t hold back. It also appears that he didn’t push for his name to be written down somewhere so that history could remember him for his great hospitality during what seemed to be a covert mission, harboring a controversial figure in his household for one of the most significant meals of all time. This man was audacious and obedient. He made room for Jesus – literally.
So, am I making room for Jesus, or for myself?
I have gone through seasons of wanting to be seen, validated and known by the multitudes. I have wanted my ego stroked and my gifts validated. I have wanted to be seen with the cool kids (whoever they are) and the right crowd (again, whoever they are) to feel a sense of importance. I have had positions of authority and the things of this world that I thought made me a significant person taken from me. I have fallen off of my pedestal more times then I’d like to admit and have crawled back onto it like a moth to a flame, while gripping it for dear life, hoping that standing on it would make me feel better again – even if just for a fleeting moment. All of these things point to a deep longing in me to be seen, known and loved. These places in my heart can only be healed and validated by Jesus.
If the Teacher comes to me and asks me to open up my home and life for a significant purpose, would I do it? Or do I first need to post about it, be seen doing it and therefore negate the power of its beautiful, anonymous significance in all its ordinary glory? What if history were only to record a moment where “a certain woman” opened her home to the lost, disenfranchised, broken and hurting? Or where a “certain woman” loved her husband and children well? What if that’s it? Or what if there is nothing at all? Am I content with NO historical mention of my life after I leave this earth? No St. Andi Andrew day for the public to remember my greatness? Am I okay with that? Some days, yes, but some days… no.
The truth is, deep down, the older I get, the more I simply want to be known intimately and loved unconditionally by the One. This means not always being seen or known by the multitudes. Can we be truly known and loved by the multitudes anyway? Spoiler alert – no.
Are we content to be un-named in history, but still significant in it? There is so much peace that comes when we realize how deeply known and loved we are. Striving falls to the wayside and a holy satisfaction descends upon our hearts and lives. When I am truly known by the One, I can be used for significant moments and often unseen purposes because I trust His direction and plan for my life. What’s so beautiful (and painful at times) is that in this life that is a long obedience in the same direction, my motives are constantly checked and purified along the way.
So, let’s take a moment and ask our hearts, “Do I want to be significant, even in anonymity, or do I want to be seen and validated publicly?”
“God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting ways – the path that brings me back to you.” – Psalm 139:23-24 The Passion Translation