In an act of desperation they put their baby in a basket and floated him down the river. Perhaps because they could not bear the thought of having him ripped from their arms and their home. Gently placing him among the Nile reeds surely seemed more peaceful than the violence that threatened every time he even whimpered. His sister stood at a distance to see what might happen. Her quiet stare was disturbed by the chatter of ladies as they made their way to the water’s edge…bath time for the royals. In a moment of privacy and vulnerability, the daughter of the most powerful man in the known world stumbled upon a carefully placed basket and was smitten. The cold hearted edict of her father was no match for the mothering instinct of her heart. She might not be able to convince the Pharaoh to spare them all but she was not going to let this one fall prey to the paranoid slaughter. Compassion compelled her to rescue a child that would one day lead his people out of Egypt.
On a night that seemed like all the rest a group of shepherds also became captivated by a baby. Though they had surely cared for the smallest of sheep they were not exactly the baby coddling type. But they longed for this baby before they ever even met him. While the rest of the world continued on without much notice of his presence, these shepherds rejoiced because of what they knew. And anticipation turned to awe in the presence of a family nestled in a shelter usually reserved for animals. They were audience to the worship of angels and then found themselves among the first to behold Immanuel…God with us.
He very well may have been the last one to carry on a conversation with the Savior of the world before the earthquake threatened to shake their lifeless bodies off of Roman crosses. When others were hurling insults, he was placing his last hope in a man who was being executed alongside him. And his hope was not misplaced. He was the first to hear the only voice that matters uttering precious words…”Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Women received back their dead, raised to life again.There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. Hebrews 11:35-38
The fascinating thing about each of these is that we do not know what to call any of them. They are among the nameless characters of the Bible who found themselves in the midst of what God was up to in the world. What would have happened if Pharaoh’s daughter had been as hard hearted as her father that day? What a gift it would be to look upon the baby face of light now piercing darkness. How incredible to be one who stood up for Jesus when almost everyone else had turned their back. And then to know that your hope and trust had not been misplaced. And oh, to have the kind of courage and faith that does not relent no matter what the cost. Throw stones, wave swords, make threats it doesn’t matter…”the world was not worthy of them.”
Each of these, and so many others, were caught up in a story that was so much bigger than they could have imagined. And we don’t even know their names.
It’s a morbid thought but one that has humbled me often…One day, if things persist the way they have, there will likely be a gravestone that marks the place where they laid my body. And it won’t take long before that stone starts to look worn and is rarely, if ever, visited. There is a distinct possibility that my great grandchildren won’t even remember my name, much less know anything significant about me.
But be sure, this does not make you or I insignificant.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
Psalm 139:13-14“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart; Jeremiah 1:5Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Luke 12:7
I may remain nameless but it doesn’t mean I don’t matter. It DOES mean that HIS name is far more important. His is the name that is above every name. His is the name that endures. It may very well be that God blesses me with a front row seat, or even a participant part, in the even greater things that He is doing to redeem and renew all that He has made, but this in itself is the gift. To be caught up in the momentum of His ongoing story is enough.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called… children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1
My name may be plastered all over this webpage but it’s His name that matters. Whether it is this blog, or my ministry, or some other amazing thing that I get to be apart of, in the end all will know what has always been true…It’s not about me.
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