No one Special

 

In 1993 Radiohead produced a whining song, “I wish I was special”. The concept of being special permeates modern society whereas fame and fortune are often found overnight due to whatever viral episode occurs that propels one to popular stardom.

Enter the figure, Jesus, the Christ, Son of the Living God as he walked here on earth.  While in truth no one was special in the eyes of Jesus or others, they became special as they encountered Jesus in the flesh and spirit.  Truly, ordinary people, sometimes despised people such as tax collectors became ‘special’ as a result of their contact with Jesus.

To wit:  no one was made famous or ‘someone’ in accordance to the world or on worldly standards. Apostles such as Peter or John were no one SPECIAL.  They were down to earth, ordinary people and that’s all that they were.

In reality, you are probably like me:  I am no body.  You probably aren’t either.  You are probably just some ordinary, mundane worker who attempts to scrounge out a living for your families.

And if you are like me:  you probably have no great fortune, no great talent, no inheritance, no large business or skills or anything else.  You are plain and ordinary, overlooked in terms of leadership, etc.

In a national emergency, more than likely, no one ever calls you up and solicits your opinion, your wisdom.  In fact, the truth of the matter is that no one cares what either you or I think.  We are nothing to the world, no body.

Okay.  I have fully established the notion that we are not Jack.  We are nothing and nobodies without any credence to the world. We are as minute as a cog or an insect within a corporate world, dispensable.

In fact, if we were to die right now at this instance, no one would ever really notice.  We’d probably wouldn’t even warrant an obituary for as anyone knows, you have to pay to explain that you are dead.

And that’s how it is with the world.  In absence of a winning lotto ticket or any such propellant into fame and fortune, we are dwelling on this earth almost in incognito:  we are almost invisible, possessing only a footprint in terms of carbon particles.

No so with Jesus:  None of the above is true with Jesus.  “…for friends I call you for a servant knoweth not what his master doeth.”  “…even to become sons of God…”

In the sense of Jesus we are all special, important for we become inheritors of God’s kingdom, fortified with eternal life.

Hence: as adopted sons, we are made ‘Special’ unto Jesus and through Jesus, because of Him and by Him unto the Father.

We are made special for we know His voice, because we enjoy that relationship with His Holy Spirit.  We possess access to the throne of our Heavenly Father whereas we may petition our requests and prayers.

In short, we are anything but nobodies with Jesus.  We become everything that is of value because of Jesus:  Jesus places great value on us and thus, we are valuable.

Consequently, in our desires to become special—it should only be spawned In seeking status, not with man, but with God.  Jesus is that intercessor who contains the ability to grant self-worth.  It is His self-worth and thus, beyond 100% Gold.

Beyond all of that: living with the relationship with your creator, not the creation is the highest asset in the world.  We are then all special to Him and to one another—all because of Him.  Jesus is the most special of all.

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Were you There? (re-visited)

 

Peter Marshal once gave an invigorating sermon that pronounced an indictment on all of humanity as he insisted by our actions that we were the same crowd that crucified Jesus. Naturally, he was correct in his assessment.

When looking at the mob that demanded the crucifixion of Jesus, we are all overwhelmed with thoughts:  “Those people are mad!  There are crazy to kill our Lord…”  Many other sentiments cross our mind in shame as we all know the story of our Lord’s journey to Calvary.

The twist I place on events are a little different than Marshal’s sermon.  My take is that while we were NOT there, now, we are HERE.

As Agent X is so quick to point out:  every time we turn our heads in our autos and pass by that stupid bum in the streets, that hobo holding up a sign on the corner—every time we forsake his plight, we are indeed, killing our Lord.  WE are killing Jesus, the least of these, leaving them to die as we refuse to care enough to obey the words of the Christ and serve His people.  We drive right on past Jesus who holds that sign, condemn him and feel justified in our actions.

Jesus is here NOW and HE is all around us in the image of our brothers who so desperately need our help.  We demand death by virtue of neglect to Jesus, the Christ as we turn our back on our master.

Yes, we are here and we scream the same words as those in the days of old who desired for the removal of Jesus:  and in like manner, we demand too for the removal of all the undesirables that nest at our doorsteps and at the narthex of our churches.

I see dejected masses:  I see the suffering of those who are afflicted with mental disorders, drugs, poverty, rejection, all types of misery.  In short, I see people—God’s children who are all personified by Jesus Himself as Jesus is certainly not the least of them.  And so to answer my own question:  Were we there?  No. No, and another no, we were not there, but we are here and where we are, we continue to refuse the son of the living God.  Where the mobs, the throngs were horrible in the fatal days of Jesus, we are no different for we are also as horrible if not worse.  We are worse as those in Jesus’s day did not understand.  We do understand or at least say that we do and thus, we are held accountable.

Are we there In the face of our brothers and sisters?  The answer should be to the affirmative.  We should be there with and for the least of them and in turn serve and be with our Lord, the Christ.  Nothing can ever replace walking with Jesus.  Yes, we are here.  We should invite Him here with us.