Have you ever embarrassed yourself by crossing paths with someone and not realizing who they were? Especially, if it was someone important? It has happened to all of us, but on one occasion it happened in epic proportions.
One time, I was on YouTube and stumbled across clips of the old TV show What’s My Line. That was a TV show were four panelists would ask questions to a guest to determine the guest’s occupation. Then at the end of the show, the four panelists would place on blindfolds, the host would ask the mysterious guest to sign in, the mysterious guest would sign his/her on a chalkboard (remember those?), and then take a seat next to host.
These clips were fun to watch. Louis Armstrong would barely speak, because his voice was so distinctive. Charlton Heston, to my surprise, spoke in his normal “voice of God” voice. Apparently, the panelists hadn’t seen The Ten Commandments yet, because it took them forever to guess his identity. When John Wayne appeared, the applause from the audience was so thunderous that the panelists immediately knew that a superstar was on stage.
The one that struck that me the most was when the mysterious guest, still offscreen started to sign in. Naturally, he began with his first name which started with the letter “W.” Now my last name starts with a W, and I write my W, the way Zorro writes his Z. We both use straight lines. But this mysterious guest had a very distinctive W, very artistic. Then he went to write his last name, which started with the letter “D.” Like the W, it was very artistic. And as he wrote it, the audience began cheering wildly.
The first three panelists determined that the mysterious guest had something to do with Hollywood, both onscreen and offscreen. The fourth panelist, though, had picked up on something. He commented that it seemed that the applause from the audience had gotten very loud AFTER the panelist had signed in. He took that to mean that the mysterious guests may not have been recognizable to the audience, but the audience recognized his name.
With no guesses yet, the panelists took another try at it. Once again, the first three panelists asked questions. And once again, the fourth panelist had his finger on the pulse. He asked, “Are you somebody who is beloved by children all across the world?” The audience cheered loudly. Then he asked, “Are you Walt Disney?”
At first, I was surprised. How could the audience not have instantly recognized Walt Disney? But then I had to some time-traveling. You see, I grew up on the Disney Channel seeing reruns of his Disneyland TV series (back before the Disney Channel was the preteen channel) and seeing Walt Disney’s face on the back of VHS tapes (rectangular objects that you had to rewind). But this show aired on November 11, 1956. Disney had only been hosting his TV show for two years at this point. And Disney never appeared in his movies or cartoon shorts. Even though he created such beloved characters such as Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, and Dumbo, the audience didn’t recognize the creator.
I later learned that Walt Disney would walk around Disneyland in disguise to make notes. And occasionally, an observant fan would recognize him and ask him for autograph. Imagine being an employee of Disneyland and not recognizing the creator and namesake? That would be like working at KFC and ignoring the old man fussing about the terrible gravy – only to learn that it was Colonel Sanders. Or working at Wal-Mart and blowing off the old man asking why there’s only two cashier working – only to learn that it was Sam Walton.
Here’s the epic one: Being a creature who is part of the creation and not recognizing the Creator. But that’s exactly what happened some 2,000 years ago. The author of the Gospel John put it like this, “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him” (John 1:10-11 NLT).
Jesus came into the world that he created. But the world didn’t recognize him. He entered our world as an unplanned pregnancy and was born as a homeless baby in Bethlehem. As a toddler, he was a fugitive in Judea and a refugee in Egypt. He grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Nazareth where he was a carpenter, an essential worker. As a man, he became a homeless preacher, who had “nowhere to lay his head.” In Jerusalem, he became a convicted criminal and then a man on death row, the one whom the prophet Isaiah referred to as “the Man of Sorrows.”
To say that he was “rejected” is understating it. The word rejected is what we used to when we get turned down for a job opening or for a date on Saturday night. Jesus did not get simply rejected. He got executed.
But even with that, there were a handful who received him and believed him, and they became the sons and daughters of God. People like his Mother Mary; his disciples Peter, Andrew, James, John; his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus; and people like the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene, the man born blind, and Nicodemus.
Our society hasn’t changed all that much. We still don’t value the unborn child, the homeless, the refugee, or the essential worker. We don’t like to pause to think that perhaps the justice system may have placed an innocent man in prison, or worse, on death row. Yet, Jesus was all of these at one point throughout his life. Perhaps that is why he said, “Whatsoever you do to the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you do also to me.”
So my challenge for you in the year 2021 is to be mindful to the “least of these.” In every human being you meet, you see someone created in the image of the Creator. That alone bestows upon them value and dignity. Show them love, just as God showed us his great love. And remember, that it’s not even a matter of them deserving it. “But God demonstrated his love for us in this – while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Loving people. Isn’t that what were created for to begin with?
The Keith Church Blog 