Thursday I worked a catering event in which Patti Smith (godmother of punk) received the Catherine Hepburn Medal for awesome women who do stuff. I stood about 5 feet away from her as I served "Bryn Mawr-tinis" and collected empty glasses from people, and I had absolutely no idea who she was. (All the punk rock enthusiasts just decided to not become a part of the church plant. Before you write me off you should know that as a teenager I stage dove at an MXPX concert "before they sold out.") It was kind of funny to me how very NOT-punk rock this whole event was. I guess the guests were slightly unruly by taking their drinks into the auditorium with them for the awards ceremony in between cocktail hour and dessert hour.
Also, earlier that day, I drove out to Mechanicsburg, PA with a really cool dude to hear Robby Dawkins talk about how to pray for the sick and speak God's words to people so they can know how real God is and how much God loves them. My brain is still a little bit overloaded from the experience of students at the Global School of Supernatural Ministry praying for me and sharing things that they thought God was saying to them for me, and all the things that Robby said. I was really encouraged by what they had to say, and I have to say I was impressed with how accurately it applied to my own internal situation, of how real God is, how He loves and knows me, and tells me just what I need to hear. For instance, Robby said, "To doubt your ability to pray for the sick and see God heal them through you is to doubt the work of Jesus on the cross." I think I agree. But the implications of that are serious and take me a minute to wrap my mind around.
The thing I like about Robby and the thing that I think gives him authority, is that when he speaks he speaks about his own experiences of witnessing God's power. He's quick to clarify that God is the one healing people and that he has prayed for plenty of people and continues to pray for people and sometimes nothing happens. I'm glad he tells those because I can identify with that. But he's also got thousands of stories of incredible wonders of God and people who were complete strangers to Jesus being overwhelmed by His love and turning to Him for salvation and becoming His disciples. I want my life to be filled with stories like that.
But what I'm a little more interested in for the purposes of this post is the contrast and comparison of these two public figures who are "famous" in their own circles, and how known and un-known they are to people. The truth of this bummer-Scripture from Ecclesiastes really hits me:
"There is no remembrance of former things,Also this:
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to be
among those who come after."
As for man, his days are like grass;Do we ever really get to know people? And for how long before they change? Are famous people really known and loved by their fans? Will anyone remember me when I'm dead? If they do, how will they remember me? Will they remember me or just an idea that vaguely resembles something I said once?
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
Yeah, that's probably a totally random association to have with those experiences with "famous" people, but it kind of hits me. Why does Patti Smith get an award and Robby Dawkins doesn't? Why don't I know who Patti Smith is? It seems like a little bit of random nonsense. Which is what fame is--totally random nonsense. That's what those bummer Bible verses in Ecclesiastes are about.
But being known and loved, that's something that everyone wants. That's something that everyone who longs to be alive and not merely breathing needs.
In a new environment I feel it more than I used to--the time and effort it takes to teach people who you are and to learn who they are. It just takes time. And there's no guarantee that our personal tastes will be suited to one another the deeper we go.
That's why I weep for joy a little bit when someone speaks God's words to me with a kind of knowledge and intimacy that could only come from an omniscient God who can peek into my soul and tell me words that will give me life in a way that I uniquely need and that God can uniquely give. I'm so thankful for communities of people who are learning to be instruments of that kind of holy ministry of God. I want us to do that for each other and for everyone who hasn't met Jesus yet.
There are so many people who have no idea how God knows and loves them.
How can we not do something about that?
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