Luke 24:13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.

It struck me just now, reading this very familiar story once again, that we have the image of Jesus always being with the 12 apostles, when the reality is that it was a much more fluid group. Thomas was famously not present when Jesus showed up the first time after His resurrection but these two men were, as we’ll be reading tomorrow, and the Japanese explicitly calls them disciples. The vast majority of the saints, the believers down through the centuries, are completely anonymous to us. Even with these two men we only know the name of one of them. We like to be famous, to “make a name for ourselves,” and indeed, there are people today who are famous for being famous, and for basically no other reason. We forget that was part of the motive for building the Tower of Babel. (Genesis 11:4) It’s nice to be known and remembered, but on the human scale that is fleeting at best. We are much better off being like the little girl who, learning the Lord’s Prayer, misunderstood the words and said it as, “Our Father who art in heaven, how do You know my name?” We should be amazed and humbled at the reality that God indeed knows and cares about each of us, before we were even in the womb, (Jeremiah 1:5) and that should be enough for us.

This is very personal for me, since my immediate ancestors are included in some history books, and as a child I enjoyed being a son of a “big cheese.” However, some Southern Baptists are trying to erase the name of my maternal grandfather from denominational history because he supported women in ministry, and fewer and fewer people remember the name of my father, though he was awarded a high honor from the emperor at the time of his death. I need to be totally fine with that. I doubt I’ll forget the time I was introduced to someone by the president of Nagasaki Rehabilitation College where I was teaching as, “This is Mr. Garrott. He’s no big deal, but his father was really something.” I still laugh at that! As I write fairly often, my ultimate goal in life is to hear my Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21) Fame among men is meaningless, apart from however it might point people to Christ, as did Billy Graham.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s very timely as I’m approaching retirement. Help me indeed live for Your accolades alone, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!