The season has begun for the best sport ever created. I love baseball for so many reasons - some practical and others nostalgic. And I have been a fan of the San Francisco Giants from my childhood until now. Something unique about the Giants that they share with only two other clubs, each of them as storied a franchise as the other, is the fact that when they play their games at home, the names of the players are not on the backs of their uniforms. I suppose the idea is that when you play for those who are your fans, they already know your name.
Being nameless is not always easy, though. Just ask the guy who let Jesus borrow his donkey so He could make his famous Palm Sunday trek into Jerusalem. That procession with its thronging, adoring crowds is something that Christian churches still commemorate all over the world. Yet this event would not at all have been possible without this man’s generosity. And we don’t even know his name:
“Jesus sent two of them on ahead. “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.” (Matthew 21:2-3)
Two things stood out to me as I read it this week. The phrase “just say ‘the Lord needs them’” and the word immediately. I’m so impressed by this individual whose selfless and generous devotion to his Master only required a “Jesus needs it” and not only is it given no questions asked, it is given no minute squandered. It didn’t matter that the donkey could have been a primary source of income that day, what with all the visitors in town for the approaching Passover. Don’t worry about the fact that the colt was probably bred with care and not a little difficulty. Jesus is asking for it - so in return there’s no questions asked.
But what is ironic to me, is that this livestock owner’s demonstration of sold-out loyalty to the Savior in a crucial moment of His destiny did not warrant a mention of his identity in the Gospels. The Holy Spirit certainly could have brought it to Matthew’s otherwise limited memory or lame capacity to pass on credit. But we will never know his name.
Just like another key figure in the passion week story. I’m thinking of the landlord of the upper room. This time the disciples sent on ahead to make preparations are told they will find a “certain man”. And all they had to tell him was “The Teacher says my time has come and I will eat the Passover meal at your house”(Matthew 26:19) and it was better than done. What he gave, no doubt, were utensils, plates, basins, copious amounts of special food, lamb with herbs cooked until tender, and the best wine. And what did he get in return? Water on the floor from twelve pairs of dirty feet having been washed, a table strewn and stained with crumbs, slopped wine, gnawed bones as well as guests hastily departed to leave behind lots of messy dishes, and a room in disarray. And again, no name is recorded. He too has remained anonymous to this day.
Both these stories beg a question. Is what I have completely at Jesus’s disposal, all so He can both penetrate the walls of a city and the hearts of its inhabitants? Or so he can have a place prepared for his purposes to unfold? It may never result in my fame, but as long as it results in His, then it’s worth whatever I have to give up. Because in the end, my sacrifice always pales mightily in comparison to His.
God’s prophetic plans are continually unfolding, even today. So He quite often needs followers whose resources are immediately available. Who knows if one of His many important moments has come in our lives or for those around us. He may need what we have to get to a new place or to have a resting place. But regardless, we can be sure of this: He knows our name, even if the crowd doesn’t. He is your biggest fan. And he never forgets what you forfeit. After all, it’s His applause we should be playing for anyway