Hidden Figures
SUMMARY
Karl Ihfe draws on the largely forgotten apostles — James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Thaddeus — to remind us that recognition and significance are not the same thing. Like Clarence B. Jones, who helped write Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech while standing 50 feet in the background, these three disciples followed Jesus faithfully, left everything, and helped carry the gospel into the world — even though history barely remembers their names. The question they leave us with is not, will people remember me? but rather, will I be faithful to the one who called me?
TRANSCRIPTION:
If you have your Bible, I invite you to turn over to Mark, chapter three. We'll be there. Today, on August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. Stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and he delivered one of the most famous speeches in American history. I have a dream, he said, that one day my four little children will live in a country, in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
Most of us recognize these words. We recognize the face of the one who delivered them. But how many of us recognize the name of the person who helped him write this speech? A man named Clarence B. Jones was one of Dr. King's closest advisors, a friend. He served part of the time as his attorney and one of his speechwriters.
The night before he was to give this speech, he invited Dr. Jones to come in and help him craft this message, this speech, and so much of what Dr. King delivers. At the beginning of that speech, Dr. Jones wrote. When Dr. King stood at the mic that day, if you remember the scene, maybe you were live watching it on television, or if you've seen a repeat of it, you won't see Dr. Jones. He was standing about 50ft behind him, back in the crowd. King was out front.
Jones was in the back. Millions of people have heard these words. Generations will remember them. But not many people. Most of them don't know the name of the man standing 50ft in the background.
Now, here's what I want us to notice. Recognition and significance are not the same thing. Now, we sometimes assume they are. If something is significant, then we think people will notice. If I'm doing work that matters, if I'm making a difference, then people will notice it.
I mean, at some point, right? Not always, not necessarily. And maybe nowhere is that more clear than in the story of these last three apostles that we're going to look at this morning. Simon the Zealot, James, son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus. They were there.
They walked with Jesus. They listened to him teach. They followed him everywhere. They saw the miracles. They were sent out to preach, just like the other nine.
They helped carry the gospel into the world. And yet most people don't even really remember their name, which is maybe why we need to hear their story. We need to remember their stories. Here's kind of the point of the whole message this morning. You don't have to be recognized to be significant.
Look again at the passage that George and Brock read for us. Just a moment ago, Jesus went up on a mountainside and he called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed 12 that they might be with him and they might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. And then Mark gives us his list. Simon, James, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot.
Now, I don't know about your Bible, but in mine, there's no asterisk by those last three names. It wasn't like, oh, yeah, Jesus called nine and three alternates, and they just happened to be those three. There's no B team of the apostles. They were all called and they were all given that same message. I mean, notice how Jesus starts this call.
I love how Mark tells us that Jesus went on a mountainside and he called to him. Who did he call? Those that he wanted. He wanted them. He wanted all 12 of them.
Simon wasn't just a filler. James wasn't there because he needed to round off that 11 to 12, make that a nice even number. Thaddeus wasn't invited because he just ran out of better candidates and said, well, you've been around a little while. Why don't you stick around? Jesus wanted them, and so he called them to be with him, Mark tells us, and to be sent by him.
Those two things defined their relationship and they defined their discipleship. In fact, that's what defines ours. I love that we're taught here at the beginning of Mark's Gospel, that before the disciples were asked to do anything for Jesus, he invited them to be with him. They walked with him, they learned from him, they watched him, they ate with him, they listened to him, and then they went. That's the goal of a disciple, to be with Jesus and then to go where he tells us to go, isn't it?
I mean, apparently you can do both of those things really well, and most people won't even recognize it or see it. I mean, take James, for example. We know almost nothing about this James. In fact, his name being James creates a little confusion because if you've read your New Testament, there are several James that are mentioned, right? James, who we looked at a couple of weeks ago, who's the brother of John, the son of Zebedee.
There's James, Jesus own brother named James, who becomes a leader in the early church. And then we have here James son of Alphaeus, now Mark 15. Later on in the Gospel, he refers to him as James the Lesser or James the Younger, right? The Greek word there is micros, where we get that word micro. We don't know why he was James the micro.
Was it because he was short? Was it because he was young? Was it to distinguish him from another more well known or prominent James? When Kayla and I were in campus ministry in Austin, in our ministry, we had Matt and he started out as Matt. And then we had another student come and guess what his name was.
Matt. Only this matt was 6 foot 5 and the first matt was 5 foot 7. So we had Big Matt and we had Micro Matt, Little Matt, he didn't like that very well. So we just stuck with Matt. But, but Big Matt became one of our good, good friends and little Matt served our ministry well.
We don't know why James is called James the Lesser. And maybe that's kind of the theme with this guy. We don't know anything that he said. We don't have a miracle story where James is a part of it. We don't have a sermon or a book that he wrote.
We don't know what he said. There isn't a moment in the gospel when now James son of Alphaeus, steps to the front and becomes the center of, of attention of the story. He's just there. But here's what we do know, right when Peter over in Matthew 19 is talking with Jesus and Jesus has said some pretty tough things and disciples are walking away and he turns to him and says, what are you also going to leave? And Peter says, where we go?
He says, jesus, we've left everything. We have left everything to follow you. Well, that we is not just me, it's all of them. All 12 left everything to follow Jesus. So we may not know much about James, but we may know enough.
Jesus called and James left everything and followed him. And maybe that's all we need to know about James. You know, sometimes faithfulness looks like showing up day after day when nobody else seems to notice. Sometimes it looks like serving in a ministry where there's not much applause or fanfare. Sometimes it looks like caring for an aging parent.
Sometimes it looks like raising kids or trying to teach squirmy little kids in Bible class, Bible stories. Sometimes it looks like praying for a friend or family member for years and years and years. Sometimes it looks like making a phone call or preparing communion week after week after week. And sometimes it looks like showing up when somebody's hurting. You're doing the thing that God has put in front of you to do, being faithful.
Even though no one's ever going to put your name on a plaque. You see part of the Problem in our culture this day is that we've confused visibility with value. We assume the person on the platform is doing something really important, but the person standing 50ft back isn't. But that's not how Jesus measures significance in the kingdom. In fact, that's what James and Thaddeus and Simon are proof of.
That you don't have to be recognized to be significant. Now, unlike James, we know a little bit about Simon. At least we know his nickname. Simon the Zealot, right? Matthew and Mark call him the Canaanian.
Now, that's not referring to him coming from Canaan. Rather, that was an Aramaic term that meant enthusiast. Luke calls him the Zealot. And both terms kind of carry this idea of passionate devotion. Simon was a passionate guy.
Now, it's possible Simon was affiliated with and associated with this revolutionary movement, the Zealots, who were trying to oppose Rome. They wanted to overthrow Rome with violence and with force. We don't know exactly how precisely Simon was involved with that, but we. We can, at least from the name, from the nickname, learn something about the man, can't we? That he was passionate and he was zealous, that he was associated with that movement, that Simon would have had some very, very strong opinions on Rome and their occupation.
Now, that's interesting. And then as we think about who some of the other disciples were that Jesus called, because one of them was this guy named Matthew or Levi. And you know what his job was? Tax collector. So Matthew worked for Rome, and Simon hated Rome.
And Jesus says to both of them, come and follow me. Now, can you imagine the conversation that happened around the campfire when those two guys showed up? I have this picture in my mind of Simon standing at the campfire, chewing on a s', mores, just glaring over at Matthew, thinking, I can't believe Jesus called this guy to be one of us. Right now, on the opposite side of the fire, we have Matthew. And he's kind of leaning over to maybe to Andrew, going, I think that guy wants to kill me.
Jesus says, no, no, no, guys, you're brothers now. We're together. We're on the same team. Simon's zeal didn't disappear. Instead, Jesus directed it, right?
The man who once wanted to change the world by force, by overthrowing with force and power, now becomes a disciple who's willing to change the world through a cross. And then, like James, Simon fades off into the story. No sermon. We don't have a book that he wrote. No famous miracle, just another name on the list of apostles.
But what we do know is when Jesus began teaching things like love your enemies, Simon stuck around.
When Jesus refused to overthrow the Roman government with power and force and violence, Simon stayed. When Jesus went to a Roman cross to give his life, Simon stayed. You see, Jesus changed what Simon was willing to give his life for. And Christian tradition tells us that one day Simon would give his life for the Gospel. His name will never be as recognized as Peter's.
But remember, friends, you don't have to be recognized to be significant. Our last disciple, Thaddeus, although that's actually not his only name. That's what Matthew and Mark call him. Luke calls him Judas, son of James, and John calls him Judas, but with this little caveat, not Judas Iscariot. I wonder if Thaddeus was like, thaddeus is fine.
Let's go with Thaddeus. That works for me. Right? I'm guessing he was perfectly happy with that. But unlike James and Simon, Thaddeus actually speaks a line in the Gospels.
Right one. He has one line. It's at the Last Supper, in John, chapter 14, Jesus is explaining to the disciples what's about to happen. And not only that, but the Holy Spirit will be there, and he will be with them all through this. And here's what Thaddeus asked.
But, Lord, why do you tend to show yourself to us and not to the world? Another way of saying that is Jesus. If you really are the Messiah, why not show everybody? Why not let it be really clear? Do something with great power that would just show everyone who you really are.
And Jesus responds by saying, anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Thaddeus seems to be focused on a kingdom that everybody can see. Jesus, why not show? But Jesus is focused on a kingdom that's unseen.
So maybe it's apropos that the one question that the guy who's maybe most unrecognizable of the apostles has this great conversation with Jesus about, what does it mean to be visible and invisible? Jesus, why don't you make yourself more visible? And Jesus says, that's not how my kingdom works. My kingdom's gonna spread by people who love me. And out of that love, they're gonna begin to serve one another.
And a heart's going to change, and then a life's going to change one person at a time. Which means that maybe God's most significant work is not always his most visible work. We want a dramatic breakthrough. God may be quietly forming in us Patience. We want a big opportunity that God may be teaching us.
It's time to serve. We want everyone to see what God is doing. But God seems maybe perfectly content to do something significant where nobody else notices. Remember, you don't have to be recognized to be significant. I think Ephesians 2 gives us this really incredible picture, one that's kind of been chasing me around this week as I've been thinking about this message.
And Paul's talking to this young church about what it means to be the church. And here's what he says in chapter two. He says, consequently, you all church, you are no longer foreigners or strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone, says church, you're built on a foundation, a foundation of the apostles, like Peter and James and John, right? But also Thaddeus and Simon and micro James, like they're part of that foundation too. Now, here's the thing about foundations.
Nobody sees it. When you go up to a nice building, you don't go, man, I bet the concrete pillars under this building are amazing, right? You go, well, look at those stained glass windows. They're gorgeous. Look at the architecture, how it's so beautiful.
But I'll tell you what, if you remove the foundation, none of it's going to stand. I wonder if that's maybe a picture of the kingdom, that some of us are kind of like that architecture on the outside, the windows. Maybe some of us are part of that foundation. But don't confuse being hidden with being insignificant. For 2000 years, the church has been standing on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, right?
With Jesus as the cornerstone, which may in many ways be the message that Hebrews, the preacher in Hebrews was trying to communicate to his church. In chapter 11, we have this great chapter about the heroes of the faith. And he begins to recount all the names that mean so much to us. Abel and Noah and Abraham and Sarah, right? And Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Moses and Rahab.
And each one of those, he says, and gives kind of an illustration of how they were faithful to God in their lives, in their. And how they lived, right? And then he goes on and he says, but I don't even have time to tell you the stories of guys like Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah and David and Samuel and the prophets. I don't have time to even get into those stories. And then there's this little change, right?
Where names disappear but the faithfulness keeps going, right? He says there were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning. They were sawed into.
They were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated. We get no names. There's no biographies. There's no recognition of who they are.
And yet here's what the Hebrew preacher says about these. These anonymous saints. He says the world was not worthy of them. Was not worthy of them. The world didn't know their name, but heaven knew their significance.
I wonder how many people have been like that in the last 2,000 years of the church. How many people have carried the gospel into unknown places, who they discipled, somebody who then discipled somebody, who then. Who then? Disciples. Somebody who one day discipled you.
Maybe it was your mom and dad. Maybe they discipled your grandparents. But we're standing here today. We're sitting here today in this room on the foundation of those anonymous saints who were faithful to the call, who quietly discipled day after day, faithful to who God called them to be. And I wonder one day when we all get to stand in glory together, how many we'll see and we'll go, I had no.
I had no idea it was you. Had no idea it was you who might be able to say that about us. Which brings me back to Dr. Clarence B. Jones, August 28, 1963. Dr. King is standing at the microphone, but Dr. Jones is 50ft in the background. The cameras aren't pointed at him.
Nobody's come to hear him speak. History is not going to remember him the way that it remembers Dr. King. He's in the background, but he's there. Church. And his contribution mattered.
His life made a difference. You see, some of us spend a lot of energy trying to get closer to the microphone. Now, I know this preacher telling you this, and you're like, listen, pal, if anybody needs this sermon, it's me, all right? I'm well aware. So I'm preaching to myself, and I hope it will resonate with you.
You know, we want somebody to notice. We want someone to recognize the work that we've put in, someone to tell us that it mattered.
Maybe the lives of James and Simon and Thaddeus can maybe free us a little bit from that.
We don't have to worry about it so much, whether we're standing in front at the mic or 50ft in the back. You see, maybe God hasn't called you to the mic. Maybe he's called you to stand in the back. Maybe he's called you to quietly love people, to raise your family, to serve your church, to reach out and care for your neighbors, to use the gifts that he's given you, to be faithful in the opportunities that he's set before you. And maybe no one will ever know what you've done.
But you know what? That's okay, because God does. God knows it matters. Your life, it matters. And these three apostles remind us that you can spend your whole life following Jesus and history may barely remember that you ever existed.
But that's not the same as being insignificant, Church. Because in the kingdom of God, you don't have to be recognized to be significant. So the question that the apostles leave us and I'll. And I'll leave it with us as well, is not will people remember me? But will I be faithful to the one who called me?
Because James was and Simon was and Thaddeus was and a whole host of others, and we don't know their names, the church, the world, was not worthy of them. Well, may that be true of us. They were with Jesus and they were sent by Jesus into the world and they trusted him for the significance. Well, may that be us as well. God, I pray that for us this week as we go out into the world, into a world that is obsessed with visibility and recognition.
God, may we be content to be known by you that the work that you have called us to, that you've put before us, it's enough. Whether the world recognizes it or not, it is significant. It matters. God, thank you for the saints that we know and those that we don't that have become a foundation for us to stand upon, that we stand on their shoulders. The faithful, anonymous saints, brothers and sisters who loved you so faithfully, they were willing even to give their life that your message might carry forward in the world.
God. Today, the Broadway Church is here in Lubbock, Texas, because of faithful brothers and sisters who loved you and who refused. Who refused to give up on the dream. God. May that be true of us this week as we go out onto our workplaces, back into the school rooms or to the lunchrooms, back into our work cubicles, into our neighborhoods, wherever it may be.
God, I know that there are some who feel like their work doesn't matter. God, Would you remind them once again this week? Would you raise up a friend, someone just to see God? Would you, by your holy Spirit, help us to remember these saints, like Simon the Zealot and like James the son of Alphaeus, like Thaddeus. God, would you help us to be faithful to the work that you've called us to.
God, thank you for your word that speaks life and truth and hope. God, would you speak it again this week? May we live faithfully, remembering we don't have to be recognized to be significant. God, would you help us to live a life of significance? We pray in Jesus name.
Amen.