Just an object without a name?

Just an object without a name?

Recent encounters with government agencies made me know, first-hand, the many ways our society turns us into nameless, faceless objects.  Someone else was ‘in control’ of my life and that they cared little, if at all, about me.  From that experienced I developed real fear, a sense of helplessness, that I cannot recall ever feeling in the same in my entire lifetime.  

I thought back to times when I did prison outreach work and what some of those men and women told me about being trapped and afraid.  They were not Jim Smith or Jane Jones to the system. They were a case or a number, their identity ripped away. Now, I 'got it.' It’s so much easier to deal with things than it is with people!  That’s why we depersonalize others before we exploit them.

Are you feeling like a number?
Does it seem to you that no one really cares if you exist?   

Mark tells us a story about Jesus’ love for a person who was invisible to the world.  She had an “issue of blood,” (KJV) the Bible says. This means she bled constantly as if her menstrual period never stopped. "She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse." (Mark 5:26, NIV)  Chronic illness, left broke by those who could not help – that’s terrible. Left unsaid is that she was ritually unclean, isolated from general society, unable to attend synagogue, making others who risked contact with her ritually unclean as well!  Complicating matters, generally those who suffered as she did were thought to be under the judgment of God, receiving what they deserved.

One day, she took a huge risk. She heard about a healer named Jesus, that He was coming to her town. “She slipped in from behind and touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well.” The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with.” (The Message. Mark 5:27)   

But Jesus knew she needed more than physical healing. Her heart was broken and so He stopped and asked, “Who touched me?”  His disciples chided Him for the ridiculous question. “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’” (Mark 5:31, NIV)  The woman, who was trembling with fear Mark says, emerged from the shadows and identified herself.  Tenderly, lovingly, Jesus finishes her healing! How?  She expects a rebuke from Him for making Him unclean.  She’s used to being an object but instead He gives her dignity. "Jesus said to her, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague.”  (Mark 5:34, The Message)  Daughter! It’s a relational word. She’s not just ‘woman.’  She’s not just ‘unclean.’ She’s a daughter of God, a person who matters enough that the Master will look her in the eyes and call her His own!

Deep emotion wells up in me as I read that and, by faith, know that He knows MY name, too.  In a world of billions of people, where I am often an object or useful only for my work, He loves ME. And, Christian friend, He loves YOU.  Ask Him to heal you.  Take a step of faith to present yourself, as you are, to Him.  My prayer is that the quiet voice of the Spirit will answer with the revelation that He knows YOU.

Here’s the word from the Word. “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear. “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows." (Luke 12:4-7, NLT)

___________

(Listen to the song)

                                                                                                                                                             Love Me              

He cries in the corner where nobody sees,

He's the kid with the story no one would believe.

He prays every night, “Dear God, won't You please,

Could You send someone here who will love me?”

Her office is shrinking a little each day,

She's the woman whose husband has run away.

She'll go to the gym after working today,

Maybe if she was thinner,

Then he would've stayed,

And she says…

“Who will love me for me,

Not for what I have done,

Or what I will become?

'Cause nobody has shown me what love

What love really means.”

He's waiting to die, as he sits all alone.
He's a man in a cell who regrets what he's done.
He utters a cry from the depths of his soul,
“Oh Lord, forgive me, I want to go home.”

Then he heard a voice somewhere,

Deep inside and it said,

“I know you've murdered and I know you've lied,

I have watched you suffer all of your life,

And now that you'll listen I'll tell you that I…”

I will love you for you,

Not for what you have done,

Or what you will become.

I will love you for you,

I will give you the love,

The love that you never knew.

David Heller | JJ Heller

© 2006 Stone Table Records -
CCLI License # 810055