I
sing with a symphony chorus. In preparation for our recent Christmas concert,
we had our usual dress rehearsal to run through the entire program.
As
we sang the moving lyrics of “O, Holy Night,” I looked up into the empty
balconies of the concert hall and grew sad there was no one to hear the lovely
music. But, in that moment, I sensed the Lord speaking.
In
life, God sometimes calls us to minister and pour forth in ways that go
unnoticed to others. Some of our finest hours are our most unseen. But it’s not
about others’ applause; it’s about pleasing the one who called us to be His
hands and feet in this world. Though it may seem that we are playing to the
empty balconies, that no one else notices, He notices.
For
some, it may be giving ongoing care to a loved one who never expresses
gratitude. For another, God may call for a financial sacrifice in order to meet
another’s need. Still another may be asked to give time and talents away in a
small place to few recipients. God might ask us to overcome an offense by
reaching down deep in the wells of His grace and extending that grace in love
and forgiveness. The morning paper may not report on any of these events, but as
a friend of mine says, God keeps very good books.
Some
years ago, Max Lucado wrote a wonderful work about the Beatitudes entitled, The
Applause of Heaven. In it he quotes Matthew 5:12, “Great,’ Jesus said, ‘is your reward in heaven.” Lucado continues, “He must have smiled when he said
that line. His eyes must have danced, and his hand must have pointed skyward.
For he should know. It was his idea. It was his home.…Before you know it, your
appointed arrival time will come; you’ll descend the ramp and enter the City.
You’ll see faces that are waiting for you. You’ll hear your name spoken by
those who love you.”
I’m
back to a verse I referenced a few posts ago—I Corinthians 15:58: “Always give
yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in
the Lord is not in vain.”
As
you give yourself without reservation to Him and allow Him to make His music
through you, know that beyond the empty balconies. He waits to reward you.
Lucado
concludes, “And maybe, just maybe—in the back, behind the crowds—the One who
would rather die than live without you will remove his pierced hands from his
heavenly robe and … applaud.”