Do you feel your life is unimportant? Do you feel a nobody in a world of celebrities? Do you sometimes feel you haven’t got much to offer? Well ordinary people can help achieve extra ordinary things.
The famous anthropologist, Margaret Mead said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’
In our series on the 12 disciples of Jesus, we can see how Jesus chose very down to earth people to carry on His mission and become world changers. Some of them are very familiar to us like Peter, James and John or Matthew or Thomas. Others however are not so well known. Yet they were an essential part of the team of Jesus.
Three of the least-known disciples are mentioned in Luke 6:15-16 and Mark 3:18. These disciples are: James son of Alphaeus (referred to as James the Lesser), Simon (referred to as Simon the Zealot) and Judas, not Iscariot, who was the son of James (also known as Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus). The lives of these men can teach us some important lessons.
1. You can be part of a great team even if you are not well known (1 Samuel 16:6-13; John 14:21-22; Nehemiah 3:1-4; Romans 16)
2. You need to be prepared to be a team player (Romans 12:4-8)
3. You can help with great change when you are a team player (2 Timothy 2:2; 1 Corinthians 12:1)
Apply
1. You can be part of a great team even if you are not well known. If we base these men entirely on what was written about them in the Bible, they may come across as insignificant. However, they were chosen by Jesus Christ, so they had value beyond what may have been recorded about them and they gave up everything to follow Jesus. Although this last listed group of apostles has little written about them, they each have their own distinctions.
a. James (also known by his nickname, “the Lesser”): The Greek word for ‘less’ which is used could mean that he was small in stature i.e. he was a little guy that people could literally look down on. It could also mean younger and may have been how to distinguish him from the other James (James son of Zebedee or one of the “sons of thunder”). Little is written about James. But Mark and Luke make clear that he was a son of Alphaeus. Matthew also was a son of Alphaeus, so if they were the same man then Matthew and little James were brothers. That’s quite possible and it’s also possible that he was a cousin of Jesus. None of this however caused him to stand out or give him a special status. What mattered was that he was chosen by Jesus and that he was a faithful disciple of Jesus. Throughout the Bible we can read of how God chose the most insignificant people or places to demonstrate His magnificent love and ability to transform anyone into something of immense value. King David’s story is a fitting example of how God asked the Prophet Samuel to choose the youngest son of Jesse to anoint as King of Israel, even though many of David’s older brothers appeared more “kinglike” (1 Samuel 16:6-13). Remember also that our Lord and saviour did not come into this world as a great celebrity. He was not born in a lavish palace but in a humble stable.
b. Simon the Zealot: Zealots were a highly feared group of Jews that fiercely believed nobody but God had the right to rule the Jews. They hated the Romans and there are several accounts of intense battles with the Romans. The Zealots eventually became a band of assassins known to carry out targeted hits. In today’s world we might describe them as extremists. Yes, Jesus recruited an extremist! Jesus choosing Simon as one of His disciples is a great testimony of how someone with a deep self-righteous hatred can, by God’s grace, be transformed to an Apostle for Jesus.
c. Judas Lebbaeus Thaddaeus (not to be confused with Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus): His other names are often thought to be nick names based on aspects of his personality. Thaddeus means breast child, almost implying he may have been either a mother’s favourite or a baby of the family. Lebbaeus means “heart child.” Both nicknames allude to the assumption that Judas might have been a gentle and tender person. Someone with a childlike heart, and vastly different from Simon the Zealot. Just like the other two, little is written about Judas. However, there is a record of a brief dialogue with Jesus (John 14:21-22). The way Judas asks the question “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us and not to the world?” reveals a man with humility, tenderness, but also a compassion for all people. He doesn’t understand why Jesus will reveal Himself to this rag-a-tag group of men and not the whole world. Afterall, Jesus was the saviour of the world – the King of kings and Lord of lords.
So here are three very different characters from way down the list in the lineup of Jesus’ disciples. Yet they were all called by Jesus to be part of a team. Without them there would not have been a team of 12. To be part of the team you do not have to be a celebrity. You just need to be called and committed. We see this principle all through the Scriptures: e.g. Nehemiah 3:1-4 - they aren’t famous figures of history, but they are people whose hearts had been touched by God and who decided to work together to help make history by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down for over 100 years; the same with the pioneers who rebuilt the temple - they are unknown to us, but they were history makers nonetheless because they had a passion to work for God without needing recognition or fame; the same in the early church where the Apostle Paul gives account of some people we know little or nothing about but who were key figures in the growth of the first century church and who were a great support to him (Romans 16). So, it doesn’t matter whether you are a public leader or natural speaker with lots of charisma. What matters is that Jesus has called you to be part of a team, part of His church. You don’t need special recognition or be concerned if you aren’t particularly well known. All that matters is that you love and follow Jesus and are willing to help build His Church. Thank God for the many people who serve like this in this church.
2. You need to be prepared to be a team player. Just like our bodies have so many connected parts, so does the church of Christ. We don't know all the roles these 3 disciples had specifically. What we do know is they were part of the team. They lived with Jesus. They worked with Jesus. They were sent on a mission for Jesus to extend his kingdom and to make and multiply disciples. They were part of a team and gave their best efforts to serve the Lord and people. Whatever your role, whether it's setting up the chairs, visiting the sick - your being part of a team makes a difference (Romans 12:4-8).
3. You can help with great change when you are a team player. These lesser-known disciples went through everything the other disciples experienced. They were there at the last supper. They were there when Judas betrayed Jesus. They were there at Jesus’s crucifixion. They were witnesses when Jesus rose again. They were part of the team of 12 who stood together on the day of Pentecost. Conquest comes through a team. Moses needed a team. His father-in-law told him he wasn’t doing right to take all the responsibilities of leadership. He needed to share the load by recognising faithful and capable people and make them leaders over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Jesus needed a team. The early church needed teams in every local church (2 Timothy 2:2) the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy instructing him “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” Today as we see so many people uniting in opposition to God, we need to all be part of teams who will serve God together in local churches. We need to stop being focused on me, but to focus more on we. No part of the body is more important than the other (1 Corinthians 12:1). There should be no sense of inferiority or superiority. Everyone is important whether you are well known or little known like the three disciples we have looked at today. Whether famous or anonymous, we should all seek be faithful disciples and heroes for God. Decide today to be such a faithful person!
