The Most Celebrated
Speaking of C.S. Lewis, in his short masterpiece The Great Divorce, the most celebrated person in Heaven that the protagonist encounters is a young woman named Sarah. When the main character first notices her, he is struck by the extraordinary reverence and praise surrounding her. She is at the center of a grand parade with music, dancing creatures, and songs sung in her honor. Rose petals are showered upon her, and all of Heaven seems to turn its attention toward her. This is her ongoing existence in Eternity: glory and celebration.
Yet, in her earthly life, Sarah was a nobody. She did nothing that would have drawn applause, earned awards, or garnered recognition. She led no church or mission field. She had no followers or fans. And yet, here she is in Eternity, celebrated with parades and songs, with all of Heaven rejoicing over her.
Why? Because during her “boring” life on earth, she did nothing—nothing but infuse God’s love into everyone she encountered. She quietly loved all and made each person she met feel like they were her beloved. Though she had no biological children, she had countless spiritual children. Every boy or girl who crossed her path became, in her eyes, her son or daughter, even if it was just the boy delivering meat to her back door. Every animal she encountered experienced the love of God that radiated from her being.
Sarah’s service to God wasn’t the stuff of epic stories or exaggerated biographies. Her ministry was carried out in the quiet trenches of everyday life. Her good deeds were made up of small, consistent choices to love the people she met each day. She wasn’t concerned with what we might consider large-scale impact. She had no metrics to evaluate at the end of the day, no followers to tally, no platitudes to post online. She focused on one person and one person only: whoever happened to be right in front of her. In the shadows of the spotlight, her love was monumental. And in Heaven, it was celebrated as such. [1]
God’s calling for each of us is significant. No matter how great or small we perceive ourselves or others to be, in God’s eyes, we are all extraordinary. His greatest plan for a single mom might not involve starting a non-profit to help hundreds of other single mothers escape poverty (though it might). It may simply be raising a child who knows and loves their Creator. God’s best for a husband might not be to lead a Fortune 500 company and donate millions to missions. It may simply be modeling Christ-like sacrifice and unconditional love for his family. God’s greatest calling for an inmate serving a life sentence might simply be reading His Word daily and longing for the day they will meet face-to-face. A pastor’s most significant spiritual gift might not be preaching to thousands or managing a large staff. It might be welcoming the broken and marginalized, sharing their pain, and letting her tears fall alongside theirs.
The most overlooked among us in this life may well be the most celebrated in the next. When this foggy dream of existence is over, and we awaken to the Great Reality, we may discover that the quiet ones were the most cherished all along.
May we let go of our fear of being ordinary. May we shed our fear of being quiet or boring. Let us find our worth not in accomplishments or accolades, but in being loved by the One who is our Heart’s Desire—and in loving Him back. Everything beyond that is just garnish. We can choose to partake in it, or simply sit back and appreciate it, while we enjoy the Meal.
[1] Lewis, The Great Divorce, Ch. 12