Do you desire to be in the spotlight, to be noticed by others? The guests who came to the banquet that Jesus attends seemingly all wanted to be seen, they all wanted to be noticed.
There is a deep human desire to be seen or noticed by others. This can, at times, drive us to do things like the guests at the banquet – look for places and spaces where we make sure others will notice us by assuming the spotlight. This can, as we learn, also be counterproductive.
The world we live in tells us that we are only a ‘somebody’ if
we are ‘noticed’ – if we are in the spotlight. Subtly – and sometimes not so subtly – we are told that our worth depends on being noticed. We can be noticed by who we associate with, the way we dress or the attention we seek. The lie, we are all told, is that our worth or value comes from outside ourselves – from our associations or dress or position.
However, in
our Christian worldview, our worth or value is not from without, it is not something that we have to earn or seek to achieve by being noticed in multiple ways. It comes from within.
Right at the beginning of the Scriptures, in the book of Genesis, we are told that we are created in the image and likeness of God (1:27). Jesus wants us to recognize our intrinsic or
innate value. He wants to teach those at the banquet that their desire to be in the spotlight, to be ‘seen’ – does not afford them any value. Jesus goes on in the text to tell the hosts not to invite those who would acknowledge them, ‘see’ them, but those who cannot – the poor, crippled, lame, blind and those who cannot pay back the invitation. They are valued because they are in God’s image and likeness – as are the hosts themselves.
Do you feel the need to be ‘noticed’ or ‘seen’ by others to feel valued or worthy or important? Why? Can you today ask the Lord to help you claim your intrinsic value and importance because, deep inside you, you bear God’s image and likeness?
