“And your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly” (Matt. 6:4b).

Unsung, Unrecognized, Unfazed

Claudette Colvin was a 15-year-old high school student in Montgomery, Alabama who refused to give up her seat to a white person on the bus in February of 1955. She was arrested and jailed, yet most people have never heard of her. That was nine months before Mrs. Rosa Parks did the same thing in the same city on December 1, 1955. Before Mrs. Parks took a stand for justice by staying seated, there were many African American women who had done the same thing or something similar. But their names are mostly anonymous to us. They were unsung, unrecognized, and unfazed.  And they kept doing it anyway!

I will never forget my mother’s response to a white salesman who came to our house in the Slashes Lowlands when I was small and addressed her with the customary disrespect he was used to dishing out to black women. “How you Ainy?” he grinned. My mother’s sharp, clear response, “I ain’t your ainy!” was an act of defiance against the pervasive, callous prejudice of many whites toward blacks at the time. My mother practiced antiracism before the term was in vogue and she was not alone in demanding to be respected and treated fairly!

Like the others, Rosa Parks was not seeking recognition with her act of civil disobedience. But unlike the other women, what she did was not spontaneous but planned by the civil rights leaders in Montgomery, AL. That is why she is recognized, and the others are not.

Now I believe it is important and good to recognize people for the meaningful things they do, but is that why we do those things?  Is it for recognition? And is it truly worthy of recognition? A story comes to mind from the years I worked as a radio announcer in Durham, NC. At a staff meeting one day, a young staffer, “Rosie”, whose job was to write commercial and PSA “spots” as they were called, complained that no matter how good the spots were that she wrote for the announcers, no one ever said, “Good spot Rosie!”  One of the announcers quipped in reply, “Still waiting on that good spot Rosie.” While everyone including Rosie laughed, and I will hasten to add that Rosie really was a great spot writer, and this does not apply to her, but recognition is often sought when it hasn’t been earned.

In speaking about the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus said, “All their works they do to be seen by men” (Matt. 23:5a). Whether it was worthy of recognition or not, they just wanted to be praised by people. All of us want to be recognized, but if the reason we do what we do for others or in ministry is just for people to see, we are simply not doing it for the right reason.  Don’t do it for a vast audience of people. Do it for an audience of ONE.  Do it for God to see. And if no one says anything or acknowledges you, be content to be unsung and unrecognized by man. Get to a place where men don’t matter. Be unfazed and keep on doing it! Do it for God!

Focus Quote:  “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  

                                –Colossians 3:17 (NIV)

Note: I met Rosa Parks in the early 1980s when I was teaching history at Hillside High School in Durham. I assisted Professor Lydia Lindsay of NCCU in planning a Black History program with Mrs. Parks as the guest speaker. Consequently, I went to the hotel with Dr. Lindsay to escort Mrs. Parks to the campus. She was a somewhat diminutive, rather quiet, and unassuming woman—easy to like but a bit difficult to engage in small talk.  

The new devotional anthology by Alton E. Sumner, Standing on the Promises: Defeating Fear and Breaking Barriers, is available right now via:

 

altonesumner.com – an inspiring motivational ministry

Reminders: 

Please continue to join us at 5:14 p.m. each day as we pause to pray. Please see the attached prayer list. Just wait and pray wherever you are. There is no call line or Zoom link to remember.  Just connect to God and pray! 

Blessings, Peace, and Love,

Alton

 Dr. Alton E. Sumner

(301) 921-6060

Listening to the Soul! Lightening the Heart! Lifting the Spirit!