No-Name Defense
Good Morning Friends,
A couple of months ago the 1972 Miami Dolphins got their Whitehouse visit for winning the Super Bowl. They are the only National Football League team to win the Super Bowl with a perfect season. Don Shula coached the team to a 17 win…no loss season. It was my last year in High School in Naples, Florida, so I was engaged in watching the history unfold.
Meeting Coach Shula and his son years later was a great joy. I remember Coach Shula saying that his success was all in the details. So too it was for the 1972 Miami Dolphin defense. They were the best defense in the league. Nine players on the defense were selected to go to the Pro Bowl, but because of the impressive offense receiving so much publicity half the team of the 1972 Dolphins were referred to as the No-Name Defense.
Scripture: So the last will be first, and the first will be last.
Matthew 20:16 (NIV)
A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
Proverbs 22:1 (NIV)
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Philippians 2:9-10 (ESV)
Message: Today I believe that being part of God’s no-name defense is a badge of honor like that of the 1972 Dolphin defensive line. Still a person’s name is their identity. Protecting and defending a good name, or living up to one’s name are still meaningful concepts in today’s world. But deferring to a higher name and taking a place out of the limelight has its merits. Without all the no-named people in this world not much would get done. Deferring credit to others is the way to really succeed. In the reading of the Bible the role of the no-named people is important as well. Often when it comes to more minor biblical characters, we don’t always get the name of the individual. In many ways, this creates a bit of a mystery with regards to these characters. It draws us into the story. In some cases, we never find out the name of some minor characters such as the rich young man who went away unhappy after Jesus told him to sell his belongings and give the money to the poor, or the woman who was caught in adultery and forgiven by Jesus. Most likely it is because these characters literally were unknown to the witnesses of these Gospel events. They simply entered a scene, had an encounter with Jesus, and were on their way before anyone discovered who they were. At the same time, it is possible that the authors of the Gospels sometimes used this as a device to invite the readers to enter into the Gospel stories and encounter Jesus by putting ourselves in the place of these unnamed characters. One of the most interesting possibilities of this is the story of the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus after Jesus’ death (Luke 24). Luke tells us that the 2 were unable to recognize the Risen Christ who was walking at their side. After Jesus breaks bread with them, their eyes are opened and they recognize him. The story gives us the name of only one of the disciples – Clopas. Why not name the other one too? It is possible that Luke is inviting us to identify with the unnamed disciple, urging us to recognize the Risen Christ who is walking along the road of life with us and who is encountered most intimately in the Eucharist – the Breaking of the Bread.
Pray we realize that God’s strategy for use being number #1 is humility. Pray we by faith are set free from bondage, healed of sicknesses and diseases, and made whole in the name of Jesus. Pray we truly believe in the dynamic reality that there is no other name under heaven more powerful or more significant than Jesus. Pray we realize that Jesus has got our backs covered if we just keep looking forward. Pray we too enter the story and share in the experience of Jesus. Pray we realize that God is in the details defending us against the devil each time we give credit to God for those things the world would have us claim as our own.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 