Exhibit Z

“An now, ladies and gentlemen, if you will step forward with me to the next exhibit, you will see Exhibit Z. Frankly, he isn’t one of my personal favorites. In the previous Age, he lived a rather mundane life; ordinary to boring, if you will.” The guide coughed and smiled at his own little joke. “But it pleases His Grace to include him in the rotating order of exhibits. He is not like Saint Paul, over there,” half turning, he pointed over his right shoulder, “Now there was a real witness. Traveling for thousands of miles when transportation could only be considered hard, long and dangerous, he turned the world upside down, as he himself said. His letters were some of the most influential writings throughout the age of the cross and thousands were led to His Grace through his influence. In my book, Paul stands on a high pedestal over all others, even Peter who was sometimes a bit of a flake.” “but what about this Exhibit Z?” came a voice from the back of the tourist group. “He was born in the middle of the 20th Century, a time known for its violence. Those of you born before that time have no doubt experienced the Historicon and were able to sense the tension and fear in that time. It was quite different from the fears of earlier ages when battles were fought by armies and in which civilian populations were relatively unscathed by the battles themselves at least until the battle was won or lost.” “What was so different?” came a young voice at the front of the crowd. “They were threatened by nuclear weapons,” answered the guide. “This meant that now the whole world could be blown to bits.” “But let me get back to our exhibit before we move on to some of the significant events in the days just prior to the closing of that age.” He turned and scanned the audience, then continued. “If you notice, the graph at the back of the exhibit, shows a timeline of exhibit Z’s relationship with His Grace. For most of his life, Z was quite dogmatic, believing the sad tale of his particular group that His Grace wanted his obedience to Moses’ laws. He believed them, taught them to his family and worked for his group spreading the lie. But, unlike Paul, he was rather an anemic enemy of His Grace. Nothing he did made any major impact, though his children and wife suffered under it and all three became less involved as time went on. You will also notice the rebellion line which swings violently up and down. The high of course, is the times when he was most rebellious; the lows are when he pulled himself up by his bootstraps and tried to live what he called ‘a good life.’ At first the line has a gentle rise and fall, but later, in that middle time in a man’s life when all the hopes and fears of the young man become reality, the swings become more dramatic and closer together finally ending up in a rather extended period of rebellion. Even in this, though, he was rather mediocre. He just sort of oozed into rebellion, keeping it well covered. Neither great saint nor great sinner, he lived his ordinary life until His grace confronted him. You will note the image of the meeting he was in at the time, there on the left. Notice his fidgeting and the boredom on his face. If we could hear his interior monologue, we would hear his discomfort at being there-they were discussing Romans at the time, Paul’s great exposition of grace. It is obvious he doesn’t want to be here, but endeavoring to keep his life a secret, he can’t be too different from his religious outer life. Now watch right here. See the change? He is startled by a thought which seems to come from nowhere. Now we know, by his own statements, what the thought was. ‘It came unbidden’ he says, ‘I was sitting there and suddenly the thought came to me, “I believe in Jesus.” It wasn’t a conscious thought, a logical progression of facts, a choice, but a sudden realization of a fact.’” The guide sipped from a flask of water. “I see what you mean,“ said one tourist, “His life seems ordinary, but isn’t he much like the most of mankind, even those who followed His Grace?” The guide thought for a moment and said, a bit reluctantly, it seemed, “Well, yes, I suppose that is so. Perhaps it is like His Grace said in His earth years, ‘…so the works of God might be shown in him.’ It is true, that, as you may notice, that Z’s life took a rather dramatic turn, with fewer and fewer rebellions, but he still did next to nothing for the cause of His Grace. He was a minor player in his lifetime. I still puzzle over his inclusion.” The air suddenly seemed to vibrate. A light too intense for even heaven-accustomed eyes, glowed around them. Warmth enveloped them and each felt a joy and peace that could only come from the immediate presence of His Grace. “Ah my dear Guide,” said a voice which came from everywhere and nowhere, felt as much as heard. “You know me far too little--even after ages of leading these tours. I did what I did for just such as him; he became as a little child and lived and trusted Me. His story is exactly what I wanted it to be and, in his own tiny sphere, contributed to My kingdom. You favor Saint Paul. He’s a good friend of Mine, too. So I want you to remember something he once said when he was writing a letter to my gathering in the town of Ephesus: ‘…so that in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us, in Christ Jesus.’ It’s not just the great things done with energy and valor that makes one worthy to be an exhibit here in the Hall of Fame; it is much more often small things done from a heart overflowing in unconscious reaction to My love which bubbles from the hidden spring of a yielded heart.” There was a pause, as if the Voice were thinking. “You know, my friend, my beloved guide, I think I’ll send you back to school. It’s been many ages since you were in school, hasn’t it?” “Yes.” The guide responded. “Well its settled then. Take your time, we have plenty of that,” He chuckled and the sound was music. “I’d like you to do a research paper on Exhibit Z. Examine his life, talk to him, listen particularly for how he views his own contribution to showing My glory, My grace in kindness to him and to his family. Would you be willing to do that?” “Why yes, of course. Shall I stop leading these tours?” “Just for now; You will be an even better guide after you know Exhibit Z a bit better.” The light dimmed and faded, its evidence betrayed only by a residual glow on the faces of the group and their guide. They all turned to Exhibit Z and saw that his face glowed even more brightly. 11.5.12