I was thinking about all of the times I’ve mentioned Peter, Paul, John, or even James in one of these devotions. Then I realized I’ve never mentioned Bartholomew. Why the oversight? What happened to him anyway? I don’t remember Jesus ever having a conversation with Bartholomew. I can’t write, “As our Lord said to Bartholomew” or “As we learn from the apostle Bartholomew.” Commentators suggest his identity may have been mistaken with Nathanael, which doesn’t help matters. He may have taken Matthew’s gospel to India. He was 1 of the 12 whom Jesus chose personally. He saw Jesus by the lake after the resurrection (John 21:2). He was there with the rest for Jesus’ ascension and the bestowing of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1). That’s all a pretty big deal, but there’s no buzz about him.

I’ve known other people like that. The Holy Christian church is filled with stealth servants. Maybe you’re one of them. They quietly slip in and do God’s work, and they slip out without fanfare. What would be noticed is if they stopped doing it. In one of my churches, there was a man who washed the windows every week. No one asked him to do it. But he saw the windows were dirty, so every Saturday he brought his bucket of ammonia water and stack of old newspapers and washed each window until it was squeaky clean. I don’t remember his name, but I’ll think of him as Bartholomew.