Dolly’s Museum

Dollywood is an amusement park bearing Dolly Parton’s name in the town of Pigeon Forge nestled in the Tennessee mountains.  It’s a stone’s throw from Dolly’s hometown of Sevierville.  In the park is a two-story museum jam-packed with all her awards, pictures, and various dresses she wore during her career.  I suspect any one of those dresses cost more than Carrol’s and my wardrobe put together.

Amongst all this is a video of her talking about the influence Porter Wagoner had on her life.  Porter was one of those country-western singers with the rhinestone suits and piled-high hair.

Dolly Recounts Porter Wagoner

In this video, Dolly shares how Porter offered her her first break into television on his show, with a 3-year contract.  He allowed her to do things that bettered her career while he took a back seat.  After the three years were up, Dolly wanted to move out on her own.  She knew it was going to break his heart. 

To soften the blow she wrote one of her #1 songs titled “I Will Always Love You.”  She played and sang it to him in his office as her way to say thank you for all he had done for her.  She wanted him to know that even though she was going to leave, she would always love him for what he did for her and the profound influence he had had on her life.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the audience watching that video.  Thankfully, I was the only one there.

It’s a beautiful song knowing why she wrote it and what the message to Porter was.  Here are the lyrics.

While Porter is dead and gone, according to Dolly, his influence will live on in her.

I was moved by the impact he obviously made on her life.  It got me thinking.  What impact have I made and will make on people’s lives?

Biblical Influencers

In the Bible, there is no shortage of prominent people leaving lasting memories and spiritual influences for us.  We have Peter, Paul, Moses, David, and Solomon to name only a few.

It would be a mere platitude to say we should follow their lead.  Most of us would rightfully dismiss the challenge, thinking, I can’t be one of them.  You’re probably right, or we would be reading your books rather than listening to me drone on.  So what can we be; here, today, right now?

Rhoda And The Prayer Meeting

Let’s look at two seemingly insignificant individuals in the Bible that could have a significant influence on what we do today.  Have you ever heard of Rhoda and Dismas?  Do they pop into your mind when you think of highly influential people of the Bible?  These two can have a significant impact on us and I suspect we are closer to being like them than Peter or Paul.

Acts 12:1-12 gives us the context for Rhoda’s actions.

¹Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm.  ²And he had James the brother of John executed with a sword.  ³When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well. (Now these were the days of Unleavened Bread.)  ⁴When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, turning him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending only after the Passover to bring him before the people.  ⁵So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made to God intensely by the church.  ⁶On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.  ⁷And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near Peter, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands.  ⁸And the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and strap on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”  ⁹And he went out and continued to follow, and yet he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.  ¹⁰Now when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.  ¹¹When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”  ¹²And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

Continuing on to verse 16 is where Rhoda comes in.

¹³When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer.  ¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.  ¹⁵They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.”  ¹⁶But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. 

Who is Rhoda

So who is this Rhoda?  She was just a servant girl.  That’s all we know about her background.

But what we know about her as a person is that she got so excited, she left Peter standing out in the street by himself.  She forgot to let him in.  It sounds more like a comedy sketch than a true Biblical event.

So, like us, she was just a person.  But, this person was engaged in the early church.  We know this because she was there in the meeting.  And scripture says in verse 14 “because of her joy she did not open the gate.”  Did you catch that?  She had joy!  She was not there just because, as a servant, she was told to be there, but she was so excited that when Peter came to the door she forgot to let him in.

So why do I say Rhoda can have a lasting memory or influence on us?  A couple thousand years later her story can influence us to evaluate our prayer life.

Think about it, she allowed herself to get caught up in the excitement of a prayer meeting.  Really?  The words ‘joy’ and ‘excitement’ usually aren’t in the same sentence as ‘prayer meeting’.

Maybe we need to look at prayer a little differently.  How can we look at prayer that makes us excited about it?  Maybe it’s in the expectation of answered prayer.  Maybe we need to be reminded that in prayer we are talking one-on-one with the creator of the universe.  The one who holds our soul in His protective hands. 

Maybe I can let Rhoda influence me to be so excited about my prayer time that I leave other activities clamoring for my attention at the gate of my mind.

About Dismas

And how about Dismas?  He was the thief who died on a cross next to Jesus.  He is the one who acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God and to whom Jesus said “today you will be with me in paradise.”  He is referred to as the ‘penitent one’.

We read about his interaction with Jesus in Luke 23:32-43.

³²Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.  ³³When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. [skipping to verse 39] ³⁹One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him (Gestas), saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”  ⁴⁰But the other (Dismas) answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  ⁴¹And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”  ⁴²And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”  ⁴³And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Rome didn’t crucify people for misdemeanors.  And death on a cross is not a rehabilitative sentence.  He was being put down like a sick animal.  Actually worse.  It was a torturous capital punishment.  This guy was bad to the core.

How is he going to positively influence me or leave me with a lasting memory?

For all the bad he did, whatever it was, in the end, his end, he accepted Jesus Christ for who Jesus was.  Notice that he understands that Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world when he says in verse 42 “remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”  Surely he knew Jesus was going to die soon, so he knew Jesus’ kingdom was not going to be of this world. 

Interestingly, he also saw Jesus at His worst.  For the first three years of His ministry, Jesus always held the upper hand.  No one could lay a hand on Him.  He walked through crowds of people wanting to kill him.  People revered Him and crowded around Him.  The Jewish leaders didn’t win a single argument against Him. 

And now, here He was, beaten, bloodied, and hanging on a cross left to die.  This was no king or savior in the normal sense.  Yet Dismas believed Jesus.  Dismas doesn’t make excuses for who he was or what he did.  He doesn’t say I’m not worthy.  He just looks to Jesus for who He says He is.  And for that, Jesus says, “today you will be with me in paradise.”  

Point Being

So here we have two people of the Bible: Rhoda and Dismas.  Not much is said of either but they both leave a lasting memory and positive influence with us long after their deaths.

Can we look to Rhoda and work at having an exciting prayer life? 

Or like Dismas, can we accept Jesus for who He is and not worry about who we are?

Thinking back to Porter Wagner.  Can we strive to be a positive influence on others around us?

Thinking back to Porter Wagner who was a great influence on Dolly, will we strive to be a positive influence on others around us?  Will we be a Porter, Rhoda, or Dismas?

Can we look to Rhoda and work at having an exciting prayer life?  Can we share with someone about our prayer life?  Can we pray for someone and let them know we are praying for them? 

Or, like Dismas, can we accept Jesus for who He is and not worry about who we are?  Can we share that with others who may not be believers in Jesus Christ…yet?