“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31
I like to collect things…books are kind of right there at the top of the list of things I like to collect. These days, I usually will joke to anyone who will listen to me about my personal library that I’m simply trying to collect as many books as I can for when Western Civilization collapses, and I can take my place with my Irish ancestors who preserved Christianity and knowledge in monasteries during the early Middle Ages. There was a time, though, when I collected things, thinking I’d be able to get money from something I’d found and put away. My mom always said, “Something is only as valuable as what someone will pay for it.”
Isn’t that the truth! If someone has a Mickey Mantle rookie card, but no one will pay for it in a down economy, is it really all that valuable? What about sparrows? In Jesus’ day, apparently they weren’t very valuable. Two for a penny seems like a good deal to me for the buyer.
But what about you? Your value is greater than sparrows, He says. The very hairs on your head a numbered. You are like that Mickey Mantle card in someone’s collection. He knows every little detail about you because He loves you. But your true value is in what the Lord was willing to pay for you. The Small Catechism puts it this way: “[Jesus] has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.” You are of much more value to the Lord than even His own life.
Consider how that changes not only how you look at yourself, but also how you look at others. Each of us was bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus. That, dear friends, is our value.
Let us pray: Dearest Jesus, You have shed your blood and died for me. Thank you for the new life you have given to me. Teach me to live in greater faith toward you and love toward my neighbor. Amen.
Written by: Pastor Jordan McKinley
