The Value of You

 The Value of You

Sunday, January 30, 2022

In our quest for critical questions in the Bible, we have seen verses from the opening chapters of Genesis and from Psalm 8 (repeated in similar form in a few other places). This time, we look at the value of humans, that is, the value of you.

It’s funny isn’t it, that some people have no trouble with this question: Am I valuable in the sight of God? They knew it was true the day they were born. They’re pretty doggone sure that God couldn’t live without them. They have no trouble with their value. I don’t think our passage is addressed to them. They wouldn’t get it. Rather, it is addressed to those who are as low as the underbelly of a snake, those who are not surprised when the clouds cover the sun, and are shocked when something turns out better than expected. Matthew 6:25-34 speaks to this latter group, asking a cluster of questions of them about comparative worth: “Are you not of more value than the birds of the air (birds which God feeds)?" “If God so clothes the grass of the field (lilies), will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” 

Three times in this passage God says, “Don’t be anxious!” “Don’t be anxious!” “Don’t be anxious!” The “valuable” man isn’t anxious. He always knows everything is golden. It’s the “low” person; the “looked-over;” the “over-looked.” They’re the ones who are quite sure that they have many things about which to worry. And they’re good at it!

We wouldn’t say that God does the worrying for us. We would rather say He does the “caring” for us. He cares for us, whether we are winners or losers. He cares enough to protect. He cares enough to provide. He cares about the things that you care about: aches and pains; bills and bad tires; schedules and appointments. He cares about those things, and so much more - things that we should care about as well, but not be anxious about; not worry about. 

The beginning of the passage (found at  the link above, at the Matthew 6 reference) says “don’t be anxious about your life.” That’s very broad, and certainly covers a lot of things, though mentioned specifically are food and clothes. It covers success and failure; jobs with no gain, and job s lost; illness and loneliness - all those things and more. God cares about these, and He will take care. Further, don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God’s got that too. We don’t know what tomorrow holds (probably trouble, say some). But God cares more about your tomorrows more than you. And He’s not worried.

 “What Is Man?”

Sunday, January 23, 2022

We are all a bit puzzled with ourselves. What kind of critter am I? We surprise ourselves and disappoint ourselves, and ask, “What is man?”, a question that Bible writers and others have asked over the millennia.

Job in the midst of trial had a rather dim view of life. “Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil”(Job 14:1 ). It seems as if he answered the question even before asking it. But he does, in another place, ask, “What is man that You magnify him, And that You are concerned about him,That You examine him every morning And try him every moment?” (7:17-18). It is hard to be a creature under the painful and penetrating gaze of God, especially when things go poorly for us. But we are, after all, God’s creatures. We belong to Him. And, of all creatures, we were made in His image, and therefore bear special responsibility to act as His representatives in this world. We are accountable. And God is watching.

David asks the same question, not in despair, but in wonder at being drawn into the execution of God’s works: “O LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You think of him?” (Ps 144:3). He says this after acknowledging that it is God “Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle;” (v.1). What is man, that we could actually be elevated to partner with God in the accomplishment of His works. Not that we can do anything independently of Him, but that, in His grace and mercy, He lifts us to the level of participating with the Divine. What is man, indeed!

But the question, “What is Man?” finds its best answer in Jesus. He is the One who takes on human flesh to demonstrate what “Man” was always supposed to be (Adam, “the Man,” failed to do so). Psalm 8 in the Old Testament, picked up by Hebrews 2 in the New, makes this clear: “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Ps 8:4). Jesus reveals the true, intended nature of manhood when He stoops so low to serve those who have nothing to offer, embracing humility, even humiliation; and then embracing the glory that is given even as He establishes righteousness and subjects all enemies under His feet. This is man. Made from dirt, and to dirt we return. Capable of genius, both evil and good. Redeemed by Christ, to be what we were always meant to be, in Christ. What is man? And how do you fit in?

“Why Are You So Angry?”

“Why Are You So Angry?”

Sunday, January 16, 2022

I’m doing a quick read-through of the Bible, marking all the questions. Every question is not pertinent for discussion, but many of them are. We have seen two of these already in Genesis, and we find another in Genesis 4:6 ‘Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?”’

You remember the story. Abel’s offering was acceptable to God. Cain’s was not. And Cain was miffed. Cain had given of his best, and was informed that it was not good enough. Abel had given of his best, and it was acceptable. How could God think that Abel was better, in some way, than Cain? Certainly Cain was quite sure that he should have been considered a cut above his little brother.

This is a common human reaction. We compare ourselves to others, and the common tendency is to see ourselves in a better light. We tend to judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves. We ascribe to ourselves the highest motives, and to others, more sinister.

So who does one get mad at? Well, perhaps at the brother, or the other, whoever it is. And that was true of Cain, so much so, that he killed him. But he was also mad at God. He thought God was wrong about his offering. He thought God was wrong to judge him. And there are many, many people who think exactly that same thing. “Who is God to look down upon me?” To one who thinks Biblically, it seems a foolish question. Yet there are many people who do not think Biblically. There are many Christians who do not think Biblically.

God says that Cain should “do well.” What does that mean. I think that Cain should humble himself before God. That would be the right thing to do. And yet, he didn’t. Also, God warns Cain: “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.” 

When we face off with God, we are in great danger. When we compare ourselves with others, we in danger. When we refuse to humble ourselves before God; before God’s judgment; before God’s standards - we place ourselves in danger of even greater, more damaging sin.

And this lesson applies to all of us. It’s not just a “Cain” problem. It’s a human problem. It’s a spiritual problem; a God-problem.

Adam, “Where Are You?”

Adam, “Where Are You?”

Sunday, January 9, 2022

After the devil asks the first question of the Bible that introduces doubt into Eve’s mind and lays the course for the descent into sin, the Lord God comes on the scene and asks a series of questions. I’ll talk mostly about the first one, but here are the others as well:

• “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9)
• “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (Gen 3:11)
• “What is this that you have done?” (Gen 3:13)

The question we hear most often, by both Christians and non- Christians, is “Where is God?” We ask that when we want Him to be obvious to us; when we want Him to be involved; when we want Him to reach in and change our circumstances.

But there are other times, perhaps many times, when people, both Christians and non-Christians, when the thought, often unexpressed is more along the lines that we don’t want God to be obvious to us right now, in these good times, but rather to be mostly invisible; we want to be left alone; we want to ride out our pleasant circumstances without interference or interruption.

And this is a kind of “hiding” from God. Yes, there are times that God may seem hidden to us, but there are also those times when we prefer to be hidden from God. And so God’s question to the man, to Adam, could be repeated throughout the centuries and throughout the localities with your name attached to it: “Where are you in relation to God?”

However, what you and I most need every single day is to be ushered into the presence of God, whether we feel the need for it, or whether we don’t. And we can practice certain disciplines and habits that regularly bring us under the gaze of God. We expose ourselves to His Word, and we talk to God in prayer about the uncomfortable subjects which threaten to distance us from Him. We listen to the insights of other believers who are watching our lives, hopefully with the insight the Spirit gives them, who tell us what they are observing - how it is that we may be going into hiding, like Adam.

It happens to all of us who walk on this planet, to the best and the worst - except for Jesus, who never once stepped away from the Father, but always toward Him. May we do the same.