Judging by God’s Value System
October 30, 2018
Will Fuller is a very productive wide receiver for the Houston Texans. He played his college ball at the University of Notre Dame and by all accounts is a fine young man. Most importantly, he’s my third wide receiver on my fantasy football team, usually scoring about 12 points a game for my team. Last Sunday, Fuller landed awkwardly while catching a touchdown pass in a game against the Miami Dolphins. He had to be helped off the field. An MRI confirmed that he had torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and would be out for the season. As a Christian Pastor, of course I immediately sent him a card and a fruit basket and wished him a speedy recovery. Actually, I did none of those things. I cut him from my team as quickly as possible and picked up the next best receiver I could find. With a healthy ACL, Will Fuller had value to me. With a torn ACL, he is worthless to me.
I think our approach to most people we meet is the same. If we are honest, we will admit that when we meet people, we evaluate them, we make judgments about them, and we try to determine what benefit they could potentially have to us. If we see the possibility of value from them, we will give them our time and energy. If we don’t, we will move on. Jesus didn’t see people that way. In Luke Chapter 15, Jesus told three parables about how valuable each individual soul is to God. In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd left the 99 sheep in search of the one who was lost. When he found that lost sheep he rejoiced. Jesus said, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who need no repentance. In the parable of the lost coin, a woman who had 10 coins swept her entire house because she had lost one. When she found it, she rejoiced. Jesus said, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. In the parable of the prodigal son, a man’s younger son asked his father for his share of the inheritance. Receiving it, he left for a foreign land where he squandered the inheritance by immoral living. When he repented and returned to his father, his father killed the fattened calf for him and threw a party. The father explained to his jealous and disgruntled older son that they had rejoice and celebrate because the son that was lost had been found.
So who has the proper view of people, us or God? That’s not a trick question. Let me suggest that God’s view of people is proper. Where we make value judgments about how we can use people for our benefit, God sacrificed His Son for us to His great detriment. He loves and values each and every one of us, not because of what we can do for Him, but simply because He chooses to love us. This past Saturday, a gunman shot and killed 11 Jews in a synagogue in Pittsburgh because he hates Jews. Another man killed two elderly black people in a Kroger in Louisville because he hates black people. These victims had no worth in the eyes and hearts of their assailants. Until we see people the way God sees them, we will continue to marginalize them and evaluate them in terms of how they can benefit us. God valued each individual so much that He gave His Son for each one of us. God asks us to do so much less, and yet we fail daily. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, He said “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Can we love people like Jesus did? Over the past few weeks we have had lots of rain in the Dallas area. Twice I have seen a homeless man standing on the median of a busy street in the pouring rain about a block from our church. I might have stopped to help him, but both times he was ranting and raving and clearly not in his right mind. I was afraid for my own safety and passed by. I think if I had to make the choice again, I’d still make the same choice. But there are many others who we could help if we were more concerned about THEM rather than what they can do for US. That’s what Jesus did. Maybe I’ll send Will Fuller that fruit basket after all :), or maybe I can find someone closer to home who really needs my help, love or encouragement. Is there someone who could use your help, love or encouragement today?
