Precious in God's Sight

Everyone had a good week. I don't think we need this. Set that aside.

It's been some wonderful fall weather lately. I know, having grown up in the church and going to the Feast of Tabernacles every year from Minnesota, it was always kind of a changing of the seasons mark for us. We would usually go to the Wisconsin Dells and drive there from home. And I always remember, you know, we'd drive back the night after the last service of the feast and get home around 11 or midnight. And always remember coming back in and seeing how bare the trees were when we came back home. Saw a little bit of that this year again. It is nice, though, to have the great seasons and to see the leaves changing color and coming down. I always enjoy the change in the seasons. Probably when we're in the dead of winters when we enjoy the change of seasons the most when we're looking forward to spring. But it is nice to have the variety. I'd like to start with a couple of stories that I read in one of the most authoritative sources that you can find, which is Facebook. So take them for what they're worth. But I thought they were pretty humorous, at least, and interesting. The first one, a long-lost $1.6 million 17th century cabinet was found. Outside the toilets of a pizza parlor in Yorkshire, England. The Roman Baroque furniture was snapped up by a European private collector at a Sotheby's sale after the carved wooden base was reunited with its intricately decorated top half. The cabinet, which features a picture of the Pope blessing the crowd in Rome, was sold for 1.1 million British pounds, including the buyer's premium. It had been featured, it had been feared, that the gilt wood stand had been lost forever. But it was recently discovered in the York branch of Ask by the head of furniture at Sotheby's, Mario Tovella. She'd been looking for the consul for 20 years and realized that the table was almost identical to two other pieces housed in Denmark, thought to have been given as gifts by Pope Clement IX. The stand was sold by the York Conservation Trust, which owns the assembly rooms where Ask Pizzeria has rented since 2002. Next story shows a picture, if you were on Facebook. This 17th-century Japanese lacquer box was a masterpiece in its time, and in our time, stout enough to support a heavy television set. What is now known as the Mazarin chest passed through various hands over hundreds of years, eventually serving mostly practical purposes. For several years, the largest of the two Mazarin's golden chests was considered lost. The Victoria and Albert Museum looked far and wide for it, anxious to bring the two rare beauties together again. It turns out that in 1970, the chest was sold for $160 to a French engineer who worked for Shell Petroleum. The engineer used it as a TV stand in his South Kensington apartment for 16 years, then brought it with him when he retired to France in 1986, where he used it as a bar. Oblivious to all of this, in 2013, the engineer's family called in auction specialists to appraise and sell his estate. The specialist found Mazarin's lost golden chest in a house in terrain, propping up spiritualist beverages. It sold at auction for $9.5 million.

One more, and then I promise we're done. When he was a boy, John Weber, 70, was given an old cup by his grandfather. He assumed it was just a worthless piece of brass and occasionally used it for target practice with his air rifle. Eventually, Weber decided to have it appraised, and experts concluded that it was a 2300-year-old Persian gold cup of enormous value. It sold at auction for 50,000 British pounds, or 99,000 US dollars, in 2008. Interesting stories. A lot of things that are out there that could potentially be of worth. Obviously, these are some pretty special finds that were made over the course of a number of years, but it does stand for a point, which is that we don't always understand the value of things that we have, do we? We don't always understand the value of the things that we have. And that holds true not only for tangible goods, like the things that we were talking about here, but it also holds true for intangibles. You know, we often hear, as people are on their deathbeds, you know, they think about the relationships that they have, the family, the time that they wish they had spent, and the values that they focus on at that point in time are very different in terms of what has value versus what many of us focus on day in and day out in our lives. But that's actually not my topic for today. What I'd like to focus on is how do we think of our own value? How do we think of our own value?

So for those of you who like titles, I've titled this sermon, Precious in God's Sight.

Now I want to be careful with this topic because, you know, there's plenty of popular ministers out there that we can tune into on television who are all about empowering yourself, finding the greatness within yourself, tapping into how great you are and how valuable you are, and that's not what I want to talk about because we know that as human beings, we're very much like some of these artifacts that we talked about, right? We're the table that's sitting outside of a public restroom. But what is it that gives us value? It's when God, who sees and decides to bring value to our lives, comes and takes us out of that situation that we're in and calls us and brings us into his family. That's the value that I'd like to talk about today. And I think what we sometimes don't realize when we look at our own lives, we realize our fallibility as human beings. At times like this, when many of us are struggling with difficult trials, we focus on the difficulties and the weaknesses that are within us. But we also have to think about the value that God ascribes to us. And again, I want to stress this is not tapping your own inner strength because it's not something that's in us as humans. But when God has called us, when God has given his Spirit to us, we are valuable and we are precious to him. And we need to recognize that and understand that so we can live our Christian lives in that confidence and continue moving forward. Turn with me, please, to Romans 5. Romans 5. And we see right from the beginning of our Christian walk, and in fact, even before our Christian walk, what we represent, what we can be through God, has incredible value to him.

Romans 5, and we'll read verses 6 through 8. Romans 5 verse 6 says, When we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love towards us, that while we were still sinners, God died for us. So even as we were there, proverbially, like that valuable table sitting outside of a bathroom doing nothing, God saw value in us. He sacrificed his son for us, and through that, he draws us to him. This time, you know, after the feast, winter is coming.

Again, like I said, many of us enduring difficult trials. It's a time for us to focus on this element of our Christian lives. You know, Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, there's a time for everything. I think it's a good time today for us to sit back and think about the value that we have to God, and how now that he has called us, we are precious in his sight, and how we need to move forward in confidence because of that. Let's talk first about the investment that God has made in us, the investment that God has made in us. Now, I come from an accounting and finance background, so the word investment means a lot to me. And in an accounting sense, there's a big difference when you spend money between an expense and an investment. Okay? If you want to put it in day-to-day terms, an expense might be going out and paying to play a round of golf, or go ride the go-karts. Right? You pay for it, you get your time, whatever it is you bought, and when it's over, it's done. The money is gone, and except for the memory of what you did, the benefit of it is gone. On the other hand, when you think of an investment, an investment we all make is a car, right? You buy that car, you put the money into the car, and that car is there to serve you, hopefully for many years to come if you've made a good investment. And that's the difference between the expense, which you enjoy for a very short period of time, and an investment which you expect will have a long-term payoff. And when you make that investment, you make it with a lot of thought, don't you? Because it's typically fairly expensive. A car, a washer and dryer, a house, which is usually the biggest investment that any of us make.

Think of how carefully we consider those things that we buy, and what we expect out of that investment in terms of long-term service. Let's turn to John 3, 16. The investment that God made in us, as we already read in Romans, came also with a price, and it's a heavy price. John 3, in verse 16. Anyone who watches NFL football has got to be familiar with this verse. I heard somebody at the feast refer to it as the goalpost verse, because it's hard to look at anyone kicking a field goal or next to a point without seeing that sign held up behind the goalpost, right?

But it is true. God so loved the world in John 3, 16, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that through him the world might be saved. That's an investment. His Son, his precious Son, the blood of his Son that was given for all of us.

And yes, there's a heavy responsibility that comes with it, but there should also be a sense of how precious we are to God that he was willing to make that investment, that he was willing to make that sacrifice, as well as Jesus Christ on our behalf. Turn with me also to 1 Corinthians 6, which states this in even more of a specific sense. 1 Corinthians 6, and we'll read verses 18 through 20.

1 Corinthians 6, starting in verse 18. Here Paul is talking to the Corinthians about ways that they should conduct themselves as Christians in a very morally decrepit society. Verse 18, he says, flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, that you have from God, and you're not your own? For, in verse 20, you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. That's an investment being described, that price that we were bought with, the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and the value that we have, which is also supposed to come out then in the things that we do, as we glorify God in our body and our spirit, in the actions that we do, in the way that we act towards others, in the way that we live our lives. But the key that I want to focus on here, in terms of value and how valuable we are in God's sight, God has sunk a large investment into us.

I don't know how many of you watch much television, but are any of you fans of the show Shark Tank?

Okay. So I love watching that show again, coming from a bit of a finance background. It's a lot of fun. For those of you who haven't seen it, you have different entrepreneurs who have started companies, and they come in front of this group of usually four people, wealthy individuals who have made a lot of money in business, and they make a pitch in terms of the company that they've formed, and how they want to grow, and how they want an investment from those people. And as Shark Tank, those folks sit back and they evaluate this investment pitch being made to them, and then they make a decision, either to pass on it, or in many cases to go ahead and invest, sink some money into this company, and take an ownership interest in it. And once they've made that investment, there's something else that comes with it, and that's why it's so valuable for companies to come on this show. And the value that comes with it outside of the money is the person giving the money. And often, as these people come on the show and they show their business, they're trying to decide between money that's being offered as an investment from a couple of different funding sources. And when they look at those people, they say, well, over here is Mark Cuban, and he started businesses in the digital space, and he's into pro sports. And over here is a person who's very active on the QVC channel, and has all of this pipeline into getting retail products onto QVC and onto television shopping. And they decide between those two individuals making the investment, which expertise do they want that's going to come along with that money to help the business forward. So it's a thin example, of course, to talk about Jesus Christ as an investor on Shark Tank. But the fact is, when Jesus Christ invests in us, he doesn't just, God doesn't just give us the blood of Jesus Christ and wash our sins away, and then walk away. Say, okay, done, we'll move on to the next one. There's an investment, there's a personal investment that comes along with that, just like these individual investors who put their own money into something, and then they put their own effort into it. They put their skills and they put the connections and the power that they have into that investment that they've made, very much the same way that God works with us, as he gives us the power of the Holy Spirit, and as he guides us and leads us forward, even through times that seem pretty dark in our lives. There's also the issue of value, and when we look at a show like Shark Tank, it's interesting to watch the different investments that some of the investors simply pass on, and some of them will say, well, this is a very interesting business that you've brought me, but the fact is, I don't know anything about it, so I'm going to pass. I'm not going to invest in something that I don't understand. Either I don't see the value in it, or I don't know how to drive value out of it, and it's very similar in the way God approaches us as well, right? God has things that he values in terms of what he wants us to produce out of the investment that he's made, and he makes it very clear that what he values is not exactly the same as the things that we see.

Again, looking at some of these stories, I'll just read one more, and we'll talk about it in that context. In 2008, a California man named Tony Marron bought a box of documents at a neighborhood garage sale for $5. When he got home, Marron examined his take and noticed that one of the documents was a 1917 stock certificate for 1,625 shares of the Palmer Union Oil Company. With a little investigating, Marron discovered that Palmer Union Oil merged with a company, and that company then merged with Coca-Cola. And according to the lawsuit, his twice-merged shares would entitle him to 1.8 million shares worth an estimated $130 million in Coke, based on the closing price of $72.02 a share. That many shares would make Mr. Marron's heirs the largest non-institutional shareholders of Coca-Cola and one of the richest garage sale hunters in history.

Again, I can't vouch for the absolute accuracy of what's here, but again, back to the point of value.

People see different value in these things, right? The person who had these documents, these stock certificates, just for whatever reason, didn't have a lot of interest in them, threw them into a $5 box at a garage sale and said, go ahead, take it, and move on.

And it turned out, obviously, like was written here, a lot of value. When we take that and we put it into our own lives and how we know God is at assessing value, how good are we at recognizing the values that God wants driven out of our lives? We think of examples, for example, like the anointing of David. What is it that God said as he looked at all the sons of Jesse, lined up in front of him, and he had sent Samuel there to anoint the next king?

Right? There were the big burly ones, there was the athletic one, right? There was the one that was probably a great hunter. They all looked the part, and they continued, Samuel continued to say, no, that's not the one. That's not what God's looking for. And in the end, they took the skinny, redheaded kid who was out tending the sheep and said, that's the guy. He might not look like anything of value to you, but there's something in his heart that I can develop with my spirit that will make him my king and put him in the lineage of Jesus Christ. God looks on us in very much the same way, and I should say exactly the same way. He's called us exactly the same way he called David, not because of something specific that he saw in us that's helpful to him, but because of something that can be driven as he puts his Holy Spirit in us and as we live by that spirit. And he's decided to ascribe value to us in a way that the world around us doesn't, and often in a way that we, as we look inside ourselves, don't describe value either. And I would say, again, in the right way, it's important to us in our Christian walk to understand the value and the preciousness that we have within God's sight, especially as we go through difficult times and we need to keep moving forward.

Let's look at another element. God values our repentance. God values our repentance. I'd like to take a few minutes to read through the chapter of Luke 15. There are three parables laid out in here that are very interesting, and I will then read some information that I found from a slightly more reliable source than Facebook that takes apart what's happening in these chapters a little more, which I found very useful and informative. Let's read through the chapter first, starting with the parable of the lost sheep. Luke 15 and starting in verse 1.

All the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him to hear him, being Jesus Christ, of course, and the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.

And so Jesus spoke this parable to them, saying, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I found my sheep that was lost. And I say to you, likewise, that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

Going on in verse 8, the parable of the lost coin. Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I found the peace that I lost. Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. We can already see the common denominator there, right? About the joy, about the repentance of not only the people written about here, but all of us, as we look at ourselves and as we look around the room. That same level of joy as we've repented and departed from our sins. And then the parable of the prodigal son, starting in verse 11. Then he said, A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me a portion of the goods that falls to me. So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered everything together, journeyed far, far away, and he wasted his possessions with prodigal living. When he had spent all their rose a severe famine in the land, and he began to be in want. So he went and he joined himself to a citizen of the country, set himself into his fields, and he fed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, but no one gave him anything. When he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bred enough to spare, and I perish with hunger? I'm going to rise and go to my father, and I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and before you, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. And he arose and he came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and your sight, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

But what does the father do? As we know, he says to his servants in verse 22, Bring the best robe and put it on him, and a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead, and he's alive again, he was lost, and he's found, and they began to be merry.

Now, I'd like to read this section because it's from an online commentary which is called GotQuestions.org. It's actually an interesting place to look that has a lot of commentary on different biblical passages because I think it states a number of things in writing better than I could. So if you'll bear with me, I'd like to read some of this because it takes apart some important elements of these parables that drives out even more the story that Jesus Christ was bringing across here. The situation that Jesus is speaking in can be seen in the first couple verses it states here, where the tax collectors and sinners gathered around to hear him. Notice that the Pharisees did not complain that Jesus is teaching sinners. Since the Pharisees thought themselves to be righteous teachers of the law and others to be wicked, they could not condemn his preaching to quote-unquote sinners. But they thought it was inconsistent with the dignity of someone so knowledgeable in the scriptures to eat with them. So the presupposition behind the statement of the Pharisees that this man welcomes sinners is what Jesus addresses in these parables.

So to understand the significance of the opening statement in chapter 15, we have to consider that the Jewish culture is a shame and honor driven society that uses shame and honor in a way that developed sort of a caste system. Virtually everything that's done in this culture brings either shame or brings honor. The primary motivation then for what and how things are done is based on seeking honor for oneself and avoiding shame. This was a central and all-consuming preoccupation of the interaction in this culture. So the first parable when Jesus invites his listeners to place themselves into the story by saying, suppose one of you has a hundred sheep, he's appealing to their intuitive reasoning and their life experiences. As the story completes, the Pharisees in their pride would refuse to see themselves as shameful sinners, but eagerly take the honoring label of being righteous. However, by the implication of their own pride, they place themselves in the position of being the less significant group of ninety-nine in this situation.

Then we get the statement that there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than in the ninety-nine righteous persons who don't need to repent. And of course, we recognize Jesus is speaking sarcastically or tongue-in-cheek when he said the ninety-nine or the others who don't need to repent because, as we know and of course he knew, everyone needs to repent of their sinful nature. In the lost coin parable, the ten silver coins refers to a piece of jewelry with ten silver coins on it that's worn by brides. So it's not just a purse with money in it where somebody's looking for money, but a much deeper emotional value that goes with it. Something that's equivalent to a wedding ring today. So if you wanted to put a parable like this into modern terms, you'd talk about a lady, for example, who lost a diamond out of her wedding ring and what she would do and how she would rejoice when she found that diamond again. Much more than losing, you know, a silver dollar or something like that on the floor. So when we examine these parables, we can see that Jesus was turning his listeners' understanding of things upside down. The Pharisees saw themselves as being the beloved of God and the sinners as refuse. Jesus used the Pharisees' prejudices against them while encouraging the sinners with one clear message, and that message is this. God has a tender personal concern, and you can see that in the word picture of a shepherd taking a sheep and putting it up on his shoulders. And it's interesting, in this commentary it goes on, I'm not sure if it's accurate or not, but it actually talks about the point that in early Christianity, before crosses were used, that the predominant picture that was used for Christians, especially in relating to Jesus Christ, was that picture of a shepherd carrying the sheep. I think we've probably all seen a picture like that, you know, a small lamb fits across the back of the neck with the legs on each side and the shepherd holding it on its back and carrying it. And I've seen some depictions of that, you know, with Jesus Christ really shown the way I would picture him as a masculine, powerful shepherd. Very strong image, and according at least to this commentary, that was the image that Christians identified in the early first and second centuries as Jesus Christ. There's one other section that I want to talk a little bit about here that I found interesting as well, and that is a progression that goes through these parables, as he's going deeper and deeper in terms of the value of what's lost and the personal meaning of what's lost.

It starts with a sheep, then it goes to a silver coin, which is somewhat more valuable as a part of that wedding necklace, and then finally a son. Part of the power of these parables to reach the audience then comes from the shame and honor aspect of the culture. To lose a sheep as a shepherd would be a very shameful thing. A coin from a piece of bridal jewelry lost in your own house would be even more shameful, followed by a lost son, which would have been worst of all in Jewish culture. Then you have the personal progression from seeking after only one of 100 sheep, then one of 10 coins, and then one of two sons. This shows the scope of God's personal concern for individuals and would have been a great comfort to the sinners that Jesus is teaching.

And then lastly, a change in the tense in each parable regarding the rejoicing at that which was found from future tense to present and then to past tense. This may have communicated the certainty of God's acceptance of those who repent. So if we take apart these parables, the thing I want to leave you with in terms of this parable is, again, it focuses on the great value, even in Jesus Christ's time, that he was trying to bring across. Pharisees were saying, look, you're eating with all this human rubbish over here. You're bigger than that. You should be over here with us important people.

And Jesus Christ is saying, through this progression of parables, these people are so very precious to me because they're coming and they're repenting of their sins. And he feels exactly that same way about all of us as we come to him and we repent of our sins and we turn of our ways towards him.

Next section I'd like to talk about a bit as we take a few pictures of this and think about our worth and our value in Jesus Christ and God's eyes. God treasures our memory and just as importantly, he forgets. God treasures the memory of the things that we do and just as importantly, he forgets.

So memories are precious. I think any of us who have sat back, we probably all got something that we turn back to from now, from time to time, to remember precious days gone by. When I was a kid, I used to love sitting back and pull the old photo albums off of the shelf and leaf through them. Nowadays, we probably do a little bit less in terms of making physical photo albums, but I'm sure we all have mementos of those types. But somehow it gave me a feeling of belonging. I grew up basically away from extended family because my mother had come over from Germany. Her whole family was over there. So grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, I never really knew them except as something sort of abstract. But something that really gave me a feeling of belonging and being a part of something was sitting there on the ground, pulling out those photo albums and looking at my parents' wedding pictures, looking at pictures of my mom with her brothers and sisters, her father, different members of the family, things that we had done when we were younger. It was just, it's hard to describe that warm feeling, that feeling of belonging and being part of something that I connected with as a part of those photo albums. We've been having fun lately as Madeleine has been taking pictures that we've taken over the years now, the last 10 years or so, and going out on one of the internet sites and turning those into books that we then get printed. We've sent some of those books to my mom, to Karen's dad. And again, you know, the reaction from them is they get these books of places we've gone, things we've done over the course of a few years, and they can page through them and be a part of them. It gives a connection. And I'm sure as you think about it in your own experience, you can think of different things that trigger memories for you. In most cases, it has something to do, I would guess, with pictures or some of the written word. There's, this is very biblical as well in terms of what's brought out. I think when we talk about the idea of a book of remembrance that triggers thoughts in most people's minds, turn with me to Malachi 3.

The things we put in these books are the things that are precious to us, the things we want to remember, the things that are close to us and emotional to us and the good times, the things that we really want to keep with us. Malachi 3, and we'll read verses 16 and 17. Verse 16, Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them. So a book of remembrance was written before him, for those who fear the Lord, and who meditate on his name. They will be mine, says the Lord of hosts. On that day I will make them my jewels, and I will spare them. Think again of how precious we are in God's sight in terms of what's written here. As we come to services, we spend time together, hopefully not just trading stories about things going on during the week, but also engaging in deep fellowship, sharing challenges and problems that we have with one another. And God says he writes these things in a book of remembrance because we and those conversations, those discussions, the time that we spend together is precious to him. He sees it. It matters to him, and he calls us his jewels. It's that important to him. It's further brought out if you turn to Psalm 56. Psalm 56 and verse 8. David talking about a very similar idea in his relationship with God. Psalm 56 and verse 8. Here David says, you number my wanderings. Put my tears into your bottle. Are they not in your book? So talking here about the fact, the attention, again, that God has towards the things going on in our lives. Easy to forget sometimes, especially as we're going through difficult times. Easy to think that God might have forgotten about us or turned his eyes away from us. But from these things that we read in the Bible, we see he knows our wanderings. He knows the steps we're taking. He knows where we're going and what we're doing. He sees those things and observes them, and they are precious to him.

Let's turn to one last passage about this as well, Luke 10.

Luke 10, and we'll read verses 17 through 20.

Luke 10 verses 17 through 20.

This passage covers an area where the disciples had been going out and preaching and doing the work that they were sent out to do, and then returning to talk with Jesus Christ.

Luke 10 and verses 17 through 20.

So we think of the power that was given to the disciples, the healings that they performed, and the miracles that they performed, and here the broader group of 70. Jesus told them, more than any of that, rejoice in the fact that your name is written in heaven.

God knows your name. God knows who you are. You're in his book as one of his precious ones. That's something to rejoice in, is what he's saying, and that's something we should be aware of and rejoice in as well. Now, as powerful as the things that God remembers is the things that he forgets. I think we can all be grateful of the fact that God forgets our sins. Now, when we were little, every now and then we would try to play a trick on each other as kids and say, try to forget something and see if you can forget it. And I can guarantee you, at least for me, the easiest way to remember something is to try to forget it. Because every time you try to forget it, you concentrate on it, which brings it back into your memory, doesn't it? And so as human beings, it's just impossible to really understand a situation where you can forget anything that's happened, especially a slight against you or a sin that someone's committed that's really affected your life. But if you turn to Hebrews 8, we'll read, starting in verse 10, Hebrews 8, God says that He forgets our sins. They're not counted against us, and He completely does forget them. Hebrews 8 in verse 10, for this is the covenant in verse 10, that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind, I will write them on their hearts, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And as we know, with the coming of Jesus Christ, that's the covenant that this is speaking about as the Holy Spirit lives within us.

And in verse 12, I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds. I will remember no more. So as we're forgiven of those sins, they're removed from us. And if we looked in Psalm 103 verse 12, we won't turn there, but it talks about removing them as far as east is from the west. And we can get into a philosophical discussion, if you'd like, to after services about whether a God who's all-powerful and can do everything can actually forget.

And is that a contradiction to say that God can forget because does it somehow betray his power or mean that he doesn't have the power to remember everything? But I take these words at what they say in the Bible in terms of the fact that God says these sins are forgotten. The things that we repent of are taken completely away from us, separated from us. So far, you can't even see one from the other. And that's a fantastic thing.

It's something that we experience as human beings probably very few times in our lives as far as people, other human beings, treating us with that level of grace and forbearance and forgiveness. But it's something that God does for us. The other question is, do we do it for ourselves? Do we hold onto the troubles that we've had, the sins we've committed, the problems that we've had, and refuse to let go of them ourselves? When God promises to us that he's forgotten them and we should move forward as a new man, a new woman, a new creation, and move forward from those sins. You know, probably like me, you sit up sometimes at night or you wake up and you just think of something you've done that just makes you cringe.

You know, it might be a sin, it might be something just stupid and foolish that you've done. And it just, you know, those things are just there and can be very raw in our minds sometimes when they come up. God says those things are taken away.

We shouldn't live in those things and continually go back to those things and think about them, but rather move forward in God's way, in his Spirit, and walking in his paths to take our lives forward, not continually looking backwards. So God does value us, he remembers us, and more importantly even than that, I think, he forgets the things that he has washed away.

Next, let's talk about the fact that God values our difference from the world around us. God values our difference from the world around us. Let's turn to Matthew 5. This is a very familiar passage in the Sermon on the Mount. I don't think we always think about it in terms of value, but I'd like to read some additional things after we read the verse that talks about that. Matthew 5, verse 13.

Very simple statement here, you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? Then it's good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

Now what would people in this day and time think about when they heard, you are the salt of the earth? Today it's not that big a deal. You're the salt of the earth, means I can spend two dollars, buy a canister of mortons at the grocery store, and, you know, pour it into my salt shaker and use it till it's gone. Doesn't really mean a whole lot more than that. I'd like to read a bit from an article called Shaking Up the Salt Myth, The History of Salt, written by a person named Chris Kesser.

It goes through a little more about the history and the value of salt in these times. Breaking into the article, it says, until recently salt had maintained an extremely high level of value for thousands of years of human history. As Mark Kirlanski explains in his book, A World History of Salt, that's got to be an interesting read, salt is so common, so easy to obtain, and so inexpensive that we've forgotten that from the beginning of civilization until only a hundred years ago, salt was one of the most sought-after commodities in human history.

The development of human civilization is intricately linked to the pursuit of salt. Wild animals wore paths to salt licks. Men followed these animals and built settlements near those salt deposits. These settlements became cities and nations, and the human obsession with salt has spanned thousands of years of human history across many different contexts and continents. Nearly every society in existence has some level of salt use not only in their cuisine, but also in their medicine, their politics, their economies, and even in religious practices.

In The World History of Salt, Kirlanski explains the incredible role that salt has played in the development of humanity over thousands of years. In Judaism and Christianity, salt is a symbol of the covenant between God and the ancient Hebrews. I don't know if any of you remember that, but salt was actually used in that covenant. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans included salt in their sacrifices and offerings, and Muslims believe that salt protects against the evil eye.

During the Middle Ages, the spilling of salt was considered ominous, and the spiller had to cast a pinch over his left shoulder, a custom that some people still hold onto today. As civilization and agriculture spread, salt became one of the first international commodities of trade. Its production was one of the first industries, and a number of the greatest public works were motivated by the need to obtain salt. Salt trade routes traversed the globe between Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and Europe. Salt was often used as money and was desperately coveted, hoarded, searched for, traded for, and even fought over. Salt has even made its way into our language as a metaphor for value. Hard-working people are known as worth their salt, and the most worthy amongst us are known as the salt of the earth. The root word sal is of Latin origin and refers to salt. Words that have historically been based on humanity's high value for salt include salubrious, which means health-giving, and salary, which is delivered from the Latin salarium, the money allotted to Roman soldiers for the purchase of salt. Salus is the Roman goddess of health and prosperity, and even the word salad originated from the Italian salata, as the Romans often ate dishes of assorted raw vegetables with a brined dressing, hence the name which is short for herba salata, or salted vegetables. Nearly four pages of the Oxford English Dictionary are taken up by references to salt more than any other food, so clearly the high value placed on salt in many cultures around the world has contributed to the developmental course of human history. You are the salt of the world.

Does that have a slightly different meaning now when you hear that? So people in that time would have been experiencing some of the things we read about here very directly in terms of their interaction with salt. And of course, before the days of refrigeration, salt was necessary just to keep food, and especially in civilizations that went through winter, you know, that's why we still eat things like pickles, right, why we have things like feta cheese, salted fish. It all came in at first because it was necessary as a preservative. And when we think then about those things and what Jesus Christ was saying, you are the salt of the earth, he was expressing value, the great value that salt brought to the world, and the things that were delivered through that value, the ability to preserve, the ability to season, the ability to be different from everything around it and have an impact that would help to preserve and improve the world around it, the value of what we bring into the world. Matthew 24 verse 22 talks about the fact that for the elect's sake, talking about the end time, those days would be shortened, again reflecting the value of us as people in the world who are different. Now, as we pause here for a moment at this part of the message, we know that our Christian life is a lot more than just basking in the glow of how valuable we are to God.

And I recognize that, as I said earlier. But we do have to remember that we have to live our lives, our Christian lives, with a feeling of confidence. And again, don't just take my word for that. Let's think about what it says in the Scriptures along those lines. We are to fear him, yes, but we're not to doubt whether God loves us. We're not to doubt whether he really wants us in his kingdom. We're not to doubt whether God is working with us, living in our lives, and leading us on a path.

Think about Joshua 1 verse 9. In this case, it was God working with Joshua as he took over leadership of the children of Israel after the death of Moses. What did God say to Joshua in Joshua 1 verse 9? Be strong and be courageous. He didn't say, Joshua, you better do what's right, because if you don't, you know, there's big boulders up on that mountain up there, and one of them might roll down in your tent tomorrow morning or tonight while you're sleeping. He said, be strong and courageous because I'm with you. Go forward in confidence knowing that I'm with you. Think about Matthew 18 verses 19 and 20, which we've often referred to as the Great Commission, right, as Jesus Christ goes before his disciples. And what does he say? All power has been given to me on heaven and earth. Therefore, go and make disciples. Preach the word and make disciples. Again, he was saying, look, I've got all of the power. I'm working with you. Go forward in that power and do something.

Don't doubt. Don't question. Go forward and use this power to do something positive in the world and do my work. Second Timothy 1 verse 7. What are we told? God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. That's the way that God wants us to move forward in living our Christian lives. We have human weaknesses. We have human fallibilities. He knows that we doubt because of these things that we go through. But God wants us to live in confidence of his calling, the preciousness that we represent in his sight, and the commitment that he has to us. So let's talk about that in the last section of the sermon today. That's what I'd like to leave us with is the commitment that God has made to us.

I read a really interesting story, and this one I'm 99.9% sure is true. It's written in the book Chicken Soup for the Soul, and it's called A Father's Promise. In 1989, an 8.2 earthquake almost flattened Armenia, killing over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. In the midst of utter devastation and chaos, a father left his wife securely at home and rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be, only to discover that the building was as flat as a pancake.

After the traumatic initial shock, he remembered the promise he had made to his son.

No matter what, I'll always be there for you. And tears began to fill his eyes. As he looked at the pile of debris that once was a school that looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his commitment to his son. He began to concentrate on where he had walked his son to class at school each morning. Remembering his son's classroom would be in the back right corner of the building, he rushed there and started digging through the rubble. As he was digging, other forlorn parents arrived, clutching their hearts, saying, My son, my daughter! Other well-meaning parents tried to pull him off what was left of the school, saying, It's too late. They're dead. You can't help. Just go home. Face reality. There's nothing you can do about it. You're just going to make things worse. To each parent, he responded with one line, Are you going to help me now?

And then he proceeded to dig for his son, stone by stone. The fire chief showed up and tried to pull him off the school's debris, saying, Fires are breaking out. Explosions are happening everywhere, and you're in danger. We'll take care of it. So go home. To which this loving, caring Armenian father asked, Are you going to help me now? The police came and said, You're angry, distraught, and it's over. You're endangering others. Go home and we'll handle it. To which he replied, Are you going to help me now?

No one helped. Courageously, he proceeded alone because he needed to know for himself, Is my boy dead, or is he alive? So he dug for eight hours, then 12 hours, then 24 hours, and then 36 hours. And then in the 38th hour, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son's voice.

He screamed his son's name, Armand. He heard back, Dad, it's me, Dad. I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if we were alive, if you were alive, you'd save me. And when you saved me, they would be saved. You promised, no matter what, I'll always be there for you. And you did it, Dad.

What's going on in there? How is it? The father asked. There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad.

We're scared, hungry, thirsty, and thankful you're here. When the building collapsed, it made a wedge like a triangle, and it saved us. Well, come on out, boy. No, Dad. Let the other kids come out first, because I know you'll get me. No matter what, I know you'll be there for me. Turn with me to Matthew 7, please. Powerful story of a human father's love for his son, his commitment to that son that he was going to carry forward with no matter what.

In Matthew 7, another part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is talking to the people listening to him, and in verse 9, what does he say? Matthew 7, verse 9, what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask for him? So much more, even than the example that we see about this father in Armenia, God is committed to us. The things that he's going to give us are not always the things that we value as human beings, though, as we read about earlier, but what he's committed to is our salvation. And no matter what the valleys of the shadow of death might be that he leads us through, he does lead us, and he stays with us, and he is committed to us through that entire process. Turn with me to Philippians 1, please. I'd like to turn to a few passages as we wrap up that drive this point home. Philippians 1. I always love reading this passage because I find it incredibly encouraging. We'll start in verse 3. Philippians 1 and verse 3.

Here Paul says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making request for you with all joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. There's no sort of weasel words in that phrase, are there? He will complete it. He will complete the work that he's begun in us. For those of you who like weasels, I apologize. It didn't mean to malign weasels. Psalm 37, please. Psalm 37 verses 27 through 29.

Again, some very direct statements in terms of God's commitment to us. Psalm 37, starting in verse 27, here the psalmist writes, Depart from evil and do good and dwell forevermore. For the Lord loves justice, he does not forsake his saints. They're preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. Again, a very strong statement in terms of God's commitment towards us. The fact that he does not forsake his saints, no matter what it might seem like sometimes in the human situations that we're in the middle of.

Let's turn to one last passage along these lines in Hebrews 6.

Hebrews 6. Again, what we're looking here is the certainty of God's commitment to us and the fact that we can and should rely entirely on it and remember, no matter what sort of a situation that we're in, that God does value us and he is fully committed to us. Hebrews 6 and starting in verse 13. When God made a promise to Abraham in verse 13, because he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, surely, blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you. And so, after he had patiently endured, Abraham obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. So God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise, the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. So he's comparing the covenants again, right? The promises that he made to Abraham, and now, as he makes promises to us, the people who are called through Jesus Christ, that we have this hope, sure and steadfast, that we can count on it 100%. And these are by no means all of the passages in the Bible that bring forth this idea. You might call some verses to remembrance, for example, the fact that God calls things that are not as though they were when he talks about us and viewing us as his sons.

1 John 3 talks about the fact that we are the sons of God, and we are called that today. We're counted as that today, even though we know we've not inherited eternal life and inherited all the promises that are coming to us. And we see written in the Bible, of course, that it's God's desire that everyone comes to repentance and to a knowledge of him. And so, from all of these different promises and these passages that are written in the Bible, we can count on God's commitment and the fact that he wants us to succeed in our Christian walk, and he's not going to abandon us. So, as we wrap up, it's important at times like this to stand back as we're struggling through different things personally, as a congregation, as a modern world, when we see the things going on around us at so many different levels. It's important to remember a couple of just simple things. Number one, the fact that we are precious to God. And again, it's not some new, agey, tap-on, your inner worth kind of a thing. God says clearly that when he calls us, he's committed to us. He's given us his spirit. He's made an investment in us. He's made it for a reason. Our repentance is precious to him, and the things that we're doing as Christians are precious and remembered, and he's never going to leave us. And so, we need to walk forward in that confidence, confidence in the calling that he's given us, the love that he has for us, and keep moving forward in our lives and fulfilling his purpose. Let's wrap up by reading just a few short verses in Romans 8. Romans 8, which sums this up, I think.

We'll read near the end of Romans 8, starting in verse 31.

Romans 8, 31, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Verse 38, For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.