“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6-7
There is something terrifying and yet wonderful in the words of Jesus in this portion of the gospel reading appointed for the Eucharist service for today. In essence Jesus is telling his disciples (and us as his disciples in this age) that God who knows and remembers even the slightest of creatures, knows us so intimately that no detail about us is forgotten–and more importantly–that we are of value to God.
For most of us, I think the first part about every action, thought, word, and deed being known about and remembered by God is the part that sticks. And, usually, I suspect we only tend to think about it in the negative: God remembers every little thing I do that was wrong/bad/horrible/manipulative, etc. We are pretty capable of not letting go of a whole host of moments that we wish we could forget where we acted inappropriately, or maybe made someone feel small and insignificant, or even when we’ve caused someone else great hurt.
The harder part to remember, especially in the light of us being weighed down by the knowledge that God knows and remembers all of the “bad” things we do, is that God remembers all of the wonderful things that we’ve done–the times we’ve helped someone to feel important, or appreciated, or loved. God also remembers and knows all of THOSE moments.
In both our best moments and our worst moments, we are of value to God. In those moments when we cannot understand how anyone could love us, value us, care about us, cherish us…God does. Yes, God wants us to be better than we are in those moments, to live more perfectly as God knows we can, but God never gives up on us and God never stops loving us. We are never forgotten in God’s sight; we are of great value to God.
In Christ’s Name,
The Daily Cup 