"Too Precious To Throw Away"
December 05, 2008
Psalm 8:3-5 - When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
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While visiting my parents over the holidays, I asked what I could do to help clean the house for guests. My mom told me that I could clean the window ledge above the kitchen sink. The ledge was full of random objects: a plastic cross, empty collector's Coke bottles. Then there was the painted clay dog I had made when I was much younger. The tail had broken off the dog. I wanted to throw it away. My mom wanted to keep it. She loved the little clay dog not because of its artistic beauty but because it was my creation. She'd rather fix it with some glue than throw it away.
What gives a creation value is who created it. The psalmist marvels at the fact that God loves people so much. Compared to the size and majesty of the universe, we're small and insignificant. Even in our lives, many people feel insignificant. Yet, God cares about people because He made them. He made people to be the crowning achievement of His creation.
But you and I are as broken as my clay dog. Our brokenness expresses itself daily in sinful thoughts, hurtful words, and actions that disgrace and anger God and harm other people. God sees our sin, which leaves us broken, but like my mom, God would rather fix what is broken than throw it away.
As we prepare for the coming of Christ as a baby born in Bethlehem, we remember that the almighty God of this great, majestic universe looked down on people-His people-and saw through Jesus a creation He loved before time began. By His humble birth, perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection, Jesus has repaired what God deemed too precious to throw away-you and me.
THE PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to earth to repair our relationship with God. Your mercy and love are great. Amen
Written by Pastor Christopher Kennedy
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
San Antonio, Texas
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