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Minister’s Forum

I remember visiting with someone who has always left a lasting impression on me. It was when I was serving my first church after graduating from seminary.

This fellow was 96 years old,  and a very inspirational friend.  He wanted to show me some letters he had received, so I went to his room. These were letters from several different sources, praising him and thanking him for contributions he had made to them and the length of time he had been affiliated with those particular organizations. Each one of these letters closed with a plea for his continued financial support and assistance.
He said, “Think of that, I am 96 years old and still important to someone.” And with a shaking voice, he said, “I am still worth something.”
He is still worth something.  And what a shame it is that not enough people feel they are worth something. How easy it is for those in our midst to lose sight of their importance and worth. How easy it is for people in their day-to-day relationships to be taken for granted to the point that their contributions are no longer appreciated, but expected, and in the process, lose their sense of self-worth.
As a therapist, I see people come into our office for counseling. Frequently, the counselor must spend a great deal of time rebuilding an image of self-worth in that person. This is not the way it’s supposed to be.
We humans have never done a very good job of letting people know just how worthwhile they really are. Part of the reason is that we use the wrong means for determining worth. Part of the reason we have not done a very good job in expressing worth to others is because we have used external factors in determining the worth of others.  And too often, because of those external factors, many people have the deck stacked against them. There is no way they can measure up. Because of the standards of worth that people expect others to live up to, there are many people in this life that are not worthwhile, at least as far as other people are concerned.
The sad part of it is that there are people who enjoy privilege,  power, security, opportunity and comfort. These are people who, as one writer said, “Enjoy a delicious sense of superiority, not because of what they are, but because of what they have.”  We, as a society, attribute worth to people, not so much on what they are, but because of what they have.
The writer of the book of  James addresses this very problem in his second chapter, the first five verses:
"My brothers, in your life as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, you must never treat people in different ways because of their outward appearance. Suppose a rich man wearing a gold ring and fine clothes comes into your meeting and a poor man in ragged clothes also comes in.  If you show more respect to the well-dressed man, and say to him, 'Have this best seat here,' but say to the poor man, 'Stand or sit down here on the floor by my seat,' then you are guilty of creating distinctions among yourselves and making judgments based on evil motives.”
So, regardless of the kinds of factors you and I impose on others to determine their worth, God finds all people to be of worth. All people are of tremendous worth to God – no matter how humans judge them. The most significant lesson we take from the Easter season, as it winds down for yet another year, is that we must first realize that each one of us is of great worth to God.
The other most significant lesson we take from a risen Lord is that everyone else is of great worth to God, as well.
Let us believe that, and let us live that. This is what God expects.

Rev. Kurt Simon • First Presbyterian Church

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