“You Are Worth More”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. Jesus says in today’s Gospel Reading, “Are not two sparrows sold for a
penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your
Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be
afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Recently I saw an advertisement in the newspaper for a weight-loss
clinic. The ad proclaimed in big, bold letters, “—’t hate yourself
anymore; lose that weight.” Consider how cruel that is; if you
happen to be overweight, they say you should actually hate yourself. Unfortunately, that’s the method used to manipulate us in a lot of
modern-day advertising. We have this message incessantly pounded into us:
If you don’t wear the right clothes, or drive the right car, or even use the
right toothpaste, you are worthless. This scheme which is used so much in
advertising, to manipulate us by demeaning us, goes a long way toward explaining
why so many people today, despite all our material advancement and abundance,
are nevertheless deeply dissatisfied, and have a low sense of self-esteem, and a
negative feeling of self-worth. But, some people would say Christianity is a similar culprit: “How
sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me”; “such a worm as I”; “I, a poor,
miserable sinner.” As a Christian, what should your attitude be toward
yourself? How can you have a good sense of self-esteem, and a positive
feeling of self-worth? You won’t get it by denying the fact that you are a sinner. As
the Apostle John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us.” And you won’t get a good self-esteem and a positive
self-worth by relying on your own good works. Your works cannot make up
for your sin. They earn you no favor with God. As Isaiah says, in
the sight of God, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Denial of your sinfulness or reliance on your own works might relieve
you and make you feel better about yourself for the moment. But, if you’ll
forgive a mixed metaphor, that’s only building a house of cards on a foundation
of sand. Eventually, the truth the Apostle Paul proclaims in Romans
will shake you like an earthquake: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God.” That truth shatters superficial self-esteem and self-righteous
self-worth. As Jesus says in the parable of the house built on sand, “And
it fell with a great crash.” How can you have a good sense of self-esteem, and a positive feeling of
self-worth? Paul puts it this way in Galatians: “I live by faith in the
Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” “God demonstrates
his love for us in this,” Paul says in Romans. “While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.” “This is how God showed his love for us,”
John says. “He sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we would live
through him. . . he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins.” The night before his death, Jesus told the
Disciples at the Last Supper, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay
down his life for his friends. You are my friends.” How can you have a good sense of self-esteem, and a positive feeling of
self-worth? There’s an old saying that puts it this way: “I asked Jesus,
‘How much do you love me?’ He said, ‘This much,’ and he stretched out his
arms and died.” The Son of God loves you so much he gave himself up for
you. Because of his atoning sacrifice on the cross your sins are all
forgiven. John says, “If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
And that also means, because of God’s great love for you, you also ought to love
yourself. Realistically admitting and confessing your sins, like we do in
those words I quoted before from our hymns and liturgy, but also trusting in
Jesus, receiving his forgiveness, rejoicing that you are born again as a beloved
child of God, and precious in his sight. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall
to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of
your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many
sparrows.” How can you have a good sense of self-esteem, and a positive feeling of
self-worth? “—’t be afraid,” Jesus says, “you are worth more . . .” You are worth so much to God that he redeemed you and saved you with
the precious blood of his own Son. If God so loved us, we also ought to
love ourselves. Perhaps instead of calling it “self-esteem” it would be
better to call the Christian attitude “Christ-esteem.” Because your esteem
comes not yourself, but from the Son of God, who loved you and gave himself up
for you. For, if Christ esteems you so highly, you also ought to highly
esteem yourself, as precious in his sight. When Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” he surely does not
mean that we should hate ourselves, while loving our neighbor. For, it is
impossible to really show love to others until you first love yourself; and it
is impossible to truly love yourself until you know the love of Jesus for you.
His love for you is not dependent on who you are, or how you look, or what you
do. His love for you is truly unconditional, unqualified, unlimited.
“Just as I am thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, par—, cleanse, relieve.” Despite the negative messages we are bombarded with, that is the reason
for you to have a positive feeling of self-worth, and a good sense, not just of
self-esteem, but of Christ-esteem. “So don’t be afraid; you are worth more
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