Eternal Worth, July 31, 2016

Eternal Worth

Vanity of vanities says the teacher- all is vanity. In writers own words-he is given up to despair.

Not exactly an uplifting message. Keep in mind- the writer is not someone down on luck as the

say- the writer is King Solomon- a man of great wealth and wisdom- a man who has everything-

not only of earthly wealth, but of power and respect. Those words of inner reflection by a man of

great power and wealth need to be taken seriously and hear the message God is telling us through

him- that it is important to know what is only temporary- and what is of eternal worth. Nothing

can compare, Paul wrote to the Philippians- than the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as

Lord. Will you pray with me? Pray

What gives something it’s worth? When you go to an auction, the worth of something is

determined by people bidding against each other. The Chicago board of trade and the New York

Stock Exchange essentially do the same everyday- the bulls bidding against the bears and vice-

versa until at the end of the day, someone wins. You go to a car dealership and either pay the

price they are asking or not- and when you do buy a car, the value drops the moment you drive it

off the lot.

Something as simple as a glass of water is relatively free from the tap, but if you were dying of

thirst, a glass of water would be worth all the gold in the world.

And in the Old Testament, Esau was willing to sell his birthright for a bowl of porridge. All I can

say is that I hope it was good- hope it was worth it. But we all know it was a mistake. I would

seem that the worth of something is relative.

Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan in the same way. For Jesus the man, it was just as

hard for him as it is for us to decide. But for Jesus the Son God, seeing the choice for what it

was, responded: “man does not live by bread alone, but by the word of God.” Jesus knew that

obeying his Father God was above all- unchanging and worth everything-

God created us with basics needs such as food, water clothes, and shelter and more important

things like the need for feeling loved and needed. God placed Adam and Eve in a garden with

everything they needed and more than they could imagine. But more important than all those

things- was a need and desire to know their creator- to love and have fellowship with. All those

gifts pointed to what was most important- the giver- God Himself.

For us living in a broken world, it is still a battle. We are faced with making choices of what is

most important every day. Sometimes we see clearly and choose wisely- and other times we

don’t- choosing something of temporary worth over something of eternal worth.
One day, a man came up to Jesus and asked him to be an arbitrator in settling an estate with his

brother. Sounds like a good thing to do. But Jesus responded swiftly and to the point. “Take care!

Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of

possessions.”

Some have taken Jesus’ words to mean that it is better to be poor. But we would be missing the

point. The bible says that it is the “love” of money that is the root of all evil- not money or

possessions in itself. Being rich is not a virtue, but being poor is not a virtue either. It is all about

the heart. If our heart hasn’t changed, a poor person can be just as greedy as someone with much.

But if we live in the proper perspective of what is of eternal worth- it won’t matter whether we

have much or little, but whether we have Christ as our Lord.

What it really all gets down to the first commandment that says: “You shall have no other gods

before me.” because if we don’t get that first one right- we won’t get any of the others right

either. Jesus said that all the commandments can be summarized into two- “love the Lord your

God and your neighbor as yourself.”

It is all about who or what we live for and worship- knowing what is of temporary worth, and

what is of eternal value.

I visited my aunt this week who is having some health issues lately and all she could say- over

and over again was that: “I’m not worth a hoot anymore- I’m not worth anything. This is a

Christian lady who loves the Lord- she knows better.

Makes no difference how old or young you are- or the condition of your health. It makes no

difference what you do or how well you do it. Our worth is not determined by how much money

you have or make.

Our worth is only found in Christ Jesus and Christ alone. There is nothing we can lay down

before the throne of judgement that is worth anything to pay for our sins except Jesus Christ and

what He has done for us.

Writing to the Philippians- Paul lists all his qualifications, his credentials-things that once gave

him his identity-gave him his basis for boasting, his worth before others saying: “If any man

thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of

the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law a

Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”

But now as a man saved by grace he is able to say: “but whatever gain I had, I found as loss for

the sake of the Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of

knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

What a change of perspective and purpose for living! All those things that he once thought were

of utmost importance- they have lost their significance and value. They do not- cannot save. All

those things he strived to do were now considered to be like garbage compared to the surpassing

worth in Jesus Christ.
“What will it profit a man if he gained the whole world but forfeits his life?” Jesus asked. If

there is no God and no heaven- no reason other than to live for self- then it makes perfect sense

to be greedy and live for self.

But there is a God- the king of kings and Lord of Lords who has created us, redeemed us by the

blood of the Lamb- who loves you with a deep, deep love and call us his own- a child of the king

.

All of us have a hundred percent mortality rate. We are all going to die- but only from this life

hear on earth. But we have a heavenly home for all eternity. Because of that we have a different

perspective- we have been given each day to live and work and play not for ourselves- but to

love and serve God and others.

I grew up going to every Waldorf choir concert with my parents possible I think. Some of my

early memories were being moved by the energy and joy of some of the songs- and lulled to

sleep in the quiet and peace of others.

I remember one time in particular. We had gone to Our Savior’s in Leland to hear them sing- and

during the concert was a song called: “If I Gained the World, but lost the Savior.” It began as a

solo and swelled in bold confession as the choir joined in: “If I gained the world, but lost the

savior- were my life worth living for a day? Could my yearning heart find rest and comfort- in

the things that soon must pass away?”

Later, we had lunch and fellowship afterwards and we happened to be sitting at the same table as

the young man who had sung the solo. People complemented him on a great job and what a

beautiful voice he had. But I remember him brushing the compliments aside and began to share

with us that the words of that song were of personal importance- they weren’t just words- but a

confession of his faith. As a small boy- the testimony of a young college man made quit the

impression on me.

I don’t know about you- but I am still learning to do what is most important. I still have to be

reminded of what is only of temporary worth and what is of eternal worth. I still struggle with

putting things in perspective-but thanks be to God- who reminds me of his everlasting love- his

forgiveness that washes me white as snow- and his saving grace that gets me through each day

and for all eternity- because of that I am able to confess with the apostle Paul in saying:

“compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord, everything else is like

garbage.”

Sing song: “If I Gained the World by Lost the Savior”.

To be a church where all members feel valued and encouraged to use their gifts so that all may let the light of Christ shine through them.

Fertile Lutheran Church

Eternal Worth, July 31, 2016

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