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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
Gods Valuables
June 7, 2005
Dear friends,
We had our annual tag sale at the church this week. You should have seen
all the junk that came in. Ah, I mean previously enjoyed family properties. I
am always amazed at the amount of donations we get every year. The
stuff that comes in is always different too. Some years we get lots of
furniture: bedroom sets, night tables, chairs, dining room sets. Other years
we get all kinds of appliances: TVs, stereos, 8 track players, egg beaters,
blenders and the like. You can usually equip a kitchen with the dishware
we receive and fill a kid's toyroom with the games. Then there is always
something that comes in that no one knows what it is and what it does.
You might not believe this but our tag sale is our biggest fundraiser every
year. It's not because we charge exorbitant prices. It is because we get a
crowd every year that comes in and gobbles up the stuff. I walk around
trying to be helpful and I get to witness some of the excitement when
somebody comes up with a real find. One young lady stopped at the
jewelry table and found some costume jewelry that she fell in love with. It
cost her $2.00 but she felt like a million bucks. A ten year old boy spotted
a game he wanted and he wouldn't leave his mother alone until she gave in
and let him have the 50 cents to buy it. Two young Polish girls came in
with a young man and they bought a table, some chairs and a sofa for their
apartment for $10 and they walked away with a bigger smile than Bob!
I am always amazed that when the dust settles and the profits are tallied
that we made a nice profit from other peoples castoffs. But then again,
value is something that is determined by each individual, isn't it. I always
joke about the fact that my collection of Detroit Tiger memorabilia is worth
a fortune to me but virtually worthless to anyone else. A case in point was
the fact that when the church office was robbed several years ago, my
entire collection was exposed and left untouched.
I was thinking about this when it suddenly hit me that sometimes the
experiences of life leave us feeling old, used up and worn out. I know
people whose spirits have been broken. I know others who have been
handicapped by illness and disease. We live in a society that values youth
and vitality and those who cannot keep up often feel like they are being
relegated to the storage shelf of life.
Well, here is the good news! God loves the cast off. God sees the value in
every one of us because he sees the person inside of us. God sees us not
as we are, but as we were meant to be. A few years ago a man came into
the tag sale and came away so excited because he found an 8 track player.
He was excited because now he could play his tapes again. It wasn't junk.
It was something that would bring him delight. So it is with us. Just skim
through the pages of scripture and see the men and women He called to
serve him. Moses stuttered when he spoke. Ruth was a widow. Zachaeus
was extremely short. David was just a little boy. Jacob was a cheat.
Matthew was a crook. Jonah was a coward. Paul was a self-righteous
hypocrite. Yet God looked past their flaws and saw them as wonderful
servants who would share his joy with the world. The truth is that God
loves each and every one of us, warts and all. When he sees us, His face
lights up because he created us and knows just how beautiful we are.
Praise God. With him, we will never be left on the curb of heaven. We will
always have a seat at his table.
God Bless! Se you in Church.
Cal
June 7, 2005
Dear friends,
We had our annual tag sale at the church this week. You should have seen
all the junk that came in. Ah, I mean previously enjoyed family properties. I
am always amazed at the amount of donations we get every year. The
stuff that comes in is always different too. Some years we get lots of
furniture: bedroom sets, night tables, chairs, dining room sets. Other years
we get all kinds of appliances: TVs, stereos, 8 track players, egg beaters,
blenders and the like. You can usually equip a kitchen with the dishware
we receive and fill a kid's toyroom with the games. Then there is always
something that comes in that no one knows what it is and what it does.
You might not believe this but our tag sale is our biggest fundraiser every
year. It's not because we charge exorbitant prices. It is because we get a
crowd every year that comes in and gobbles up the stuff. I walk around
trying to be helpful and I get to witness some of the excitement when
somebody comes up with a real find. One young lady stopped at the
jewelry table and found some costume jewelry that she fell in love with. It
cost her $2.00 but she felt like a million bucks. A ten year old boy spotted
a game he wanted and he wouldn't leave his mother alone until she gave in
and let him have the 50 cents to buy it. Two young Polish girls came in
with a young man and they bought a table, some chairs and a sofa for their
apartment for $10 and they walked away with a bigger smile than Bob!
I am always amazed that when the dust settles and the profits are tallied
that we made a nice profit from other peoples castoffs. But then again,
value is something that is determined by each individual, isn't it. I always
joke about the fact that my collection of Detroit Tiger memorabilia is worth
a fortune to me but virtually worthless to anyone else. A case in point was
the fact that when the church office was robbed several years ago, my
entire collection was exposed and left untouched.
I was thinking about this when it suddenly hit me that sometimes the
experiences of life leave us feeling old, used up and worn out. I know
people whose spirits have been broken. I know others who have been
handicapped by illness and disease. We live in a society that values youth
and vitality and those who cannot keep up often feel like they are being
relegated to the storage shelf of life.
Well, here is the good news! God loves the cast off. God sees the value in
every one of us because he sees the person inside of us. God sees us not
as we are, but as we were meant to be. A few years ago a man came into
the tag sale and came away so excited because he found an 8 track player.
He was excited because now he could play his tapes again. It wasn't junk.
It was something that would bring him delight. So it is with us. Just skim
through the pages of scripture and see the men and women He called to
serve him. Moses stuttered when he spoke. Ruth was a widow. Zachaeus
was extremely short. David was just a little boy. Jacob was a cheat.
Matthew was a crook. Jonah was a coward. Paul was a self-righteous
hypocrite. Yet God looked past their flaws and saw them as wonderful
servants who would share his joy with the world. The truth is that God
loves each and every one of us, warts and all. When he sees us, His face
lights up because he created us and knows just how beautiful we are.
Praise God. With him, we will never be left on the curb of heaven. We will
always have a seat at his table.
God Bless! Se you in Church.
Cal
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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