What do you value the most? Your family? Your friends? Your job? Your home? Your automobile? Your bank account? What will you stake your life upon? Any of the above or some great idea you hold dear? Or maybe none of these things.
Our value system today emphasizes things and technology and persons closest to us. Consider part of our reading from Matthew’s Gospel: “You are of more value than many sparrows” Jesus here places the value system in right order by putting people before everything else.
In a society which is essentially rapid-paced and anonymous, it is hard to get to know one another as people. Indeed, people no longer talk to one another, they use text! The great theologian Martin Buber said it best: “Society has put a premium on the “I-It” relationship while no longer coveting the more meaningful “I-Thou” relationship.”
Today, business and industry and government devalue the human persons who work for them. They believe that “hardware” and information technology are more important than humanity and often “transplant” people at their whim. Yet, in many cases, people are making the effort to be recognized as humans and are “fighting the system.”
Government “people-oriented” policies are often run for the benefit of the “bureaucracy” and the people and the program are supposed to help are lost in a maze of red tape and numbers. The poverty, hunger, and desolation is no secret here in Detroit and other cities and often leaves people neither with self-respect nor feelings of worth.
How can churches best speak to these massive issues? I submit that most important of all is that each of us must first accept that God is personal, loving, and caring of His nature and to live within and act on that thought. Only then can we know our own value and place right value on others.
For decades now, we have witnessed a movement away from belief in God and organized religion toward a secularization of belief. Only recently has there been movement back and toward faith and re-affirmation of religious values. But this is not enough.
To take Christianity and Christ seriously can be a most difficult thing to do. It must mean a shift in priorities away from things and “stuff.” It must mean that attitudes about government, society, race, and gender must change. It must mean placing value on humanity and means making sacrifices for the greater good. Finally, it means first being concerned about doing the right things for the right reasons.
But beware! Men and women who care about people first are often said to be “radicals,” “do-gooders,” or “unrealistic.” Jesus Himself recognized that “the poor we will always have with us,” but that did not stop His healing, caring, and teaching ministry. Jesus told the Apostle Peter to “feed my sheep.” He left the “Great Commission” to “go teach the Gospel to all nations . . .”
Yes, to care for and value yourself and others persons can be a very frightening thing for it can be a disillusioning experience. It may even destroy illusions we have about ourselves. It may put into questions the stereotypes we have long held dear.
Returning to our original questions: What is it that you value most? Is it things or persons? Jesus’ example shows us clearly what our personal priorities must be. Upon what or whom will you stake your life? Jesus’ example was that of valuing persons above all else. This is the central message of the Gospel; the cross and our resurrection faith.
Christians through the centuries have tried to walk in Jesus’ footsteps and have found the cup of hatred, bitterness, and distrust that Jesus did. So caring for ourselves and others over things is never going to be easy. But if we are to follow Christ we must take the hard sayings to heart.
Karl Barth may have given us a signpost when he wrote: “In Jesus Christ, True God, True man . . . rests our hope for real humanity. Not by ourselves, but insofar as we are members of the Body of Christ . . . In order to be human we must believe in Jesus Christ. There is no humanism without the Gospel.
Source: © The Rev. Peter Groschner, June 22, 2014. Matthew 10:24-39. Reprinted with permission from the author.