Still More No Fear
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matt. 10:29-31, RSV.
I have been making God's job easier for the past few years in the hair-counting arena. A bad hair day for me is now "hair" in the singular. But still I have never taken the time to count what's left.
In fact, I don't know of anyone who has ever numbered the hairs they have attached to their cranium. And here we come to Jesus' point. Namely, that the Creator-God knows us far more intimately than we ever will ourselves. In short, He cares.
Christ's main illustration in today's reading is just as illuminating about the concern of the Father. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" He asks. Now a penny was about the smallest coin in a Jewish wallet. Being one sixteenth of a denarius, it wasn't worth much. And you could buy two sparrows with only one penny.
Luke's Gospel puts it a bit differently, noting that five of the little birds sold for two pennies (Luke 12:6). That tidbit of information makes the illustration even more powerful. Apparently the sparrow market operated on the same principle as many stores do today. If you were willing to spend a penny you got two birds, but if you spent two pennies you could get double the birds with an extra one thrown in for free. What a bargain! If we combine Matthew's and Luke's accounts we realize that God cares even for the sparrow that had no value at all. Or as one writer has pointed out, "even the forgotten sparrow is dear to God."
So why should Christ's followers have no fear? Because they are of infinitely more value than many sparrows and hairs, and if God cares for them we can be sure that He has far more concern for us.
So there we have it. As Christians we should have no fear because"
1. The judgments of eternity will set things straight and correct those of time (Matt. 10:26, 27).
2. People really can't do anything to harm us permanently (verse 28).
3. And God cares for each of us, including those who seem to be forgotten by the world and even the church (verses 29-31).
We can rejoice today that we have a God who cares, a God who is powerful, a God who will make all things right in the end.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matt. 10:29-31, RSV.
I have been making God's job easier for the past few years in the hair-counting arena. A bad hair day for me is now "hair" in the singular. But still I have never taken the time to count what's left.
In fact, I don't know of anyone who has ever numbered the hairs they have attached to their cranium. And here we come to Jesus' point. Namely, that the Creator-God knows us far more intimately than we ever will ourselves. In short, He cares.
Christ's main illustration in today's reading is just as illuminating about the concern of the Father. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" He asks. Now a penny was about the smallest coin in a Jewish wallet. Being one sixteenth of a denarius, it wasn't worth much. And you could buy two sparrows with only one penny.
Luke's Gospel puts it a bit differently, noting that five of the little birds sold for two pennies (Luke 12:6). That tidbit of information makes the illustration even more powerful. Apparently the sparrow market operated on the same principle as many stores do today. If you were willing to spend a penny you got two birds, but if you spent two pennies you could get double the birds with an extra one thrown in for free. What a bargain! If we combine Matthew's and Luke's accounts we realize that God cares even for the sparrow that had no value at all. Or as one writer has pointed out, "even the forgotten sparrow is dear to God."
So why should Christ's followers have no fear? Because they are of infinitely more value than many sparrows and hairs, and if God cares for them we can be sure that He has far more concern for us.
So there we have it. As Christians we should have no fear because"
1. The judgments of eternity will set things straight and correct those of time (Matt. 10:26, 27).
2. People really can't do anything to harm us permanently (verse 28).
3. And God cares for each of us, including those who seem to be forgotten by the world and even the church (verses 29-31).
We can rejoice today that we have a God who cares, a God who is powerful, a God who will make all things right in the end.
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