Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father...you are of more value than many sparrows. - Matthew 10:29, 31b
As I look out my office window, past the tree standing in the side yard and beyond the bland grey bus garage, I see the grain silos standing against the cloudy sky. I wonder how much grain they could hold, how many kernels of corn, how many soybeans. Not how many bushels. Not how many pounds. Not how many dollars' worth. How many individual grains?
Millions? Tens of millions? Maybe a billion? There is probably a mathematical formula that could get me the answer, but I would first have to figure out the volume of each silo and then how much grain fits into a certain volume and there would probably be calculus involved and I don't know calculus. We met long ago but we didn't stay in touch. At all. So, I am just going to say those silos could hold a lot of grain. A lot is a good number.
That is the same number I use to measure the pain I see in the world. A lot. There is a lot of pain in the world. There is the pain of illness and loss, the pain of abuse and neglect, the pain of not having enough and the pain of having too much. The pain of the world is played out on the news, on social media, and in our own lives. We have all seen it. We have all experienced it. It is a lot.
I believe God has seen the pain of the world and I believe God has experienced it, too. And I believe God stands with us in that pain, and comforts us, and strengthens us, and by God's Spirit fills us with hope for a world and a life without pain. I don't know if that makes all of the pain go away, but I do know God's presence makes it a little easier for me to bear. It also leads me to want to ease the pain of the world in whatever small way I can.
Yes, there is a lot of grain in those silos, or at least there could be. I imagine God's Wisdom could do the math.
There is also a lot of pain in the world, and God knows just how much. However, not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from God. And YOU are of more value than even a lot of sparrows.
Worship This Week
Sunday, 10am
In-person and streaming on Facebook Live
Lent 2021: The Story of Jesus in Mark
If you join us in-person, you must wear a mask and follow safe distancing.
If you are not well or have been exposed to someone with the corona virus, please watch from home.
Looking Ahead:
Maundy Thursday, April 1. A special service will be posted on Facebook during the day and you are invited to come to a drive-thru communion on Chapel Street between 7:00 and 7:30pm.
Easter Sunday, In-person Worship at 8:30am and 10:00am with the 10:00am service live streamed on Facebook.
Keep In Prayer:
Sherry Williams, Mary Wallen, Alvin Shelley, Dee Kuhlman
Our shut-ins: Kate Shelley, Dot Ann Smith, Nora Smith, Helen Payne