Hello,
This week I found myself standing in the express line at the grocery
store having been sent on a mission to gather the ingredients for a corn and
bean salsa that my wife was going to make. The sign above the cash register said, “12 items or less”. I looked in my basket and counted
fourteen items, and although the sign didn’t say “give or take a few”, I
assumed that is what it meant.
As I walked into the “express line of 12 items or less…give or take a
few”, I found myself standing behind a young man of high school age who was
incredibly tall. Considering that
my eyes lined up with the bottom of his shoulder blades, my guess is that he
was at least 6’6” tall, and probably more. He was lanky tall; thin and spindly. My guess is that he weighed about as
much as I did when I was his age, and I peaked out at 5’9”.
It has been a while since I have found myself standing next to someone
of his height, but there in that “express line of ….” I felt really, really
small. With my stature, the only
time that I feel big at all is when I am surrounded by a bunch of preschoolers
who have come up to the front of the church for the children’s message. So, feeling small is not an unusual
feeling for me. But standing next
to this sequoia of a young man, the measure of my smaller stature was
magnified….and I felt really, really small.
I don’t know if you have ever felt this way. Maybe you, like me, have also felt this way when you are
being evaluated by people from the “HR” department. Or maybe you have felt the magnification of your smallness
as the doctor tells you that you will have to wait 2 months to receive the
treatment you need. Or maybe you
have felt very small when you are with a bunch of friends who are touting their
accomplishments and your life has just crumbled in your hands. The person who wrote the Psalms felt
the microscopic nature of his stature as he looked at the stars of the skies
and ask, “what is humanity that you, O LORD, would mindful of it?”
It seems to me that in reality we are very, very small…..even the
tallest among us. And the fact
also is that our stature compared to an ant is not all that grand compared to
our stature in as we stand next to the vastness of creation and the majesty of
God. And if we should
thoughtlessly squash an ant whose path should happen cross ours, or if we
should intentionally squash it because it strayed into our kitchen….what, then,
might happen to us if our paths should happen to cross God’s or if we should
wander unwanted into his kitchen.
It is no wonder that every time in the Bible, the first response of
those who find themselves in the presence of God is fear, and in the case of
the Christmas shepherds they were fearfully, fearful (“sore afraid”).
The great wonder and joy of the Good News of Jesus is that, in fact,
even though we are smaller than ants to God, God actually cares about us. And if that is hard to believe, God
proves his care for us measly humans by becoming one of us, identifying with
us, and even…..dying for us!
God is not about to squash any of us, for although we might feel small
in his presence, he sees each one of us as immense and huge – for he has placed
on us a value of measureless worth: the life of Jesus, his Son. And even though the water that splashes
upon us in Baptism may be very small – as small as a few drops or a barrel full
of water – the Word that comes with that water is HUGE: “You are my beloved
son/daughter, with you I am well pleased.”
So, this week, know this: if the world says you are small and
insignificant, and you can see the world’s foot dropping down upon you, the
world’s attempt to squash you will be in vain, for the one whose power created
this world will place himself between the world’s boot and you and will not let
you be crushed…that is what the cross is all about. And, if the deeds of your days mark you as a nobody, a
“miserable sinner” (and in truth they really do), the deed of God has marked
you as “child of God” for whom he has a place in his heart and a room in his
eternal kingdom, no matter what….that, too, is what the cross is all about.
You and I, as we stand in the presence of God, we are indeed small; really,
really small. But God has shown
us, in Jesus, that to him, there
is no one bigger in his eyes than you and me. So fear not….fear not the power of the world…fear not the
might of God.
Have a great week!
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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