Bought With A Price

(This is another re-run, but if you started reading this blog after July of 2008, it will be new to you).

My husband’s grandmother, Mema, has filled several china cabinets with antique glassware. One cabinet in particular contains milk glass, which was very popular in the 1950’s and 60’s. Some of Mema’s collection always belonged to her, while other pieces she acquired at various sales. Some of the bowls, pitchers, and creamers in Mema’s cabinet are valued at more than $250.00, yet she never paid that amount of money for any of them. In fact, she bought several items for a few dollars each at local yard sales.

Whenever we visit Mema, she delights in showing me her newest treasure. It reminds me of the PBS program Antique Road Show where people wait for an expert to assess the value of their secret treasures. I once watched a lady nearly faint when a little glass egg she purchased for 50 cents was appraised at $2,000. I couldn’t help but think about the person who unknowingly exchanged a precious heirloom for pocket change.

Just as we don’t always know the value of material items, we don’t always grasp the value of our fellow man/woman. Several years ago, I volunteered at a local children’s hospital and spent time playing with and holding children who were victims of their own parents and guardians…the tiny baby addicted to crack; the little boy with two broken arms, and a 13-yr-old girl who attempted to end her life because she could no longer tolerate living with abusive parents, were children who my mind will never erase.

It is not only children who are abused and discarded. Broken hearts and lives take residence in every city, small town and village in every part of our world. Were you ever one of them? Have you ever walked around feeling as though you had a sticker on your back that read, “Free, just pick it up and take it away?” I have.

Rejection is everywhere. It lurks on the playgrounds, bus stops, school cafeterias, college campuses, workplaces, nursing homes, and churches. Sometimes the rejection is blatant and mean spirited dealt with a cruel remark or disapproving glare. And other times it is unintentional. Regardless the circumstance, it hurts.

But just as there are experts who, because of years of study and experience, are able to assign value to antiques, there is one expert who knows our worth. He has studied the human race from the moment Adam sat up and brushed off some of the very dust that was used to create him. Our expert knows every inch of us because He is also our creator. And the sign He puts on our back does not list a price, instead it boldly states “sold.”

We have been bought with a price that included two wooden beams, large nails, a crown of thorns and the blood of the mighty Lamb of God who was rejected by the ones He came to save. Anyone who tries to convince you that your value is lesser than priceless just doesn’t know what he’s looking at.

Christ is the living Stone. People did not accept him. But God chose him. God places the highest value on him. You also are like living stones. As you come to him you are being built into a house for worship. There you will be holy priests. You will offer spiritual sacrifices. God will accept them because of what Jesus Christ has done. (1 Peter 2:4-5 New International Reader’s Version)