Sermon: Do You Know How Valuable You Are?

1 Peter 2:2-10

. . . But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called out out of darkness into his marvelous light. . .

Do you know how valuable you are? Really and truly, do you know?

Have you ever asked yourself that question, or has anyone ever asked that question of you? Do you know how valuable you are? Well, it's a good question. And while the question is most likely from a positive place, the answer within us is rarely simple. Even if the obvious answer is 'yes,' it brings up a lot of complex emotions within us, doesn't it? Do you know how valuable you are?

For some of us, I imagine that question is comforting. It may bring up strong memories and sensations within us - moments in which we knew spiritually, emotionally, and physically that we truly were loved, truly valuable. Perhaps we remember parents or children or friends who revealed to us that we have infinite worth in their eyes. Or maybe strangers have even revealed our worth to us. Perhaps they've conveyed to us that they're grateful for who we are. Or perhaps we've convicted ourselves of our own value. I don't necessarily mean those moments when we have more pride than we ought to have (and we all have fallen into those moments, I'm sure). I mean, that maybe we've had the opportunity to tell others about their value - parents, children, friends, or even strangers - and in the process, we've been reminded that we too are human. We too have value. For some of us, I imagine that question is comforting.

For some us, I imagine that question is confusing. Perhaps that question brings up memories and sensations within us that are also strong. Perhaps we remember moments when we didn't feel loved or valuable. Perhaps we remember moments when others have failed us, and we couldn't feel valuable in their eyes. And perhaps we remember moments - maybe even moments today - when we no longer believed that we have value. For some of us, I imagine that question is confusing.

For some of us, I imagine that question is grief-filled. We have memories and sensations within us that are so strong. We remember those who taught us about our value, and some are people who we have lost, either to death or to a move or to illness. Or maybe we recognize our value, but it simply seems like a good idea rather than a concrete reality, because we look at the world around us and wonder why some things are so difficult for us if we're so valuable. "If I'm so important, how could this happen to me?" We all ask questions like that, and while each one of us is gifted with so much, we also know that we've suffered at times. We ask those questions, and for some of us, this question: "Do you know how valuable you are?" is also a grief-filled one.

But it is a good question. Do you know how valuable you are? It's a good question for many reasons, one being this: You are truly valuable. Emphatically and endlessly and joyously, the answer to whether you are valuable and whether you are loved is 'yes.' We are human beings made in God's image, and God values each and every one of us as chosen and precious. We are truly valuable. Valuable to God. Valuable to one another. Valuable to this world. The answer is 'yes.'

Like us, the people in Peter's community probably didn't always know that about themselves. They too must have been confused about who they were and Whose they were. . . They too knew what it was like to experience painful circumstances. Scholars believe that the audience of Peter's letter had experienced a great deal of pain. They were persecuted - for their beliefs, yes. But an extension of that is also true. When a person's beliefs or a community's beliefs are persecuted, it feels as though their very identities are threatened. They are deemed invaluable because of who they are and in this case, Whose they are.

But beyond religious persecution, the community of this letter surely knew other kinds of pain as well. Like us, they had lost loved ones. Like us, they experienced moments of declining health. Like us, they had probably experienced moments of economic hardship. They probably had arguments with family members or friends. They were human, and like us, they knew pain even in the midst of so much joy.

And this letter seems to be speaking to those pains - religious, relational, economic, and other kinds of pains - and the author speaks straight to the heart of identity, value, love, and purpose. If we were to ask the author, "Are we valuable?" that person would say wholeheartedly, "Yes!"

We can read this all through this passage. And in the words, our attention is drawn to someone who exemplifies what it means to be persecuted and rejected and yet chosen and precious beyond measure, and of course, that person is Jesus himself, Jesus the Christ. In this passage, Jesus is held up as the example for us. The text speaks to us, saying that Jesus "was rejected by by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight." We are called to come to him - the one who is called a Living Stone, the one who shows us what love is and how love abides and how love reigns, even and especially in the midst of suffering and rejection.

Jesus is our example. But he's also more than our example. He doesn't simply show us what it means to be valuable. More than our example, Jesus is precisely the one in whom our identity rests. As he is valuable, we are valuable. As he is loved, we are loved. As he is resurrected beyond persecution, suffering, and rejection, we too are resurrected. We are resurrected to live as the valuable people we are. Truly, we're valuable! God loves us as endlessly valuable human beings. And because we have value, we are empowered - not through our own strength but through God's strength, Christ's strength, the Holy Spirit's strength! - empowered to tell the world, to tell individuals that they too are profoundly valuable in God's eyes, in our eyes.

Listen to the words, the images, the deep metaphors in this passage which are applied to Jesus Christ, and then to us! "Come to him, a living stone. . ." "Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house." "Though rejected by mortals, [he is] yet chosen and precious. . ." "You are a chosen people. . ."

Do you know how valuable you are? Did you hear those words and images and deep metaphors? You are a chosen people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood - right here! In the Health Center! You are even like beloved infants in God's care, nourished on the pure, spiritual milk that we are given in God's word - God's written words and God's ultimate Word with a capital 'W' - Jesus himself. Do you know how valuable you are?

As I was studying this passage this week and preparing to speak with you today, I read a commentary by Barbara K. Lundblad* that mentioned a powerful story. Years ago at Union Seminary in New York, a powerful worship service was planned. Of course, numbers upon numbers of powerful services have been planned at that seminary, but this one was powerful in a particular way. A seminary student had worked with an group called Picture the Homeless, and the worship service was planned and led by homeless people, people who were long accustomed to living on the streets, and as you can imagine, they were people who often felt ignored and unseen. Maybe at times, they had struggled to answer the question, "Do you know how valuable you are?" And yet, they planned this service to help people remember that they are valuable. They have names. They have dreams. They have infinite worth in the eyes of God.

The occasion for the service was really convicting as well. The worshippers hoped to bring attention to Hart Island, a place where many homeless people were buried after they died. It was a potter's field in New York City. The people who died there were often nameless without family to commemorate their lives. They didn't even have the opportunity for religious services of any kind. Though they had infinite worth, they were not commemorated as though they had value.

The seminary student and the homeless people worked hard to prepare for this service. Some of the worship leaders could not read, so they worked hard to memorize their parts. They led all parts of the service with dignity and grace, and several people told about their experiences living on the streets.

At the end of the service, the congregation of people was invited to do something really powerful. There was a large sheet of paper, and it was filled with anonymous names - anonymous names like John Doe, Jane Doe, and Baby Doe. And as the names were spread across that sheet, they created an important message. They were placed in a formation that said, "WE ARE HERE." Members of the congregation were told to take Post-it notes, small pieces of paper, and write names of people who were homeless - actual names of real people, and then they each came up to the sheet and replaced the anonymous name with a real name. Soon it became obvious that the homeless leaders of the service knew many more names than those who were not homeless. The moment became a reminder to each person that they are called to go to many places - lonely places, isolated places, homeless places, not necessarily places far away but places right where they lived - and learn and recognize that the people in those places have names. They are valuable beyond measure.

I know that there have been moments in my life when I felt isolated and unknown. There are moments when I struggled to recognize my own value. I have a feeling that many of you have felt that way at times in your life. There may be some of you who feel that way today.

But the good news for Peter's community is the same good news for us today. We are valuable. We are not ultimately alone. God will never forsake us. In Jesus Christ, God has a human face, and he is the very foundation of love and value. He will accompany each of you all your days, just as he has been accompanying us through the entirety of our very lives.

Dear friends, every one of you, are truly valuable beyond measure, endlessly and incomprehensibly valuable. . We don't even have to earn it! Did you catch what the scripture said to all of us? "Like living stones, let yourself be built into a spiritual house. . ." Let yourselves. It doesn't say, "Go out there and build that house. Work and sweat and toil. Be strong. Build your own value!" No, instead, it says, "Let yourselves be built."

And that is the message to us today. As we are gathered here in this moment and as we go to our separate rooms in the Health Center, let's remember that we are all valuable. This week, let's find ways to recognize and remind one another of that truth. And let yourselves be the spiritual house that you are. We are a temple - together - and we're inviting other people to enter God's temple and discover God's love for them.

You and I are built upon a loving foundation. And in that spirit, let us sing How Firm a Foundation together. . .

Renee Roederer, Director of Young Adult Ministries at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, and the community of the Health Center within Monte Vista Grove Homes

*This story was a part of the commentary Feasting on the Word, Year A, vol. 2, pgs. 461-465.