God sees us as we are and loves us

A common bird outside of my window is the sparrow. The house sparrow in particular has an interesting history with humans. These birds have been living around humans for over 100,000 years. We may be familiar with each other, but humans have not been kind to sparrows. We don’t like that they are so plain looking, that they do not sing beautiful songs, and that they eat grain. When Mao Tso Tung took over China, he directed the people to get rid of four pests: rats, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows. The people killed so many sparrows that destructive insects like grasshoppers increased, ruining crop yields to a degree that famine set in. Mao replaced the sparrow on his pest list with bed bugs.

We live in a society that does not value common, ordinary things. We chase after things with what we consider have more prestige. We worship movie stars, sports stars, and reality TV stars because of the glamorous lives they lead. We want shiny new cars and name brand clothes. We want to live in homes that are way too large for what we truly need. We want to convince other people and ourselves that we are not common – we are special. We don’t want to be a sparrow; we want to be a majestic eagle.

Scripture repeatedly tells us that God loves the world, but also has a special relationship with those the world labels “ordinary” or “less than ordinary.” What God finds beautiful and important is the orphan and the widow, the sick and the lame, the poor and the sinner.  Let us not be afraid to be common or to be our true selves, because God sees us just as we are and loves us. Don’t waste time keeping up with the Kardashians. Use your time to be with God and serve God. With God we have all we need.  We have nothing to fear.

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.  Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6, 7b

The Rev. Karen Dumey is the pastor of Hunter Memorial First Presbyterian Church in Sikeston.