The Sparrow Measure
How do we measure a person’s worth? Our first thought is often to use dollars. For example, the last time I looked, Elon Musk, the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, had a net worth of $195 billion. If the measure is not dollars, it will be some other achievement or success - intellectual, academic, social, artistic, and so on. We measure worth by what a person has made of themselves. At the other end of the spectrum, worthlessness is determined by a person’s failure to achieve.
Can I suggest that being totally responsible for what we make of our lives is a heavy burden to carry. The 20th century German theologian, Karl Barth, wrote that if we use these types of measures, we place ourselves under immense pressure to satisfy the “necessity of living… to take life into our own hands, to be our own masters, to make something significant of ourselves, to justify, sanctify, save and glorify ourselves.” He added that we have to reconcile this with the reality that “we cannot really succeed in doing this.”
Where do sparrows come in? I recently read these rather unusual verses in the bible. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care… So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-32). In the ancient world, sparrows were the cheapest birds available in the marketplace. They provided meat and protein for the very poor. Yet, despite being insignificant and virtually worthless, even a sparrow matters to the God who created it. He still watches over it.
How much more do people, in all their magnificent complexity, matter to God? Our worth is not determined by what we make of ourselves but by the fact that God made us. And, having made us, there is nothing God won’t do for us - despite our unworthiness, despite our disobedience, despite our rebellion, despite our choosing to follow any other god but him. The bible expresses it beautifully, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). If we really want to see what value God places on us as individuals, we just need to look at the cross. God so loved us that he gave his only Son. That is what we are worth to God.
Neil Percival
Young District Anglican Ministry
Can I suggest that being totally responsible for what we make of our lives is a heavy burden to carry. The 20th century German theologian, Karl Barth, wrote that if we use these types of measures, we place ourselves under immense pressure to satisfy the “necessity of living… to take life into our own hands, to be our own masters, to make something significant of ourselves, to justify, sanctify, save and glorify ourselves.” He added that we have to reconcile this with the reality that “we cannot really succeed in doing this.”
Where do sparrows come in? I recently read these rather unusual verses in the bible. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care… So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-32). In the ancient world, sparrows were the cheapest birds available in the marketplace. They provided meat and protein for the very poor. Yet, despite being insignificant and virtually worthless, even a sparrow matters to the God who created it. He still watches over it.
How much more do people, in all their magnificent complexity, matter to God? Our worth is not determined by what we make of ourselves but by the fact that God made us. And, having made us, there is nothing God won’t do for us - despite our unworthiness, despite our disobedience, despite our rebellion, despite our choosing to follow any other god but him. The bible expresses it beautifully, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). If we really want to see what value God places on us as individuals, we just need to look at the cross. God so loved us that he gave his only Son. That is what we are worth to God.
Neil Percival
Young District Anglican Ministry