A True Valuation.

I heard an amusing story a while back.

A man bought himself a house which had a garage attached which contained the remains of an old car. He was neither interested in the garage or car, only the house. There the car stayed gathering dust for several years until the visit of an old aquaintence. The visitor was given the traditional tour of the property including the garage however when he saw the old car he stopped dead in his tracks. "I've been meaning to get rid of this pile of scrap for years" said the owner. "Well I'll be happy to take it off your hands" replied the elderly visitor. The owners mind started to go up a gear. " It can't be worth more than £20 in scrap value and it'll cost me more than that to move it." he thought to himself. "Tell you what" he said, "Just for you I'll let it go for £200" "O.K, it's a deal" came the reply and with that the deal was done, the owner freed up his garage space and made a bit of money into the bargain.

Fast forward 4 years and the same man is sitting at breakfast reading his morning paper when his eyes glance upon a certain article. He stops, his coffee cup drops from his hand onto the floor and after a few seconds of shock he shouts out "I don't bloody believe it!" Right in front of him was a picture of the same car,virtually unrecognisable and under the headline 'CLASSIC CAR INSURED FOR £100,000'. How could this happen!

Here's the story from the perspective of the old aquaintance. He said "I knew there was something special about the car when I first saw it but it was in such a state I couldn't be sure. The chassis, engine and framework were there but not much else. I wiped the grease and the dust from the name plate to see the name of a classic car garage from the days before mass production. From the days when cars were hand made in a small garage by two or three man teams. I realised that every car this garage made was unique and the makers name made it virtually priceless. There was only one of these cars ever made." He continued, "In the last few years I've spent everything I had on restoring this car to it's original glory." Describing it as a labour of love he said, "I've sometimes worked long into the night wondering if I would ever get it finished but if you asked me now I'd have to say it was worth it."

Y'know I almost felt sorry for the original owner who sold the car so cheaply but at the same time I had to laugh.

How is it possible that two men looking at the same thing saw something entirely different. One man saw a wreck, marred, damaged and dirty. The other saw a priceless, unique classic car waiting for someone who would make to neccessary investment to rescue, restore and save it. When I heard this story my mind went to how we value each other. Permit me to ask you a question.

HOW DO YOU VALUE OTHER PEOPLE?

We have many ways of applying a value to people. We do it economically. In the city of Galati in Romania many were employed in the local steelworks until much of it was shut down putting many out of work. They were of no economic value to the new owner. We are valued by race. I've encountered Romanians who put little value on the gypsy people on their own doorstep seeing them as little better than vermin. One friend of mine, however, told me that when people in England speak to her they are fine until she mentions she is from Romania then you see the change in their faces. Such is racial valuation. We may down on others but be sure there are always people with the same mentality looking down on you. Not only is racial prejudice wrong, it makes no logical sense. We are also valued intellectually. One person may look down on another because they don't have the same education as them. People are discriminated against on the basis of culture, gender and age. Even in churches a person can be looked down upon because of past sins. God may have forgiven them but they are not allowed to come out from the shadow of shame. Now permit me to ask you another question.

HOW DOES GOD VALUE US?

The best way I can answer that one is to go to an amazing statement in one of the gospels which says 'For God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him should never perish but have everlasting life.' Think about that for a moment. Gods watched as his son whom he loved suffered and was crucified and why? So the penalty of our sin could be paid for and we could be saved from the penalty, power and presence of sin. That's what it cost God to purrchase us, to rescue us from a future of hell, an eternal seperation from God. What on earth possessed Jesus to pay such a heavy price for us. Why would he give everything he had, even the blood in his own veins to redeem us? I mean look at all the trouble we cause. We lie, fight and steal and most of us don't give our creater a second thought, this would is scarred by the sins of man. There hasn't been a day in the last thousand years where there hasn't been a war somewhere. Where someone is kiling someone else over land, power or money. Why would he pay such a heavy price?

I believbe he saw the same thing that man saw when he viewed that car. He looked past the outward tarnished appearence, damage and disrepair. Wiped away the grime and grease and SAW THE MAKERS NAME and said, "yes, this is worth it". Do you know the real value of a human life? It's not in our usefulness to an employer, the number of friends we have or our level of wealth or social standing. The real value is found right back in the book of Genesis when the scriture says "and God created man in his own image" Etched on the heart of every human being is the name of his maker. Every one of us is a unique production, looking past the grime and the greese of our sinfulness and unrighteousness is the name of the maker. This is why God would pay such an incredible price to redeem us, to purchase us and then do everything he can to salvage us, repair and restore us to our former glory. To make us what he always intended us to be. People who reflect his creative and moral beauty. People made in the image if God.

The bible uses a certain word for this. SALVATION. It means to SALVAGE ,to REDEEM, to RESCUE, to REBUILD and RECREATE, to RENOVATE and RESTORE TO IT'S FORMER GLORY. To make us THE PEOPLE WE WERE ALWAYS DESIGNED TO BE.

If this salvation was only the forgiveness of sins it would be wonderful but it is much, much more than that. It is also to be freed from the power of sin and ultimatly to be freed from the presence of sin and all the effects of the fall which damaged God's beautiful and perfect creation. Our own salvation is expressed in our restorative touch to others. When we see the poverty, deprivation and suffering of others and we reach out to meet their needs we are acting in a redeeming restorative and saving way. We do this when we look past the dirt and the grime of humanity to see the makers name on their hearts. The same name etched upon the hearts of every member of the human race regardless of their race, religion, who they are, were or where they are going. The same name God saw when he considered you worth salvaging and the scripture says that salvaging process begins the moment you put your faith in Jesus.

What a contrast such thinking it to they way we often see each other. Jesus came to bring a revolution but not with guns or bombs. He came to bring a revolution in our hearts and our thinking. Imagine if everyone saw others the way Jesus sees us. Such a revolution would change the face of this planet forever.