“Knowing Your True Worth”
Text: Matthew 10:5a, 21-33
6-21-2026
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. How much are you worth? Not your portfolio, but you personally. How much are you worth? That’s a tricky question. Sometimes people complain when they hear of a corporation’s CEO getting a salary of several million dollars. But hey, if they feel he or she is worth that much, who are we to argue? By the same token, why do sports and movie stars or famous musicians get what they’re paid? Some of them get astronomical amounts of money even though I wouldn’t give you 2 cents to see them. Evidently, they have a popularity that warrants that income. On the other hand, we know of people who are notoriously underpaid. Maybe you’ve seen the tabulations where the value of a mother’s work in raising a family is calculated. One estimate says that if a stay-at-home Mom were actually paid for all the work she does, her salary would be around $175,000 annually. I know it’s Father’s Day, but that ought to remind us to thank our wives and mothers too.
All of those values focus on an individual’s work. But what are you worth simply as a person? Oh, if you’re talking about the value of the chemicals that make up of your body, then it’s about $150. If you could sell off all your organs and tissue you might be worth between 4-45 million dollars. I don’t have to worry about my wife trying to bump me off in order to sell my body parts because I’m pretty sure there’s nothing worth salvaging.
All kidding aside, we don’t have slaves in this country anymore so we don’t usually talk about what a person is worth in terms of dollars and cents. Jesus did, though. However, He expressed our true worth by making a comparison to the opposite end of the dollar spectrum. In verse 29 Christ says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” When I read that verse, I recalled a story my Dad told about when he was a kid. He grew up on a farm just outside of a small town called Pigeon, Michigan. Well, there was a storekeeper who would pay the kids a penny for each dead sparrow they brought in. The birds were then tossed into a big barrel out back. Some of the sneaky youngsters figured this out and would retrieve the dead birds and resell them to the storekeeper. {Dad never would admit if he was one of those boys.} Anyway, nobody could remember why this guy was buying the birds. Maybe it was an attempt to eradicate an over-population of pesky sparrows. Seeing how they like to build nests in the gutters of our machine sheds, I would gladly pay a penny a piece to get rid of these nuisance birds. The ironic thing is that my wife puts bird seed out and the sparrows join other birds in feasting on the free food. I think they’re mocking me while they’re at the feeder.
I’ve checked and none of the Bible scholars give a definite answer as to why a sparrow was worth a half a penny in Jesus’ day. I mean, what were they used for? One theory was that they were bought for food. It’s true that in some countries roasted sparrows are a delicacy. But come on, it would take a whole bunch to make a meal if you’re so inclined. Another theory was that they could be used as a sacrifice by poor people. Either way, from a human perspective they’re not worth much. And yet, Jesus says, that not one of them “will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” In other words, not a single, seemingly worthless sparrow will die without God’s permission or without Him noticing. Why? Because they were created by Him and He is intimately aware of what goes on with each and every thing He has made.
The point Jesus is making is the reverse of what we were talking about at the beginning. If God knows and cares about a lowly sparrow which is worth half a cent, then He surely knows and cares about you. In verse 31 He says “you are of more value than many sparrows.” So, to answer the opening question: What are you worth? To God, you’re priceless.
Which leads to a logical question: Why are you worth so much to God? Unlike our world, God doesn’t set your value based upon your work or your talents. Nor does He find your worth in the cost of the raw materials that it took to create you. Truth be told, your worth to God has nothing at all to do with your essence as a human being. It has nothing to do with the things you have accomplished or will do in the future. Rather, your value has to do with what He has done and is doing in you. Unfortunately, you were born with a soul and body that were infected with the deadly disease of sin. In reality, you were born as even less than worthless to God. You were dead in your sins and an enemy of His. And yet, God still loved you. So, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for all your sins. By Christ’s suffering and death, He paid the ransom to buy you back. As 1 Peter 1:18-19 says, God bought you “not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.” That’s the value that God placed upon you. He was willing to pay for you with the very life of His holy, innocent Son. That ransom price makes your worth to Him immeasurable.
The reason why it’s important to know how valuable you are to God is not to make you arrogant or condescending. If anything, it ought to humble you knowing how much God has invested in your soul which was originally worthless to Him. But it’s good to know your value in God’s eyes for two reasons. First of all, as a Christian, you are to look at life differently than the sinful world does. Every living soul has value because it’s precious to God. This shapes our attitude towards all the vulnerable people around us. And so, we fight to defend the infant in the womb from abortion. God says it’s an invaluable soul rather than a blob of cells or an inconvenience, as some people argue. We defend the elderly and handicapped from euthanasia. People say they are a financial and emotional drain on our society since they are not “productive” by worldly standards. Again, God affirms that they are precious to Him, not because of what they can do, but because of what He has done for them.
And really, this affects you too. At times, you may not feel like you’re worth much of anything to anyone else. That can depress us in varying degrees. Our world reinforces it by telling us that you have to reach a certain status of wealth or popularity or power in order for your life to really matter. God ignores all that nonsense. Whether you’re the President of the United States, a movie star, a blue-collar worker, a stay-at-home Mom, a teenager, a child, or a newborn baby, God looks at us all the same. We have equal value in His eyes which makes your worth: priceless.
The other reason why it’s important to know your true worth is because it dispels all fears you may have. I just listed for you several examples of how you are to look at the value of life as a Christian. But Jesus says that’s not the way the rest of the world looks at you, so brace yourself and don’t be afraid of them. When you confess Jesus as Savior and stand upon His truth, even your closest family members may oppose and hate you. Have no fear. People will say you’re misguided if you profess that God works mightily through His Word and Sacraments. They will accuse you of trusting in superstitious magic because you trust that God brings forgiveness and salvation through the simple element of water in Baptism and bread, and wine in Holy Communion. And they’ll say you’re crazy if you insist that you are saved through the merit of Jesus and His righteousness alone without any goodness produced by you. But don’t fear them.
Jesus says you are not to worry about what your friends or family may think about you or the way they mistreat you. Rather, be concerned with what God thinks about you. And what exactly does He think about you? He thinks you’re worth more than anything in the whole world. He knows you intimately and cares for you. He has made you His child through Holy Baptism, as we were privileged to witness this morning with Logan. In those holy waters He washed you in the precious blood of Christ and wrapped you in His righteousness which has given you value beyond measure.
So don’t be afraid to confess your faith even to a hostile world, because Jesus cares for you and treasures you. You are valuable to Him because He has redeemed you. When your life ends Jesus will acknowledge you before His Father in heaven because of your great worth to Him. Due to that, you will be welcomed into your eternal home with Him. So go out now and live your life boldly as one who knows your true worth before God because of what Jesus has done for you. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria