Unusual God

I am writing this as I prepare to lead a funeral service.

In this service we will be remembering someone whose life will not go down in human history as having made a significant impact.  He will not be remembered for unique contributions to our society.  For some, he will be remembered---barely.

It is so sad, but true. 

I know that this man was valuable, and was worthy to be treated with dignity.  He walked this earth and he made his mark; there were good days and bad days.  But I am frustrated that our categories are so limited as we 'evaluate' someone's life.  If he had been a successful business man, or an accomplished athlete, or someone who was so evidently generous with his time, his money, or his talents, I think the world would have evaluated him differently.  I would more easily evaluate him differently.  Something about that rubs me the wrong way.

What is it that establishes the value of one's life?  What is it that should provide for us a true foundation upon which to make judgments about someone else?

God seems to walk by the beat of a different drum on this matter. 

Psalm 149:4 says "For the Lord takes delight in his people. . ."

He delights in those whom he has made His own.

The man whose funeral we will soon be having is for a man who was a child of God.  Jesus had called him, and this man had surrendered.

After that, this man had lived a life that would have to be called a struggle.  He struggled from outside influences and he struggled from influences that arose from within himself.  He walked some pretty rough roads, and roughed a lot of feathers as he went.  But, at the end of the day, he was a child of God.

For this, and this alone, the God of Heaven rejoices in this man.

I have a hard time understanding this, because so many of my categories for judging a life successful are external things.  The things people do, the things people say: their accomplishments etc.  And God tells us that these things are important but secondary.  What really matters is what God has done, and what He did in this man's life was miraculous--he was a child of God!

Father, you are unusual, and I thank you for that.  I thank you for that because you show us what should be priorities for us.  We so often have to work to earn our sense of self worth, and through this man's life you show us what is really valuable. 

Father, would you please teach us to see life the way you see it?  And when the world looks at us and calls us unusual (or worse) may our hearts rejoice in what yours is already rejoicing in!

BT