by Rev Douglas Brauner

Valuing people as Jesus values us.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.”
Matthew 13:47 English Standard Version

Three years ago I traveled with our mission team to Peru. It was a wonderful, eye-opening, experience. One morning, on a hike into the village we served, a member of Pastor Ricardo’s team took me behind one of the homes. He wanted to show me the fish that the owner of the home had caught.

These fish were caught in the Rio Ucayali in Peru, a tributary of the Amazon River.

I expected to see fish that I was familiar with, or at least that looked like fish I knew. I was in for a surprise.

There were fish that didn’t look like the fish that I would catch in the mountain waters of Colorado. These fish looked more like those I’ve seen pulled out of the ocean.

In the parable of the great catch of fish, Jesus states that the net collects every kind of fish. The reign of God is cast over all people, whether they recognize it or not. In fact, in the two parables that come before this one (the parables of hidden treasure and the pearl of great value) we see Jesus as the one who gave up everything to purchase us from sin, death, and hell.

If we’re going to make an impact in the world, we need to first understand how valuable we are to God and how he values all people. However, we also need to understand that those who reject his love, who will have nothing to do with him, will also be cast away from God’s presence when Christ returns.

Does that mean that Jesus loves us more than those people who reject him? Absolutely not! Remember, the net of his kingdom is cast over all people. The cultural change that needs to happen, in our churches, is to value all people as Christ values them. No matter how much people irritate us, no matter what they’ve done to us, the reign of God pulls them to the shore of his love.

May we value others, as God values us.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado