by Rev. Aidan Moon
God’s Mercy in the Junk Heap
You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link.
I spent an afternoon a few weeks ago on the hunt for five escaped goats.
My parents recently moved, and for their small flock, this stressful experience apparently was grounds from them to light off across the prairie one evening. Following a sighting over ten miles away, my mom and I spent the afternoon driving around on back roads, scanning the sagebrush and cactus for any sign of the four-legged critters.*
On the way, we entered this valley of trash. We came over a ridge, down a rough dirt road into what felt post-apocalyptic. Piles and piles of decay and death. The leftovers from life – the shredded remains of many a dream. It was a depressing and bizarre landscape.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.”Psalm 23:4, English Standard Version
When we hear the language of “the valley of the shadow of death” we may conjure up in our minds eye a dark canyon, with the eyes of wild creatures peering at us from the shadows – a wild place full of fear. But after driving through this valley, I couldn’t help but feel that this was truly a place of death. A place full of destruction, decay, and dreams run dry. A place full of broken, rejected, lost things. A lifeless place.
But our Shepherd Jesus seeks us even in those places. Even in the shadow of the death of our dreams. Even when we are rejected, our own failed goals and dreams and ideals leaving us feeling worthless – like ever so much garbage – our shepherd comes for us. He is the shepherd who seeks out His flock. At the risk of mixing metaphors, I’ll leave you with this quote from the author Bo Giertz:
“One does not choose a Redeemer for oneself, you understand, nor gives one’s heart to Him. The heart is a rusty old can on a junk heap. A fine birthday gift, indeed! But a wonderful Lord passes by, and has mercy on the wretched tin can, sticks his walking cane through it and rescues it from the junk pile and takes it home with Him. That is how it is.”
*While we did not find the goats that day, they managed to survive on the prairie and made their way home after two nights out on their own. So no need to worry.
Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado
