Full transcript
0:00this is and it's entitled you are worth
0:03more than many sparrows right now and
0:06some years ago in France a deranged
0:10mental patient took a knife
0:12and slashed a Picasso painting
0:15valued at five to seven billion dollars
0:19interestingly no one suggested that the
0:23painting be discarded
0:26simply because it was damaged
0:28rather
0:30art restoration experts immediately
0:33tried to figure out
0:34how to restore the painting
0:37why
0:39because that painting is precious in the
0:42eyes of art lovers
0:44it occurs to me that Satan is a lot like
0:47that deranged mental patient
0:51because he's out to damage us
0:54many of us have experienced years of ill
0:57treatment racism hatred in Satan's world
1:02he added that the abuse of children
1:05which reflects satanic thinking
1:07emotionally wrecking the lives of
1:10Millions
1:11life in Satan's system
1:13can easily leave us feeling like we're
1:17little more than damaged worthless Goods
1:22one sister put it this way
1:25I believe in Jehovah's Kingdom very much
1:28however I don't really feel that I'm
1:31good enough to be there
1:33another sister wrote and put it this way
1:38I have suffered with depression since I
1:40was a little girl
1:42it was next to impossible for me to
1:45believe that I could enter into the new
1:46world
1:48I felt such self-hatred that I thought
1:51Jehovah
1:52who knew me so well
1:54could never love or approve of me
1:58many people with depression feel a
2:01self-loathing in the face of all reason
2:03or facts
2:06we sincerely believe that there is
2:08nothing about us that is any good
2:11and we can come up with all kinds of
2:13reasons to prove it
2:16that while it's true that all of us are
2:19tainted by inherited sin
2:22does that mean that when Jehovah God
2:24looks at you
2:26that he sees you as little more than
2:28damaged worthless Goods
2:32absolutely not
2:35and we're going to consider two
2:37questions in this brief discussion the
2:40first is
2:41why is it important
2:43that we have a healthy balanced sense of
2:48self-worth
2:49and number two
2:51what are you worth
2:54in the eyes of the only one who really
2:56matters
2:57Jehovah God
2:59well first off
3:00why is it important that we have a
3:04healthy or balanced sense of self-worth
3:07well there are four reasons number one
3:11your sense of self-worth
3:14can actually affect your relationship
3:18with Jehovah
3:19you see feelings of inadequacy or
3:22worthlessness or self-hatred
3:24could actually cause someone to stop
3:27serving God
3:29feeling that he's just not worthy of
3:31serving Jehovah
3:33some people blame themselves for the
3:36injustices and abuses they suffer in
3:39Satan's world
3:40and as long as you blame yourself
3:43you will find ways to punish yourself
3:47perhaps by acting out in
3:49self-destructive ways
3:52it makes me wonder how many who get
3:55disfellowshipped each year
3:57actually just gave up because they just
4:00felt worthless inside
4:03a second reason we need a healthy sense
4:06of self-worth
4:07it can actually affect your relationship
4:10with fellow humans
4:12you see low self-worth
4:15can make it difficult for you to
4:17properly value the worth of others
4:21you have negative feelings about
4:23yourself
4:24it's all too easy to project those
4:27feelings onto those around you damaging
4:30your relationship with them
4:33a third reason
4:35we need a healthy sense of self-worth
4:38it can actually affect your share in the
4:41Christian Ministry
4:43it can actually affect your desire to
4:46share in the ministry how so well one of
4:49our motivations for sharing in the
4:51preaching work is love of neighbor right
4:54but according to Jesus you must love
4:56your neighbor as yourself
4:59and what that means is You Need To Love
5:02Yourself
5:03in order to love your neighbor
5:06so if you don't love yourself you can't
5:08love your neighbor if you don't love
5:09your neighbor
5:10your very desire or motivation to share
5:13the good news with your neighbor could
5:16be eroded
5:18a fourth reason
5:19we need a healthy sense of self-worth is
5:22this
5:23low self-worth
5:26makes you vulnerable
5:30and Satan knows this well
5:33now you might open your Bibles to
5:35Proverbs chapter 24
5:38.
5:38and let's note what the wise man said
5:40about this Proverbs chapter 24
5:45and we'll look at verse 10. the wise man
5:47said
5:49have you shown yourself discouraged in
5:53the day of distress
5:55your power will be scanty
5:59now the beginning part of the verse that
6:01expression shown yourself discouraged
6:04According to some Scholars the Hebrew
6:06here can mean to become weak
6:10to become feeble
6:12or to lose courage
6:14and Solomon says that such feelings can
6:17happen to you on the day of distress
6:21what is the day of distress
6:23well it's not some particular calendar
6:26day of the year the idea is that
6:28whenever in life you face feelings or
6:32challenges or problems that just seem
6:35overwhelming to you for you that is a
6:40day of distress
6:42and according to the latter part of the
6:44verse this Solomon says your power will
6:49be scanty
6:50another translation here reads your
6:53strength will be small
6:56in other words prolonged discouragement
7:00can sap your strength
7:02and this makes you vulnerable
7:06and Satan knows this
7:09I mean it's hard enough that we have to
7:11contend with our own imperfections and
7:13shortcomings and mistakes which can get
7:15us to feel downhearted at times
7:18the problem is Satan will exploit
7:22negative feelings he'll exploit feelings
7:26of discouragement depression why
7:29because he wants you to give up
7:32he wants you to feel so worthless that
7:35you just stop serving Jehovah
7:38one brother put it this way
7:40if Satan cannot break your integrity
7:44he will try to break your heart
7:47it's as if he's whispering in your ear
7:50you are worthless
7:53you don't matter to Jehovah
7:56Jehovah doesn't care about you as an
7:58individual
7:59but
8:01Satan is a liar
8:03and we must not forget that
8:05what we need is a healthy View
8:09a balanced View
8:12Jehovah's View
8:13of our self-worth
8:15and what's that
8:17well that brings me to the second
8:19question I raised what are you worth
8:22in the eyes of the only one who
8:25ultimately matters
8:27and that is Jehovah God
8:29well Jesus gave an illustration that
8:32beautifully answers this question it's
8:34found at Matthew chapter 10.
8:38in fact this illustration was so close
8:41to the Heart of Jesus
8:44that he actually used it on more than
8:46one occasion
8:48let's look at the first occasion
8:51Matthew chapter 10
8:54and we'll take a look at verses 29
8:58to 31.
9:01Jesus said
9:04do not Two Sparrows sell for a coin of
9:07small value
9:09yet not one of them will fall to the
9:12ground without your father's knowledge
9:15but the very hairs of your head are all
9:18numbered
9:19therefore
9:20have no fear
9:22you
9:24are worth more
9:25than many sparrows
9:28now let's take a good close look at
9:30these beautiful words of Jesus
9:33the beginning of verse 29 he refers to
9:36sparrows now in Palestine in the first
9:40century CE sparrows were the cheapest of
9:43all the birds used for food
9:47and Jesus knew this well
9:49perhaps he'd observed women in the
9:51marketplace poor women trying to
9:54purchase these birds
9:56maybe when he was a boy
9:58he accompanied his mother Mary to the
10:00marketplace they were a poor family
10:02evidently
10:04and perhaps Jesus had watched his mother
10:06on more than one occasion
10:08trying to buy a few of these birds to go
10:11home and make a meal for her family
10:14now Jesus refers to a coin of small
10:18value
10:19this would have been an assarian coin
10:23an assarian coin in the first century in
10:26Palestine was worth 1 16th of a Denarius
10:31that would be about 45 minutes wages
10:35in today's values an Assyrian coin would
10:38be worth less than five cents
10:42now according to Jesus for one of such
10:45coins
10:47a woman could purchase how many sparrows
10:51he says two right for two a coin one
10:55coin
10:56you get Two Sparrows
10:59now keep your marker here in Matthew
11:01and let's skip over to Luke chapter 12.
11:05because about a year later Jesus
11:07restated the illustration
11:10and I don't know about you but that's
11:12interesting to me
11:13I mean here's the master teacher who
11:16could frame an illustration right like
11:19no one else could have come up with
11:21something else but there was something
11:24about this illustration that must have
11:26been close enough to his heart that he
11:28reused it only
11:30a year later he reused it with a very
11:33significant difference
11:35it's at Luke chapter 12
11:38verse 6.
11:40that Jesus restated the illustration
11:43but here he says
11:45five sparrows
11:48sell for two coins of small value
11:53Now isn't that interesting
11:54for one coin
11:56you could buy two
11:58for two coins you could buy not four
12:03but five
12:05so cheap
12:07were these little birds
12:09that an extra one could be thrown into
12:11the bargain
12:12as if it had no value at all
12:16now let's go back to Matthew's account
12:20because Jesus goes on to say
12:23they're in the latter part of verse 29
12:26that not one of these birds
12:30not even the extra one
12:33that could be thrown into the bargain as
12:35if it had no value not one of these
12:37birds
12:38could fall to the ground
12:41without your father's knowledge
12:43now Jesus didn't explain why the sparrow
12:47might fall to the ground
12:49whether because it might be sick or
12:52injured
12:53but in the original Greek there's
12:55something about the wording that would
12:56also allow for the sparrow simply to
12:59come down and a light on the ground in
13:02search of food
13:04but regardless of the reason why the
13:06sparrow would fall or come down to the
13:08ground
13:09Jesus said not one of them can come to
13:12the Earth
13:13without Jehovah's knowledge
13:17imagine the sparrow that might be
13:20forgotten by man
13:22would never be forgotten by God
13:25Jehovah took note of these little cheap
13:28Birds
13:30now in verse 30 Jesus right in the
13:33middle switched illustrations to make a
13:36similar point he says the very hairs of
13:38your head are numbered
13:40now there are about one hundred thousand
13:43hairs on the average human head
13:45now obviously more on some
13:48than on others right
13:50but according to Jesus right I mean one
13:53strand of hair may look like another but
13:55according to Jesus each strand of your
13:59hair
14:00is noticed
14:02and numbered
14:03by Jehovah
14:05I mean is Jehovah really capable of
14:07knowing you down to such small details
14:11absolutely
14:12if you were to die today and Jehovah to
14:15resurrect you in the New World
14:18would he not know what kind of hair to
14:21put on your head the color what color
14:23your eyes should be
14:24the point Jesus is making is that you
14:28are of such value to Jehovah
14:32that he takes note of even the smallest
14:34of details about you
14:37such as the number of hairs on your head
14:42and then driving home the point of the
14:44two illustrations
14:45in verse 31 Jesus says
14:49therefore have no fear
14:51you are worth more than many sparrows
14:56now these words are not a comparison
15:00but a contrast
15:02I mean Jesus here wasn't saying you know
15:04guess what you're worth 10 cents about
15:07the cost of five sparrows no
15:10this is an example of what some Scholars
15:13call the in Latin the fortiori reasoning
15:19that means to the stronger
15:22it means you start with a premise and
15:24you reason to a stronger conclusion and
15:28Jesus often did this with the words how
15:31much more so and so the point he's
15:33making here is that if Jehovah notices
15:37and values a sparrow
15:40even the extra sparrow that might be
15:42thrown into the bargain as if it had no
15:44value
15:45if Jehovah values these birds
15:48that cannot even think about him let
15:51alone love him
15:52how much more so
15:54must he value you
15:56a human made in His image
16:00a human who's made a conscious decision
16:03to love and to serve Jehovah
16:07what's the point of Jesus words here at
16:09Matthew chapter 10.
16:11the lesson is
16:13no matter how valueless you may feel
16:17you
16:18are worth more than many sparrows in the
16:22eyes of the one who really matters
16:24Jehovah God
16:27why is it important that you have a
16:30balanced view of your self-worth
16:32we noted four reasons right your sense
16:35of self-worth can affect your
16:37relationship with God
16:38can affect your relationship with fellow
16:41humans can affect your share in the
16:43Christian Ministry and a low sense of
16:46self-worth can make you vulnerable
16:49what are you worth in Jehovah's eyes
16:53According To Jesus you're worth more
16:55than many sparrows Jehovah takes note of
16:58even the smallest of details about you
17:00because you mean that much to him
17:04and just thinking back to a moment to
17:06that damaged Picasso painting I refer to
17:09at the outset
17:11I might put it this way
17:13when Jehovah God
17:15looks at you
17:16he does not just see you in the damaged
17:20state that you're in it present
17:24due to sin and imperfection
17:26when Jehovah looks in your heart you
17:28know what he sees
17:30he sees the Masterpiece that you will be
17:34when he's finished repairing you
17:36through the restorative value of Jesus
17:39Ransom sacrifice in that new world to
17:41come reminds me of the story of the
17:44famous Italian beginning a new sculpture
17:47and the master was standing there before
17:49this huge shapeless piece of stone
17:53and someone came along and asked him
17:55what are you doing
17:58and Michelangelo thought for a moment
18:00and he said
18:01I am releasing the angel imprisoned in
18:04this marble thank you
18:06when he looked at that stone
18:09he saw not only us
18:11but what it had the potential to be
18:15when he was finished sculpting it
18:18and you know what that's exactly how
18:20Jehovah looks at you and me
18:22he sees not only what you are at present
18:26he sees the potential
18:28what you have the potential to be
18:31when he's finished sculpting you in the
18:34New World
18:35meanwhile Brothers
18:38do not let Satan demoralize you
18:41recognize that Satan will try to use
18:44negative feelings he will wait for you
18:46to be discouraged to feel down or
18:49depressed and then he will try to
18:51exploit those feelings in order to get
18:54you to stop serving Jehovah
18:57never forget
18:58if Satan cannot break your integrity he
19:02will try to break your heart
19:04do not let him win
19:07never let him convince your heart
19:10that you don't matter to Jehovah when we
19:14have a healthy sense of self-worth
19:17when we can tap into Jehovah's view of
19:20our worth
19:21it is so much easier to give to Jehovah
19:25what he so lovingly asks of all of us
19:28and that is worship and service
19:32that is the very best that we can give
19:35and may Jehovah bless each and every one
19:37of you as you do your best to give him
19:41all that you're capable of giving him in
19:44his service thank you very much
19:48thank you
19:52[Applause]
19:56on behalf of my wife Joanne and I had
19:59would just like to take a minute to let
20:02you know how much it means to us to be
20:04able to come out and visit with you here
20:07and I tell congregations this each month
20:10because this is truly how we feel being
20:14at Bethel is a wonderful way of life I
20:17know there are some here in the
20:18congregation who at one time served at
20:20Bethel It's a Wonderful way of life but
20:24we recognize that it is a sheltered way
20:28of life
20:29uh we can live and and work with
20:32brothers and sisters who are in the
20:34full-time Ministry fully devoted to
20:36Jehovah but we recognize that that's not
20:39the reality for most of our brothers and
20:41it's so important for us not to lose
20:43touch not to lose sight of that and so
20:46when we get out and visit congregations
20:48like this it gives us a little dose of
20:51reality the reality that you brothers
20:54and sisters are dealing with every day
20:56and we don't ever want to lose sight of
20:58that I know the brothers I work with at
21:01Bethel are absolutely determined to give
21:05you articles that address your needs but
21:08they can't do that unless they know what
21:10your needs are and they can't know that
21:13unless they get out and rub shoulders
21:16with you and listen to you and during
21:18the course of weekends like this we do
21:20our best to listen as you express some
21:23of the cares of your heart and we take
21:25that home with us and I can tell you
21:28this that weekends like this and hearing
21:31from you help us to be better at our
21:34work back at headquarters now we
21:37recognize that this would not be
21:38possible as if you as congregations did
21:41not pass a resolution to make it happen
21:43so whatever this may mean for you I
21:47can't say
21:48but I can tell you what this means for
21:50us so thank you very very much for
21:53allowing us to come and visit with you
21:55and if you don't have to rush out please
21:57by all means come up and say goodbye
22:00we'd love to chat with you as time
22:02permits okay any other announcements
22:04before we conclude
22:06I think we're to close with song number
22:09212. we thank you Jehovah