The Value Of Sparrows
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Five sparrows can be sold for two pennies. A cup of coffee at Starbuck's costs considerably more!
Yet we have in this verse a price for sparrows. Having a price, we have a value for sparrows. Having this price we know the value of sparrows.
We know that sparrows have value.
Man Has Value
We know also that a man has a value far beyond that of sparrows—at least, that is the teaching. Would any seriously argue the point? Would any seriously deny that a man is truly worth more than many sparrows?
We know that sparrows have value. From this we know also that sparrows must be valued. Whatever the price placed upon a sparrow, or upon many sparrows, we know that sparrows are valued to at least that much.
What is the measure of a man in sparrows? That I do not know. In the verse above it does not say. It does not need to say. It says enough when it says the price of sparrows. It tells us that the simple sparrow has value. It tells us a man has the value of "many" sparrows. If a man can be said to be the equal of a sparrow, or of one hundred sparrows, that is a measure of a man. It is a measure of worth. It is a measure of value. As the simple sparrow is valued, so too must a man—and indeed all men—be valued.
All Men Matter
All men are valued because sparrows have value.
All men matter because sparrows have value.
It is trite and even cliche to say that sparrows matter, and that men matter. Yet it is important to remember that sparrows matter, and that men matter, because there are few places a man may wander in the world and not be confronted with sparrows, or men. We can not easily avoid dealing with men.
The teaching is simple: as we cannot ignore men, we dare not ignore their value. We dare not discard any man, any woman. Men and women, simply by being men and women, have value and are valued; men and women, simply by being men and women, matter.
We Exist, Therefore We Have Value
Each of us has value, not because we labor, not because we produce, not because we serve, but because we exist. Men, women, sparrows, and ultimately all creatures all have value on this basis alone.
We exist, therefore we have value. Therefore, we are valued. Therefore, we matter.
Our labor, our produce, our service will add bits of value here and there, but take away all our labor, take away all our produce, take away all our service, and each of us still retains value. Take away all our labor, take away all our produce, take away all our service, and each of us is still valued. Take away all our labor, take away all our produce, take away all our service, and each of us still matters.
In all the world there is not a single man, nor a single woman, about whom this cannot be said. In all the world there is not a single man, nor a single woman, who is not worth many sparrows. In all the world there is not a single man, nor a single woman, who does not have the value of many sparrows. In all the world there is not a single man, nor a single woman, that is not therefore valued. In all the world there is not a single man, nor a single woman, or that does not matter.
It is trite and it is cliche to say this, but it is because it is trite and cliche to say this that we know this must be true.
All of us have value. All of us are valued. All of us are valuable. All of us matter.
There can be no doubting of this. There can be no questioning of this. We know this is absolutely true all the time.
We know this because even sparrows have value.