What Are You Worth?

What Are You Worth?

Luke 12:6-7

November 25, 2007

New Hope Community Chapel

Goal: Changed Lives. Change from seeing oneself or others as low or no value to high value in God’s eyes.

Main Point: What is the one thing I want my audience to know? You are valuable to God.

Application: What do I want them to do about it? Treat themselves and others as objects of great worth.

Introduction:

This past Tuesday I went to a farm machinery auction.

I’ve always enjoyed a good auction – even though I’m not in the market for a combine I really enjoy seeing what things are selling for.

I like to know what it might cost to buy a little tractor and a plow and a planter, sprayer, wagon etc. just in case I ever get to follow my dream to be a hobby farmer.

You know, at an auction the higher priced – greater demand items usually sell last.

That’s the same at a farm auction or a household auction.

The practically new solid oak bedroom set sells last.

The particle board kids’ bunk bed sells a little earlier.

The knick knacks and Tupperware sells first.

At a farm auction the hand tools and buckets of bolts sell first.

The almost new tractor sells last because it has the most value and if it sold first, those who came to bid on it would leave and the rest of the little stuff would never sell.

I like to watch the bidders become emotionally charged as they play a game of chess with their opponent.

Occasionally, you can get a really good deal at an auction.

I have bought all kinds of things like extension chords, garden hoses, boxes of cleaning supplies, tools, furniture, appliances, etc. that are as good as new at bargain prices.

But once in a while you will see an item up for bids that draws no one’s money.

Sometimes an item won’t even fetch a quarter.

That was the case with several items this past week.

The auctioneer tried his best to get a $1 bid but when it was to no avail, he would conclude, “Let’s move on… it has no value.”

“No value.” I was intrigued by those words…

What he really meant was that no one who was present and paying attention at the moment was willing to pay even a dollar for the item.

An item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

You can say it has been appraised at $____, but if no one is willing to pay that price for it, then it isn’t worth it.

It can also work the other way, you can say, “It has a book value of $____, but if 2 people get a notion that they have to be the next owner of it, it may be worth a whole lot more.

Most things can have a monetary value attached to them.

The house you live in has worth and a dollar value associated with it.

It’s worth what you pay in rent or what you pay the bank in mortgage payments each month.

The car you drove to church today has worth – it’s worth a lot less than you paid for it and probably less than you owe if you borrowed money to buy it.

This church has value.

There is a building and furnishings, land, etc. all of which has value.

Even the members have value – especially to one another. (not necessarily monetary)

But what am I worth?

The Problem:

What are you worth?

Well, to your banker you are worth the sum total of your income and assets minus your liabilities.

That’s kind of scary.

Don’t go to your banker for an assessment of your worth if you have a fragile esteem.

I like to think of wealth, not by how much I can accumulate, but in terms of how much I can give away.

But J.H. Jowett said, “The real measure of our wealth is how much we’d be worth if we lost all our money.”

To your employer you are worth what you can produce in profit for him.

Some of you may have allowed a low value to be placed upon you.

Perhaps because of life circumstances you feel like you have a low worth.

You may say, “I don’t like the way I look, so I have a low value.”

I can’t sing, or do this or that…

You may think, “I have done so many bad or evil things in my life that I have no value any more.”

Maybe you don’t have the education that you had hoped to attain, or the position at work that you thought you would have at this stage in life.

If you have been victimized at any time in your life you may feel like you are worthless.