Pastor s Column: Pennies are valuable
By GAYLORD L. GOERTZEN
Ebenfeld Mennonite Brethren Church
When I was a kid in the first grade, and that was a long time ago, a penny was a lot of money. If I had a penny, I felt like I was rich because it meant that I could walk to the little grocery store just a block from the school and buy root beer barrels, peanut butter logs, or kitts at the amazing price of two for a penny.
Sometimes I would walk to the grocery store with a friend who had a penny of his own. Then we'd each have two pieces of candy. Other times I'd walk with a friend who had no money at all and give him one of the two pieces of candy I had bought. Sometimes I would walk with a friend who had a penny and he would give me one of his pieces of candy. Those were the "good old days" when a penny was worth something.
Nowadays, pennies are a dime a dozen (to coin a phrase). It's not hard to find a penny on the floor or in a parking lot. Most convenience stores have a little tray by the cash register filled with pennies you can use if you don't want to receive pennies in change.
We tend to see pennies as worthless. An article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution (Aug. 22, 2004), however, relates the power of pennies when they join forces:
A one cent per case increase in the price of Coca-Cola would bring the Coca-Cola company $45 million dollars a year.
A one cent-per-gallon increase in the price of jet fuel increases Delta Airline's company costs by $25 million a year.
A one cent increase in the hourly wage for all the employees of Home Depot amounts to $6.5 million a year.
If Krispy Kreme increased the cost of each donut by one penny, the company would increase profits by $27 million.
One individual penny seems almost worthless, yet when pennies join forces they have tremendous power. Each year, Mennonite Central Committee asks churches to collect pennies. In 2004, MCC collected $481,505 in pennies.
Pennies have power. Pennies have a lot to teach us about God and about ourselves. We often see certain people as pennies, other people as nickels and dimes, and some people as quarters. We attach worth and value based on who people are and what people do.
But not God. In God's eyes, we are all pennies yet we are valuable to him. Jesus reminded his disciples of this when he said:
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your father. And even the very hairs of your head are numbered. So don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31
No one is worthless in God's eyes. God sent his son, Jesus, to die for all. That means that all of us have value in God's eyes. Yes, we are all pennies, but we are still valuable.
That also reminds us that we need to remember that people, all people, are valuable and value them as God values them. No one should be considered worthless in our eyes for God sees no one as worthless. God loves and cares for all and if we are like God, we will do the same. Pennies remind us that we and all people are valuable in God's eyes.
Pennies also remind us that together we can accomplish much more than we can alone. Think what we could do together as Christians if we increased our giving, our caring, our loving, our serving? Together, we Christians have the power to change the world and make it a better place.
Next time you see a penny, remember that no one is worthless in God's eyes and remember that working together we can accomplish great things.
