DTEB, “God the Recycler—and the Scavenger”
“Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. . . . But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:1, 4-6)
My pastor made an intriguing comment in yesterday’s sermon about God being a Recycler. That is a wonderful metaphor for God. However, in my usual ADD manner, I let the metaphor run away with me. It occurred to me that God is not just a Recycler. God is also a Master Scavenger. I like to think of God in this way because I myself am a scavenger.
I grew up fairly poor, though I didn’t realize it until recently. I was taught to make do, to make repairs, and to do without. It was a good way to grow up, and I am profoundly grateful for it.
But even as an adult, my conservative—sometimes overly conservative—nature manifests itself on a regular basis. Usually, this happens on Wednesday mornings. There is a reason for this being my weekly scavenging day. Wednesdays are trash day in the really nice development across the road from us. I walk and pray and scavenge. What the folks across the road call “trash”, I call “Oh boy!” We’ve gotten a nice table, some golf clubs (we gave them away), and a couple of grills. Also, a nice bench and various and sundry other items.
Probably most of us humans sometimes feel as if we have been kicked to the curb. Or perhaps, we were carried there. It doesn’t even have to be Wednesday for us to feel as if we’ve been left for the garbage truck to pick up. We feel useless and unwanted and like has-beens that are ready for the trash bins. Sometimes some other human being comes along who values us, someone who likes the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
I think that God likes that saying, too. God is the Master Recycler. God is also the Supreme Scavenger.
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