Dear Church Family,
We hear so many numbers every day. In an article in the paper this morning- just
one article- 3,000, 5,000, 80,000, 900, 3,255, 2,793, 100,000, 6,000, 12,500,
300,000. And I probably missed a few. A know
some people who love numbers. Put
a spreadsheet in front of them or a three-year budget projection and they light
up like a Christmas tree.
Interpreting the numbers requires a bit of effort on our
part. If someone quoted on building a
deck for you, and they said it would cost between $3,000 and $15,000, you’d
send him home to sharpen his pencil.
That sort of a range doesn’t mean a whole lot.
We don’t know how many people will contract the corona
virus. We don’t know how many thousands
of lives will be lost. What we do know
is the one. The one cousin, the one father-in-law,
the one grandbaby who is in the hospital.
The numbers only mean something when the mean someone.
The bible tosses around a lot of numbers too. About Old
Testament battles and the sizes of the armies; about how Jesus fed 5,000+
people in one sitting, about how 3,000 people came to Christ after Peter’s
sermon in Acts (2:41); about the 144,000 who would be redeemed from the earth
(Revelation 14:2). So many numbers. It can make your mind go numb. Estimates,
exaggerations, symbolism, representation.
These numbers too, only mean something when they point us to
someone.
Caiaphas, the High Priest in the first century, said this
about Jesus: “It is better for you that
one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
When all those numbers that are being tossed around start
getting to you, remember the one: Jesus. Find a church service tomorrow, ok? There are lots out there, including ours on
the Ancaster CRC website.
Pastor Rita
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