Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] As you approach the mystery in Bethlehem, it doesn't just unlock the reality of who God is. It unlocks the reality of who you are and what you're worth.
[00:00:09] There's a great mystery of value. Rick Warren said the value of something isn't determined by what you're trying to sell it for, but by what people will pay for it. Think about that. Guys, my daughter just got into a house. You know, the house value, the housing market, it's kind of tricky. I mean, what is a house really worth? What you put on Zillow for what you think it's worth? No, that's totally irrelevant, actually. Look, I could list my house on the market for $5 million. If no one's going to pay that, that's not what that house is worth. I could list it for $1. And if there's a bidding war and it goes up to $5 million, well, guess what? My house was apparently worth.
[00:00:49] Think of this in light of the mystery of salvation.
[00:00:52] Guys, as we ramp up and draw near to Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.
[00:00:59] As you approach the crib, the creche of Bethlehem, it doesn't just reveal the mystery of God, it reveals the mystery of you, of who you are, of what you're worth.
[00:01:13] Guys, you're worth what someone will pay for you.
[00:01:16] And what did God pay for you? The church, Father Gregory of Nyssa, said, no greater love can be conceived than this, that you should purchase my salvation at the cost of your life.
[00:01:29] And one Peter says, for you know, it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ.
[00:01:40] And Paul reminds the Corinthians, you were bought at a price.
[00:01:45] Therefore, honor God with your bodies, guys. A child doesn't learn their true name, their true identity, their true worth, by looking in a mirror, by gauging their accomplishments, by looking at their bank account. They learn it by looking at mom and dad.
[00:02:00] Before they can make sense out of anything else in this world, they learn by looking at us. I'm precious. I'm worth dying for.
[00:02:09] Guys, let's flip this mystery around here. Now, we as adults approach an infant, and you look at his face.
[00:02:19] You see God, who came, who came to teach us. He came to lead us. Above all, he was given a body. He took a body to sacrifice.
[00:02:31] Nails, spears shall pierce him through the cross. Be born for me, for you. The old song says, when you look at the face of this infant, you know what you see, you see your own face, you see your own value, you see your own worth.
[00:02:48] And if you are disagreeing with Almighty God about your value, you're the one who's wrong.
[00:02:55] Okay, a few applications of this. Number one, since God revealed that you are worth that much, don't you think you need to start loving yourself a little better?
[00:03:04] And I think we kind of stink at this. And I'm not just talking about with our words, but with our actual actions, because talk is cheap.
[00:03:11] Do you self care?
[00:03:13] Do you take care of yourself? We have a God who came to be with us, who walked our streets with us, who washed our feet, who after his resurrection from the dead, was making a fish breakfast for the apostles, and it was post resurrection. There was probably bacon thrown into that breakfast.
[00:03:30] Here's a God who took care of his people's basic needs. After he made someone rise from the dead, he'd usually cut through the commotion he just caused with a profound theological phrase like, get him something to eat.
[00:03:41] He's looking at you.
[00:03:43] He walks with you through life. He loves you and he wants to take care of you, and he wants you to take care of yourself. Would you please stop over spiritualizing 70% of your problems? If you feel exhausted by life and like you're running on empty, sometimes we look up to God and we're like, can you fix this for me? I just feel empty inside. And he's looking down saying, have you tried a sandwich? And maybe throw a cookie in because you're probably not gonna become an Olympic athlete. Relax a little bit. Treat your little bit better than you do.
[00:04:12] But Chris, the dishes are filling the sink. Okay, Can I make you a promise right now? You're going to die with a full sink.
[00:04:20] But the floor is dirty. I got to clean the floor before I take care of myself. Probably die with a dirty floor too. And by the way, I have six kids and four dogs in my house and five grandkids. You want to see a dirty floor? Come to my house. You know what they all need more than a clean floor?
[00:04:34] A happy dad.
[00:04:37] You need to get better at imitating the love of God for you by actually treating yourself with value. You believe in a God who thinks your value is so great that what are you worth?
[00:04:49] You are worth God the Son to God the Father. Don't you think you're worth taking care of yourself a little better than you do?
[00:04:55] Dude, the things that are urgent will always crowd out the things that are important.
[00:04:59] To heck with the urgent.
[00:05:02] You are important to have really I know the urgent includes things that your kids might need. That's okay. They can wait five minutes. Put your own oxygen mask on first before assisting other passengers. So that's one. You gotta respond to that love that God reveals he has for you and the value he reveals you have by actually treating yourself as if you have value for real.
[00:05:23] Number two, and by the way, what kind of example of witness are we giving our kids that we believe in a God who values us if we show them that, we won't value ourselves?
[00:05:33] Sorry, number two, you got to value the people around you.
[00:05:36] We have a God who made himself present to us. Every time we go into a church, we see him waiting there in the Blessed Sacrament, just like he was waiting there in Bethlehem for people to come visit Him. But he was thinking about those people before they came, Right? But every time you come to him, what do you find? You find a God who's full fixed on you, who's attentive to you.
[00:05:57] St. Peter Julian Imert, a great saint of the Eucharist, he said that when we think about Jesus in the Eucharist, this isn't just something we should adore. But also imitate that same Lord in the Eucharist. He's the same Lord in Bethlehem, the same Lord hanging on the cross, the same Lord who gives himself to us. How do we imitate that?
[00:06:14] By finding those simple, humble ways that we can show the people around us that they also have value.
[00:06:22] Paying attention to your kids, not just preparing their lunch for the day, asking them, how was your day? The homeless guy that you pass on the street, don't just give him five bucks, ask him his name.
[00:06:34] We gotta respond to the love of God by showing his face to others, that face of love that reminds them of their value.
[00:06:42] And then third, I want you to respond to this by seeing your sins in the proper light. When St. Paul said to the Corinthians, who were fallen into all sorts of crazy sins, you were bought at a price, therefore, honor God with your bodies. By the way, Corinth was a place where temple prostitution was really popular. And so there were Christians living there who had just come out of that culture who probably were dabbling in their past life a little bit. And instead of just condemning their sin and putting that in its place, he was raising them up.
[00:07:11] And what was he saying? He was saying, dude, that sin isn't worthy of you.
[00:07:19] Look, in a bidding war, back to the house analogy, the house is going to go to the highest bidder.
[00:07:26] Guys, the highest bidder for you.
[00:07:28] Is God.
[00:07:31] And how often whenever we sin, we sell ourselves to the lowest bidder.
[00:07:37] I work with countless teenagers, get on board, support our core confirmation program. But they don't know their value.
[00:07:44] That's why, by the way, that program's tie in everything into the doctrines of the faith, to their value, to their worth, to their identity in Jesus Christ. They don't know their worth. And how many teenage girls give themselves physically to a teenage boy? You complete me. No, he doesn't, dude. He's 15.
[00:08:02] And what is that kid giving in return?
[00:08:06] Until he's man enough to stand in front of a church full of people and say, I give you my life.
[00:08:11] What he's given is not enough. Because God is the one that shows you your price tag.
[00:08:17] And when you look at the cross and when you look at him coming for us, Immanuel, God with us in Bethlehem, when you look at him hanging there for us at the end of his life, when you look at his presence given to us in the Eucharist, every time you think about it, every time you look at him, please don't just be reminded of his love for you. Be reminded of your worth and your price tag. And every sin you sell yourself for, man, it is to a low bidder.
[00:08:42] You sell yourself for your greed, for your lust, for your pleasure. We give pieces of our soul to all these different things.
[00:08:52] And what are all these things offering us in return, guys?
[00:08:57] Not enough, that's what.
[00:09:01] So as we draw close to the great mystery of Christmas, we see the face of Emmanuel, God with us, revealed to us more and more.
[00:09:11] Take a minute to also think about what that means. About your face, your value, the worth that God has revealed. That you have. The worth you're reminded of every time you approach him at every Mass.
[00:09:24] And we come with all our questions.
[00:09:26] Lord, who am I? And we hear his answer. Body of Christ. And did my sin take away my value? Body of Christ. And what's my net worth? Body of Christ.
[00:09:37] Lord, help us to see you and help us to see ourselves and help us to see the people around us for what they're worth.
[00:09:44] Amen.
[00:09:46] God bless you, friend.
[00:09:48] It.
