Priceless | Donovan Rillion | Price Proven

I want you to think of the most outlandish thing

you've ever seen someone spend a large amount

of money on, or maybe you've spent a large amount

of money on something very outlandish. One thing

I can't get over is how much money people spend

on trading cards, specifically baseball cards.

Like, I like baseball, okay? Big college baseball

fan, kind of trying to get into the pro baseball

thing. I like baseball. But a baseball card is

just a piece of paper. That's like laminated

and has some cool printing on it. But people

spend some crazy amounts of money on baseball

cards. In fact, in 2022, a 1952 Mickey Mantle

baseball card sold for $12 .6 million, making

it the most expensive baseball card ever sold.

Now, you might be thinking, I've never even seen

$12 million. Me either. In fact, I would venture

to say all of us in this room combined, well,

most of us in this room combined, could not think

of a time where we could touch or get close to

$12 million. But I want you to imagine, like

some kid bought that card way back when in a

penny pack in 1952 with no clue that 70 years

later, some guy with way too much money buy that

card for $12 million. And that record came after

another card sold for $6 .6 million in 2021.

And that after another card sold for $5 .2 million

in 2020. Do you know what my wife would do to

me if I came home in the middle of the pandemic

talking about, hey, honey, look at this baseball

card I just spent our entire life savings on.

I would get kicked out of the house so fast.

Maybe even worse. It's crazy to me how much people

are willing to spend on these things, but in

their minds, these baseball cards, they're worth

it. They have that kind of value, and they can

somewhat justify the value of a baseball card

with a few different reasons, but chief among

them is the rarity of these specific cards in

this good of condition. You see, this card, the

Mickey Mantle card, has a grade of 9 .5 out of

10, which makes it one of only three 1952 Topps

Mickey Mantle cards in the world in that good

of condition. And because of this rarity, because

of the value of this card, this card is kept

in this humidity, temperature controlled case.

It's very highly protected with all kinds of

security measures to protect it. Plus, I'm sure

the owner has a nice little insurance policy

on this card just in case, you know, a house

fire or something. But a baseball card, a piece

of paper garners this kind of value. And it's

not because the paper itself is valuable. I mean,

like think about paper is just wood. That was

cut very thinly, and you know how the papermaking

process works. If not, go watch a YouTube video.

How it's made is still online. So the baseball

card itself is not that valuable. But what we

know to be true is, is we can know what something

is worth based on what someone is willing to

spend on it. And something else we know to be

true is that what someone else is willing to

spend on it determines its worth, and its worth

determines how we treat it. And so if something

is worth all of this, then we are going to do

what we can to protect it. So in thinking about

rare baseball cards as opposed to the average

ordinary baseball card you can get in a $5 pack

at Walmart, I want to ask you this morning, what

kind of card are you? Are you something valuable?

Or are you something common? Are you something

ordinary? Are you something that just anybody

can find? And I ask that question because as

we said, knowing what something is worth determines

how it will be treated. And the sooner you and

I understand just how valuable we are, the sooner

we understand how priceless we are, the sooner

we will start taking better care of ourselves.

And that's important because some of us feel

like we're just average, ordinary people. We

feel like we don't really have any special talents.

We don't have any special abilities. We don't

have anything about us that makes us unique,

that makes us special, that makes us valuable.

We're just kind of generic. Or maybe worse, we

feel like we're not just ordinary, but we're

a knockoff. Like no matter what we do, we won't

fool anybody into believing that we are anything

special. We can't fool anybody into believing

that we're the real deal. I want you to hear

me this morning when I say that it is a lie from

the enemy to believe that you are ordinary. And

it is a lie from the enemy to believe that you

are a knockoff. You see, Paul calls that kind

of thinking empty deceit. We talked about this

last week. These hollow lies that are dressed

up as truth. These ideas that get put into our

minds, put into our hearts by the world, by the

enemy to make us believe that we are worth less

than God says we are. But I want you to hear

the truth this morning that you are one of a

kind. You are the real thing. You are the thing

that God made only one of. And that is valuable.

You are worth more than anyone could ever put

a price tag on. You are priceless. And I'm trying

to emphasize that truth because I want to overpower

the lie that we find ourselves believing because

the enemy is very crafty. He is very deceptive.

He is very cunning. And he gets in our minds

and causes us to believe something that is just

not true. And what I want you to hear is what

God says about you, and that is that you are

priceless. Because as I said, when we know our

value, it determines how we are going to be treated.

And you might be sitting there and you might

ask the question, well, why does it matter what

we do or what we let others do to us? Why does

it matter how we're treated? I mean, these bodies,

they're just temporary. This life is just temporary.

We're all going to die, right? We're all just

going to be gone. And this is just a vapor. And

as the Ecclesiastes writer says, it's just vanities

of vanities. It's all meaningless. So why does

it matter? Well, last week we discussed the idea

that God is our source of work. And we read the

way that God talks about us. You know, we just

sang that song, I stand in awe of you. You are

beautiful beyond description. Isn't it great

that we have these songs that talk about how

beautiful and magnificent God is and how awestruck

we are in his presence and how amazing he is?

Even more amazing to think that that same amazing

God looks at us and says those same things about

us. That he has that same view of us, that we

are beautiful beyond description, that he does

think that we are valuable, that he does think

that we are priceless. And so we read the way

that God talks about us, the worth that the creator

of the universe assigned to us. But it's one

thing to simply hear someone tell us what we're

worth. It's another to watch them prove it. It's

like the people who date for a decade, but they

haven't gotten married yet. And they may even

go as far as moving in with each other, but they

don't commit to marriage. They'll say they love

each other. And I just sit and wonder, well,

do you? Because, you know, when you love somebody,

you make a commitment to somebody and you make

a commitment to somebody. That's like a forever

thing. And if you love them, what's holding you

back from proving it by making that commitment?

And listen, if that's your story, I'm not here.

That's not meant to shame you. I'm just saying

that commitment is how you prove your love. When

you commit to somebody. When you commit to something,

it shows that you do really love it. It's like,

you know, I watched this rugby movie years ago

and I love this movie. It's called Forever Strong.

If you have the time and you just like really

like low budget sports movies, go watch it. But

one of the things that this rugby coach tells

this troubled kid is he says, when are you going

to let the real, I think the kid's name was Rick

Penning. So when are you going to let the real

Rick Penning get off the bench and commit to

this thing? You know, when are you going to commit

to being who you're supposed to be? When are

you going to commit to being what you're supposed

to be? And the same thing is true with God's

love. If we say, if we hear people say God loves

us, well, has he committed? Has he shown us?

You see, God says in so many different ways all

throughout scripture that he loves us, but what

has he done to show us? And somebody in this

room is sitting here asking themselves, what

has God done to show me he loves me? I've heard

Christians talk for years and years and years

about how Jesus loves you, but I haven't seen

it show up because my life has been one train

wreck after another. My life has been one hurt

after another. My life has been one chaotic moment

after another. So how am I supposed to believe

that God loves me? Well, he literally stepped

down from his heavenly throne and said, let me

show you. And now we get to scripture. I want

you to look at John chapter one with me. If it's

underlined, I would love for you to read along

with me if you're comfortable doing so. The true

light, which gives light to everyone, was coming

into the world. He was in the world and the world

was made through him, yet the world did not know

him. He came to His own, and His own people did

not receive Him, but to all who did receive Him,

who believed in His name, He gave the right to

become children of God, who were born, not of

blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the

will of man, but of God. And the Word became

flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His

glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father,

full of grace and truth. You see, God created

this perfect world for us. As Bill said earlier

in his prayer, God created this world perfect

for our enjoyment, for us to be able to live

with God in this beautiful place of splendor,

in this place where we can have communion with

the creator. And I believe he created the world

with us in mind, every intricate detail of this

world designed to support us to have abundant

life here. But we messed it up. You can blame

Adam and Eve all you want. we probably would

have done the same thing. And because we messed

it up, consequences step in. And all of a sudden,

God's masterpiece is up in smoke, but God wasn't

content to watch his masterpiece burn. So let

me rephrase that really quick. God isn't content

to watch his masterpiece burn. He isn't content

to watch his people, his creation, everything

that he designed for his enjoyment and for our

enjoyment. He was not content to watch that.

burn. He isn't content to watch that burn. So

what does he do? He runs into the fire for you,

for me. He doesn't just look at the fire, start

weeping, exclaiming how much he loved us, and,

oh, I'm going to miss them so much. No, he gets

into it. He runs into the fire in full hero mode

to prove how much he loves us. I want you to

think about that. Think about that Mickey Mantle

card. If it was in a house on fire, I guarantee

you the owner is running in to save it, or maybe

he's banking on the insurance policy to pay it

off or to pay out, but God isn't relying on an

insurance policy. himself runs into the fire

to pull us out, to save us from our own mess.

And in doing so, as the text here in John 1 so

beautifully says, he gives light to everyone.

He gives hope. He came to his own, and those

who received him became children of God. Notice

he doesn't say they became servants of God. Now,

that's a description for us. Absolutely, and

that's right. He doesn't say they became slaves

to God, even though that is right. He says they

became children of God, those who received Jesus,

who took on that grace -filled free gift of salvation.

Those people became children of God. And I don't

know about you, but in my house, my children

are taken care of. In fact, they are too well

taken care of. They're spoiled rotten. And in

God's house, we are spoiled rotten because we

are blessed with everything we could ever need.

And in that scripture, it says he dwells among

us, allowing us to see his face and experience

his grace and truth. You know, as a kid, I used

to think, man, it would be nice if I could just

live in a home where I could see my father. I

met my dad one time when I was eight years old,

and that was it. It's the only time I've ever

seen him. And as a kid, I would think I would

love to just be able to see my father. If he

could just live with us, I don't care if he's

a good dad. I don't care if he's nice. I don't

care if he's a provider. I just would love to

be able to live in the same place as my dad.

Now, as an adult, I see how problematic that

could be. But as a kid, that's all I wanted.

And think about when God sees his children in

this mess that is this world, I just imagine

he's saying, I cannot wait to go get them. I

cannot wait to bring them home because I want

to live with my children where they can see me

and I can see them face to face, where we can

experience his grace and his truth. You see,

God came to earth to show all of humanity what

he believed we were worth. despite how evil we

can be, despite how distant and complacent we

can be, despite how rebellious we can be. As

Paul says in Romans 5, verse 8, God shows his

Romans 5:8

love for us in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us. Why would you do that? Why

would you, seeing us living as your enemy, why

would you come in the flesh and come in the blood

and save us? Why would you give your life, die

this painful death for people that do not love

you? It's simple, because to God we were and

we still are. worth, every single drop of blood,

every single piece of torn flesh, everything

he had to endure so that he could pay to prove

exactly how much he values us. We were worth

it all. In God's mind, whether we ever come to

know him or not, his sacrifice was worth it for

us. us. And I know that might sound crazy to

the newcomer, to the non -believer. And you look

at it and you say, man, that's just a bunch of

religious mumbo jumbo. What I want you to know

is that this isn't just the Bible story. History

actually proves it. Historians of the ancient

world record that this happened, that there was

a man named Jesus, that he did die on a cross.

He died. That is historically proven outside

of scripture. He died. And after his death, A

tomb was made empty. And all of the evidence

supports the idea that no man would have gone

and rolled that stone away. Nobody would have

kidnapped him. Nobody would have played a trick.

They could not have done that. What happened

was something supernatural. And the explanation

I see when you pair history with Scripture is

that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth,

died a horrific death, was laid in a tomb, and

rolled the stone away, lived again, rose to heaven,

and is going to come and bring us home one day.

And what that means is such good news because

what it means for you, what it means for me is

no matter where you are in life right now, no

matter what you've done, no matter what I've

done, no matter who you've been, you still have

so much to gain through Christ. We have access

to an abundant, beautiful life, to being purchased

at a high price because Christ, God sees you

and I as priceless. Can you say that? about anybody

else in this world? Can you say that about anybody

else in your life, that they look at you regardless

of what you've done, regardless of what you didn't

do, regardless of who you've been or who you

haven't been, and they see you as priceless?

Let me put it to you another way. Has anyone

ever volunteered to die for you? I can't think

of anybody. I mean, we've got a fireman in the

room. Thank you, Titus, for your service. We've

got some police officers in the room. We've got

some former military in the room. Thank you all

for your service. But I don't think anybody goes

into those things saying, I know for a fact I'm

going to die, and I'm good with that. Now you

may go into that saying, I may die and I'm okay

with that sacrifice, but you don't go in saying,

I know I'm going to die. Because if you knew

you were definitely going to die, you may or

may not sign up. But Jesus knew for a fact he

was going to die, yet he came and did it anyways.

God did. He died for you. to purchase you, to

free you. And as I said earlier, this should

determine how we treat ourselves and how we let

others treat us. Which brings me to what Paul

says in 1 Corinthians 6, verses 19 through 20.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20

Or do you not know that your body is a temple

of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have

from God? You are not your own, for you were

bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

I love that Paul says, do you not know? It's

like Paul saying, hey, you see what's going on?

You remember this thing? Do you not remember?

He's talking to believers, these people who have

already been baptized into the family of God.

And he says, did you forget? Did nobody tell

you? Do you not know who you are? Do you not

know who lives in you? Do you not know what the

one who is in you is worth and says you are worth?

In this section of Paul's letter to the church

in Corinth, he is trying to remind them that

they have been bought with a very high price.

They are worth more than the baseball card. They

are worth more than... than the car, than the

house, than the fancy whatever. He is reminding

them that they are worth everything, that they

were worth Jesus Christ, the Son of God coming

to earth and dying for them. He's reminding them

of this because they live in a culture. And Paul

is confronting this culture of sexual sin that's

running rampant in Corinth, the city where culture

treated bodies as cheap, where they treated people,

human beings, as worthless. Paul's point cuts

at all of us. When we treat our bodies the same

way that the world does, we are living out a

lie about our worth. And so, as I said, your

worth determines how you treat something. And

if you know your body, if you know your life

is worth more than anything this world could

provide, anything more than, or more than anything

this world could purchase, if you know that it's

worth that, then why would you treat your body

like the world treats their bodies or your mind?

Why would you talk to yourself? Why would you

say things about yourself? Why would you believe

things about yourself that the world propagates?

Your heart, why would you take things on that

the world is selling? No, you are extraterrestrial.

You are not of this world. You live different.

You believe different. You think different because

you are different. You have been made new in

Christ. And so Paul is attacking the lie. Because

when something is valuable, you treat it like

it's valuable. If we're valuable, if our bodies

are valuable, then we don't desecrate them the

way the world does. We glorify God with them.

But Paul has to remind these people. He reminds

these believers, it seems, because they don't

seem to understand just how valuable they are

to God. It's either that or they find themselves

forgetting like we all do. But what I don't want

you to miss is that Paul is writing to the church

in Corinth. He's writing to not an individual

in Corinth. He's writing to a body of believers.

He's talking to a room full of people. all bought

with the same price, all wearing the same price

tag, the same stamp of approval, of authenticity,

which means this isn't just about how you see

yourself. This isn't just about how I see Donovan.

It is about how you see the person sitting next

to you. Like right now. The person sitting next

to you, your husband, your wife, your kids, whoever's

sitting by you, the neighbor that maybe you don't

talk to, you just had to sit next to them because

there was nowhere else to sit in the church or

because they chose to sit next to your assigned

seat. How you see. the person sitting next to

you because if you're priceless and they're priceless,

if we've all been bought with the exact same

blood, the exact same price, then something is

wrong when we treat each other like the other

person is just that $5 pack from Walmart instead

of a million dollar card in a case. There's something

wrong with that. Who in your life have you already

decided is just ordinary? Who's common? Who doesn't

deserve the same valuable treatment that you

deserve? Who in this world have you decided isn't

as valuable? Let me tell you something. We have

a problem. And by we, I mean the American church.

We have a problem where we have decided that

some of us matter more to God than others. We

have a problem when we decide that some of us

have a seat in the church better than others.

I love this story. this new preacher. There's

a church. They were getting a new preacher and

they announced, hey, this Sunday, our new preacher's

coming. Everybody be ready. We're going to celebrate.

It's going to be awesome. And so the church,

they're ready. Sunday morning comes around. They're

ready for their new preacher. And this homeless

guy walks in and he goes up to the front. He

wants to sit in the front row. And so the homeless

guy, you know, he's kind of smelly, kind of looks

bad and dingy and everything. He comes and he

sits on the front row. Well, one of the ushers

comes to the homeless guy and says, hey, man,

do you think you could kind of sit towards the

back? You know, we got people that are supposed

to sit here. You know, today's a big day. We

would appreciate if you sit back. The homeless

guy's like, no, I think I'll stay here. I really

would like to be able to, you know, see and experience

the whole thing. And so the usher goes away.

He goes and gets one of the, you know, the deacons

or the elder. And he goes and gets his church

leader. comes and he says, hey man, do you think

you can move to the back? You know, it's a big

day and there's, you know, people assigned seats

in the church, right? So there's people that,

you know, want to sit here. And the homeless

guy says, I would really, I'd really like to

sit here. And so finally, another church leader

comes and he says, you have to move to the back.

And so they get the man, they escort him to the

back. And the man goes and he sits in the back

and It comes time, you know, everybody's ready.

It's time in the service for the sermon. So one

of the elders of the church, he goes up to say,

we're welcoming our new minister today. We're

so excited to have him. Brother, whatever, would

you come down and deliver this first -time sermon

for us? And the homeless man starts walking towards

the front, and he takes off his disguise, and

he decides this is not a Christian culture. This

is not the Jesus way. This is not the way of

Christ's church. You see, there's a problem when

the church has decided that some are more valuable

than others. What about the visitor? Oh, we get

visitors every week. They never stay. Yeah, glad

they're here. Hope they got something. We'll

see them. But what if? What if when the homeless

man walked in? What if when the visitor walked

in? What if when the immigrant walked in? What

if when the person that you know, you know they

live a life that is not like yours. You know

they live a life that is unholy. Because you

know, you've heard the stories, right? You've

been to the barbershop. You've heard about the

way they've been sleeping around. You've heard

about the way they've been drinking all night

at the bars. You've heard about all the things

that they've been doing. What if when they walked

in? Instead of looking at them and then walking

away, or instead of saying, hey, you need to

move to the back, or instead of giving them a

side eye, what if you loved them like they were

priceless? What if you treated them like they

are the most valuable person in the room? When

we know what something is worth, it determines

how we treat it. And every person in this world,

from birth to death, is valuable to God. Every

person in this world, from birth to death, Jesus

died to pay a price for their life. And for us

to treat them as anything less is wrong. And

it's not the way of Jesus. So are we a church

of Christ? a church belonging to Christ, a church

with the mindset of glorifying Christ in everything

we do, everything we say. If we are, then every

person that walks through those doors, every

person we meet at the grocery store, that we

run into at the checkout line, every person is

valuable, is priceless. And we ought to treat

them as such. Because Christ did. That's... part

of what it means to glorify God with your body,

not just what you do to yourself, what you believe

about yourself, how you treat yourself. We live

in this, I got to do what's best for me world.

We live in this, I need to take care of myself,

the do you society, but that is not. what Christ

called us to. It is about how you carry yourself

toward the people that God has also called priceless.

It's challenging. It is because we have our preferences.

We have our desires. We have our groups that

we gravitate towards, but it is the gospel message.

And part of the good news message today is this.

God did not just purchase us for his glory. He

purchased us also for our benefit. I want you

to look at what Paul says in Galatians 3, verses

Galatians 3:13–14

13 through 14. Christ redeemed us from the curse

of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it

is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged

on a tree, so that in Christ Jesus the blessing

of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that

we might receive the promised spirit through

faith. Christ intentionally became a curse in

our place so that, We might inherit the blessing

of Abraham. See, the blessing of Abraham from

way back in early human history where God promised

to make a holy and blessed nation out of Abraham's

offspring, where God destined that he was going

to do this amazing thing through Abraham's bloodline.

And because of Christ, we get to be a part of

that. I don't know about you, I'm not Jewish.

I don't think I could trace my, well, Father

Abraham had many sons, you know, right? Maybe

I could trace my lineage back to him, but I don't

know. that I could. But because of Christ, because

of His sacrifice, because He became a curse for

my sins, I get to be a part of that blessed gift

of the Spirit of God living with and in us. You

see, Jesus describes the Spirit as a comforter,

as a counselor. In Galatians, Paul tells us that

the fruit of the Spirit is all these things that

the Spirit produces in the lives of those he

inhabits. The love, joy, peace, patience. Somebody

help me out. Finish it. Kindness. Okay, so that's

our next VBS song, okay? Love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

and self -control. Jesus died. so that we could

have all of those things. Who doesn't want a

more peaceful life? Who doesn't want to have

more patience with their kids and with their

spouse? Who doesn't want to be kinder to the

people next to them? Who doesn't want a more

good life? Who doesn't want to be faithful? Who

doesn't want to be gentler? Who doesn't want

to have more self -control when they're struggling

to get over the addiction, when they're struggling

to get over the way that they view their life,

when they're struggling to get over the way that

they're doing things in this world? Who doesn't

want those things? That is the abundant life.

that Jesus came to give us. Yes, he came so that

we could live for eternity, but he didn't come

so that we could live in eternity in a gray world.

He came so that our life would be full of color

and wonder and amazement and beauty. He came

so that we could have eternal and abundant life.

Jesus died so that we might be blessed. And so

I say this morning that I believe Jesus' sacrifice

is verification of our value. His life, death,

burial, and resurrection is verification that

God does see us as priceless. It's a sort of

stamp, which brings me back to the baseball cards

because I can't get over how much money people

spend on baseball. And if you're a baseball card

collector, I'm not shaming you. I just think

you're crazy. See, baseball cards of this prestige,

they have labels or stamps that tell you what

they're rated or what they're worth. The Mickey

Mantle card we discussed is rated so highly.

Well, the label, the stamp on you is priceless,

and God proved it. He went to great lengths to

prove it. John 3 .16, maybe you've heard it.

It's the most famous Bible verse in the world,

especially in recent years, made famous because

of Tim Tebow. And the crazy thing that, you know,

during a playoff game, he wore John 3 .16 on

his eye black. And in that game, like he had

316 total yards and he had 3 .16 yards per carry

and 31 .6 passing yards. It's crazy what happened.

And that night, the most searched thing on Google

was... John 3 .16. I'm not saying that I think

something supernatural happened there, but I

think God sent a message to the world through

Tim Tebow. And this is the message that the world

heard that night because of a playoff game for

the lousy Denver Broncos. And if you're a Denver

Broncos fan, sorry for you. Because they didn't

win many playoff games that year. For God so

loved the world that he gave his only son. that

whoever would believe in him should not perish

but have eternal life. For God did not send his

son into the world to condemn the world, but

in order that the world might be saved through

him. How much are you worth to God? How has he

shown what you're worth? I think he's shown it

pretty well. You see, every time I see the price

that someone pays for something like a baseball

card or another collector's item, I ask myself,

why in the world would anyone pay that much for

something like that? And then I remember I'll

pay hundreds of dollars to watch a football game

or go to a concert or eat at a nice restaurant.

You see, we spend on the things we love. The

things we love we deem valuable. When we really

love something and when we really want it to

be ours, even if it's just going to be ours for

a little while, even if we know that it's not

guaranteed that we'll have it forever, even then

we will go to great lengths to make it happen.

And God doesn't just see you as valuable. God

loves you. And I mean you, like you personally.

And because he loves you. He sent his son to

live, to die for you, to rise so that you could

have a blessed life here on this earth and forever.

And that's the good news. And now you have to

choose whether you'll accept it or not. With

every message that you receive, you have to choose

how you'll respond. Will you choose to be one

of God's children whom he dwells with? Will you

choose to be a recipient of his grace, of his

love, of his forgiveness, his peace, joy, and

all the fruit that comes from his touch on your

life? Or will you choose to stay on the shelf

when you've already been purchased? See, the

choice is yours. I can't choose for you. No one

can pressure you into it. Nobody can force you

into the water. The choice is yours. If you are

ready to choose, the better option. We would

love to talk with you about baptism. I'd love

to give you a book. I'd love to study this book

with you. We'd love to talk with you about discipleship

this morning. If you just need prayers from this

church family because you are trying to wrap

your mind, your hands around this idea that you

are priceless, whatever you need. We believe

that you are priceless too, and we want to wrap

our arms around you and treat you the way God's

value determines you ought to be treated. So

whatever you need this morning, the invitation

is open. Please come as we stand and as we sing.