A Special Easter-Themed Post
Years ago, MasterCard ran a series of commercials that would list the out the cost of a few items. They would list out simple items, like ice cream or a latte, as well as more expensive items, like filling up for gas or filling up with brunch. At the end of the commercial, they would list out an item or feeling that's "priceless". For everything else though, there's MasterCard. Considering that these commercials were well over a decade ago and I can still remember the tagline and that one featured legendary Packers QB Brett Favre, you could say that they were masterpieces, like Tiger Woods' performance at Augusta like last weekend.
Master(s) puns and tangent aside, MasterCard's commercials effectively conveyed how there are some things in life you simply can't put a price on. You can put a price on small items like a cup of coffee (a grande Pike at Starbucks runs for $2.44 in Houston), Double Stuf Oreos (one package at H-E-B runs for $2.98 pre-tax), or oranges (a pound of heirloom navels is typically $1.69 at Central Market). You can also put a price on larger items like a car, a house, or college tuition. There are also items that may have an inherent price to them, but are about so much more than the price. This is where the saying "price is what you pay, value is what you get". These are items like a trip to a friend or family member's wedding, tickets to a sporting event, or getting an autograph and picture with people that have always made you laugh. These are the types of purchases where I tend to go mum on the price because these purchases are about so much more than a dollar sign. They're worth every penny. And lastly, there are those parts of life that you just can't put a price on - they're priceless.
When I was in 6th grade, there was an activity we did in a class once where people from high school did an exercise with us. We were each given 15 of fake currency and the high schoolers did an auction of sorts, where they would list out an item (like a trip to Hawai'i) and whoever was willing to pay the most would get. During the exercise, there were some items that we as a class agreed on were priceless - family, friends, and so on. People can put a price on just about everything, but when it comes to family, friends, or intangibles like love, we just can't put a price on them. I can't imagine putting a price tag on family, family, friendship, love, loyalty - that's just not right (sadly, some people have had a price put on them before -and that's something that remains an issue to this day). In a way, the things that people value most in life are the very things that a price can't be put on. Heck, the movie Richie Rich touches on this - the one thing Richie wanted growing up was something money couldn't buy (friends) and the things his parents treasured the most and kept in their vault wasn't money but memories, nothing of which was of monetary value. However, today's post isn't about what's we can't put a price on. It's about a price that we can't ever repay: God's grace.
This past week at church, I went to an event on Wednesday night called "Passion Week," an event that the church I go to puts on every year during Holy Week. Though I've going there for a little over 2 years, this was my first time experiencing Passion Week. At Passion Week, There are 9 stations that each provide context and a glimpse of what Jesus endured in His final hours on Earth. It truly was an incredible experience. To read about all that Jesus had to endure (all while living a perfect life no less) was truly humbling. Speaking of price, Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. For context, that was the same price for a slave that was killed by an ox (Exodus 21:32). Although it is less clear how much that would translate to in today's dollars (one article I read mentioned it could be anywhere from $90 to $3,000), it's clear that a small price was paid for a truly despicable, evil act, an act that Judas would later regret (Matthew 27: 3-5).
Betrayal prices aside, reading about and seeing visuals to represent the repeated beating, mocking, shame, and everything else that Jesus endured was stunning -and this was a man who had lived a perfect life! And the most humbling part about it was starting to understand just how much pain and suffering that Jesus endured out of love for us and our shortcomings so that we could one day be with God through our faith in Him.It's hard for me to fully wrap my mind around that - that everything Jesus endured from getting arrested to dying on the Cross (crucifixion is quite possibly the most painful and humiliating death imaginable) was because of the ways we've failed and fallen short of God's glory. Jesus truly went through it all - and tomorrow morning brings the good news: Jesus paid it all and over came it all! He literally overcame death and rose again - something I don't think anyone will ever be able to comprehend.
There's a Laura Story song called "Grace" where one part of the song goes on to say:
We never will be able to comprehend or understand how much it cost to see Jesus bear the weight of our sins (let alone everyone's) up on the cross. That said, the point of that isn't for us to try and repay God or repay Christ, we never would be able to do that. Salvation is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Conversely, we are called to love and obey God by living for Him, not ourselves. Along the way, we will stumble and fall short of God's glory. Thankfully though, there's grace for that. We're not called to be perfect, we're called to be followers of Christ.
Tomorrow, the calendar turns to Easter Sunday, the special day where the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty, and Jesus Christ was resurrected and alive again. Each day is a blessing know that Christ is risen (He is risen indeed!) and that He lives in us. As one hymn goes, because Christ lives, we can face tomorrow and that life is worth living because He lives. And living that way truly is priceless. Happy Easter, everyone!
Master(s) puns and tangent aside, MasterCard's commercials effectively conveyed how there are some things in life you simply can't put a price on. You can put a price on small items like a cup of coffee (a grande Pike at Starbucks runs for $2.44 in Houston), Double Stuf Oreos (one package at H-E-B runs for $2.98 pre-tax), or oranges (a pound of heirloom navels is typically $1.69 at Central Market). You can also put a price on larger items like a car, a house, or college tuition. There are also items that may have an inherent price to them, but are about so much more than the price. This is where the saying "price is what you pay, value is what you get". These are items like a trip to a friend or family member's wedding, tickets to a sporting event, or getting an autograph and picture with people that have always made you laugh. These are the types of purchases where I tend to go mum on the price because these purchases are about so much more than a dollar sign. They're worth every penny. And lastly, there are those parts of life that you just can't put a price on - they're priceless.
When I was in 6th grade, there was an activity we did in a class once where people from high school did an exercise with us. We were each given 15 of fake currency and the high schoolers did an auction of sorts, where they would list out an item (like a trip to Hawai'i) and whoever was willing to pay the most would get. During the exercise, there were some items that we as a class agreed on were priceless - family, friends, and so on. People can put a price on just about everything, but when it comes to family, friends, or intangibles like love, we just can't put a price on them. I can't imagine putting a price tag on family, family, friendship, love, loyalty - that's just not right (sadly, some people have had a price put on them before -and that's something that remains an issue to this day). In a way, the things that people value most in life are the very things that a price can't be put on. Heck, the movie Richie Rich touches on this - the one thing Richie wanted growing up was something money couldn't buy (friends) and the things his parents treasured the most and kept in their vault wasn't money but memories, nothing of which was of monetary value. However, today's post isn't about what's we can't put a price on. It's about a price that we can't ever repay: God's grace.
This past week at church, I went to an event on Wednesday night called "Passion Week," an event that the church I go to puts on every year during Holy Week. Though I've going there for a little over 2 years, this was my first time experiencing Passion Week. At Passion Week, There are 9 stations that each provide context and a glimpse of what Jesus endured in His final hours on Earth. It truly was an incredible experience. To read about all that Jesus had to endure (all while living a perfect life no less) was truly humbling. Speaking of price, Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. For context, that was the same price for a slave that was killed by an ox (Exodus 21:32). Although it is less clear how much that would translate to in today's dollars (one article I read mentioned it could be anywhere from $90 to $3,000), it's clear that a small price was paid for a truly despicable, evil act, an act that Judas would later regret (Matthew 27: 3-5).
Betrayal prices aside, reading about and seeing visuals to represent the repeated beating, mocking, shame, and everything else that Jesus endured was stunning -and this was a man who had lived a perfect life! And the most humbling part about it was starting to understand just how much pain and suffering that Jesus endured out of love for us and our shortcomings so that we could one day be with God through our faith in Him.It's hard for me to fully wrap my mind around that - that everything Jesus endured from getting arrested to dying on the Cross (crucifixion is quite possibly the most painful and humiliating death imaginable) was because of the ways we've failed and fallen short of God's glory. Jesus truly went through it all - and tomorrow morning brings the good news: Jesus paid it all and over came it all! He literally overcame death and rose again - something I don't think anyone will ever be able to comprehend.
There's a Laura Story song called "Grace" where one part of the song goes on to say:
"The price that I could never pay was paid a Calvary.So instead of trying to repay you,
I'm learning to simply obey you
By giving up my life to you for all that you've given to me"
We never will be able to comprehend or understand how much it cost to see Jesus bear the weight of our sins (let alone everyone's) up on the cross. That said, the point of that isn't for us to try and repay God or repay Christ, we never would be able to do that. Salvation is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Conversely, we are called to love and obey God by living for Him, not ourselves. Along the way, we will stumble and fall short of God's glory. Thankfully though, there's grace for that. We're not called to be perfect, we're called to be followers of Christ.
Tomorrow, the calendar turns to Easter Sunday, the special day where the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty, and Jesus Christ was resurrected and alive again. Each day is a blessing know that Christ is risen (He is risen indeed!) and that He lives in us. As one hymn goes, because Christ lives, we can face tomorrow and that life is worth living because He lives. And living that way truly is priceless. Happy Easter, everyone!
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| A College Throwback - Easter rocks, y'all |
Very well said, Will!
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