Dirt

by Sue Emery (Suemery@aol.com)

We take a drive through the country in March or April, and it greets us. We walk through the downtown's of Seattle, Los Angeles, New York or any city, town or village, and it attacks us. Anyplace we should travel on this planet - it's there. . .we try our best to keep it outside our homes .. . but it winds up inside. A humble element . . .not held in the highest regard. . . but yet. . .God. . .the creator of heaven and earth. . . elevated this one substance. DIRT. . . plain old fashioned dirt. From the freshly plowed fields that provide food, to the streets of the cities and the people of the street. . .From our homes and yards to the halls and walkways of our lives. . . we are greeted by DIRT.

When the work of creation was done, and all things were "good," God had a conversation with God. "Let us make the human in our image, the human that will rule all of this creation." Now understand. . . God has just finished this marvelous creation ...a wondrous planet with plant and animal life .. . .and God created it all from nothing - zip - scratch .. . . .but for the creation of the human. . . does God come up with some incredible new material. . . nope. . . God scoops up a handful of DIRT or clay or soil or dust (depending on the version of bible you use) and fashions the human. Again, understand. . . God knowing all that was and will be. . . knowing His son would need to come and live life as a human in order to secure our reconciliation with God...God still chose to create the human from DIRT. DIRT. . . common . . . ordinary . . . unassuming. . .yet, considered by God to be worthy of His most nobel work. Could it be that God knew something that maybe we haven't quite caught onto?

Lets look at this DIRT. . . first off . . .this DIRT is made up of four basic elements. Yes, there are variables - but essentially there are four common elements to this DIRT. Soot or carbon, clay, sand, and water. Soot, clay, sand, and water. This is a nice piece of information. . . but so. . . . Well, lets take a deeper look. . . because. . . I truly believe that God Did know something we don't easily see.

Soot. . .carbon. . .but when brought to it's highest order it becomes the fuel to warm homes and cook our food. And . . . when it's perfected. . . it becomes the priceless diamond.

Clay. . .common clay or highly refined porcelain. . .the higher purpose or use of clay is found in the jars, pots, utensils, and art that we use in our daily lives. . . the clay perfected though. . . becomes something so glorious. . . for clay perfected gives us the fiery ruby, the icy sapphire, the glowing emerald. Clay perfected gives us a rainbow of precious gem stones.

Sand. . . found to be useable by the ancients for glass, it is when sand is perfected that we find new value. A grain of sand finds its way into the oyster. It has the potential of destroying the oyster or becoming its greatest asset. And through a process of time the sand is perfected . . . becoming the pearl of great price.

and lastly . . . Water . . . we can't live without it. . .a person can go days without food but only three or possibly four without water. So then, what would the perfected state of water be . . . Ahhh. . .an early, misty summer morning, the sun peeking through the misty haze. . . the dew glistens in the early morning light. . . a drop of dew on the petal of a rose magnifying the glory that it is. . . water perfected. DIRT. . .could it be that God knew something we didn't?

Time to bring this DIRT home to where we live. Look at your brothers and sisters. Look deep at those in your churches and fellowships. . . I'm talking about Christians looking hard at Christians . . . some of our brothers and sisters grate us. . . rub us wrong if you will. . .their manners and practices are . . .well . . .they just don't match our high standards. The bottom line is . . .if truth be told. . . we regard them as little better than DIRT. I know this is true, because that's how we treat them. People. . .we need to get ahold of the fact that these are our brothers and sisters . . . these people contain the life of God. One day the people of Israel decided they wanted a king. . . so they could be like everyone else. Well, Saul was anointed king and long story short. . .he blew it. What to do, what to do, what to do. . .God has a visit with his man on the scene. "Sam," says God, "go over to Bethlehem and visit Jesse, it's one of his sons that will be anointed the next king." So off Samuel goes. One by one Jesse's sons parade in front of Samuel. Fine men, strong, true, socially acceptable. . .but God says, "No." "Sam, Sam, Sam, you know better, don't look at these sons of Jesse the way others view them, remember, man looks at the outward - I look at the heart." And so. . .finally, at last, David arrives, the lights go on in Samuel's head, and David is anointed king. Where others saw little more than a dirty shepherd boy . . . God saw a king . . .and the forefather of His son.

We need to look around, and we need to look hard, we need to look within and we need to look harder. What do we see, and how are we viewing others? Look around this room, look at your brother and sister, who or what do you see? In the Gospel of Matthew it's written, "Where your treasure is, there is where your heart will be." Take a serious look, do we see DIRT or do we see that DIRT perfected? Our treasures are not locked away in a bank or in our 401k or 403b's, we are each others treasure. We are a pile of priceless gem stones. . . created at a high price, that we would reflect the glory of God. DIRT. . .God had something infinitely wonderful in mind when he fashioned the human out of a scoop of DIRT. He looked beyond carbon, clay, sand and water. . . and saw the precious, priceless gems contained therein. He saw you my friend, and he saw me.

Sue Emery co-runs a social outreach mission in Seattle, WA (USA) and serves the people in Washington State as a child passenger safety specialist. She is also a student at the Puget Sound Christian College studying for her B.A. in ministry. She became a Christian in 1978 and has dedicated her life to the Lordship of Christ, choosing the follow the life of Jesus in her daily life. We are delighted to share her reflection on "Dirt."

September 15, 1999