The Fifth Sparrow
Matt 10:29-31. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Luke 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
These statements of Jesus that are found in Matthew and Luke are fascinating. Many theologians agree that both statements were likely made at the same time and as part of a complete example Jesus was making. This understanding is based on the culture of that day.
If someone wanted to purchase two sparrows, the going price was one penny. However, if that person wanted to buy not two sparrows, but four, the price was two pennies. But the seller would “throw in” an extra sparrow, as if the fifth sparrow had no value at all. The fifth sparrow was, from the seller’s perspective, of no worth.
This is why the words of Jesus so impacted the hearers. He was saying that even the sparrow which has “no human value” is not forgotten by our heavenly Father. God even cares for the fifth sparrow. No one is forgotten by God.
I see so many people who seem to be “fifth sparrows”: People who, by the valuation of society, have no value. They have been discarded like trash, yet our Lord has not forgotten them.
Jesus is raising up an army of His own to minister to these “fifth sparrows”. The world may call them worthless, but they are of great value in God’s economy, for He is a personal God, and each “fifth sparrow” is a person. Each is a real, breathing, feeling, lonely, hungry, frustrated, confused, desperate, hurting person. Many of them are calling out to God for help. He cares. He calls. Do we hear?
God uses people to minister to people. There are “fifth sparrows” everywhere. If they are not forgotten by our heavenly Father, why would we not see them? Is it, perhaps, that we do not care as He cares? Are we so busy trying to do great things that we overlook the very people to whom God has called us?
I pray that we (me) who have ears to hear will hear the voice of our Father, who hasn’t forgotten even the fifth sparrow.