"Ordinary pieces of tableware or beer or soda bottles are flung into the ocean. Years pass, or decades, and then one day, there it is upon the shore; a small shard from one of those long ago discarded objects. Shifting currents have rounded its edges; abrasion has polished its surface; exposure to the sun has altered its hue. And so, when we happen upon it, here amidst the shells and seaweed, we can't help but laugh with joy at what seems a miracle: this ordinary fragment of silica that time and adversity have transformed into something beautiful." (www.writersatthebeach.com)

Seaglass is almost at gem status, sought after by collectors and jewelry makers. (As aside for the environment – try to find seaglass today. It hard to come by on our beaches … who says recycling and littering laws don't make a difference?) What was once garbage … broken, sharp and even dangerous, after years of being buffed by the ocean waters and sand is transformed into something beautiful and treasured.

In Kabul, Afghanistan is a Red Cross facility that makes and fits prosthetic devices for persons who have lost limbs in land mine accidents. The hospital is staffed almost entirely by people who themselves have lost limbs. It is an inspiring place to be … at the time of my visit it was headed by Alberto Cairo, a man full of enthusiasm and hope. Among the many things that struck me about the place was the material that was used to form the prosthetics. As much as possible the facility used materials that were locally available. After experimenting with various rubber in the area, they found that the tires from the numerous Soviet tanks that abandoned throughout the country was the best material for fashioning the limbs. What was once an instrument of destruction is transformed into something giving hope and life.

If human and earthly powers can shape such things that are broken and destructive into something treasured, how can we doubt what God can do in our own lives? How can we doubt what God can do in our lives when we truly let God work on us, in us and through us? First we need to remember that God treasures us, truly treasures us. The pronouncement at the baptism of Jesus: "You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased," is our reminder that this is the kind of relationship that God intends to have with us – we are the beloved of God. Do you know that … truly know that? That God treasures you, even when you are your most ugly, destructive self? You are precious in the sight of God.

In that relationship of being loved and treasured, God calls us towards wholeness. It begins with a moment when we "wake up" and realize we can't do it on our own. And so God calls us into a relationship that is offered to us in the life and example of Jesus Christ. In that relationship we are called to give our lives to be so shaped that we live towards a time when all that we do is in response to God's love for us and for the world.

On long car rides children ask: "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Probably not … but if you are here this morning, you have most likely gotten in the car and started the journey. At some level you have acknowledged your need for the saving and healing of God's love. And now, the season of Lent is the time to get serious about the journey. It is to be continually checking in and asking "am I there yet?" … taking stock of your spiritual health.

Immediately after God pronounces Jesus as Beloved, Jesus finds himself in the wilderness. There he is confronted with the possibilities of his brokenness … he is asked to tempt God, to take on power that is not his to take on, to take shortcuts to God's love. Jesus is able to turn away from all of that and remember his God that gave him life and being. Where is your wilderness this morning? What are the things that you need to face and let go of in order to know God's healing love? God treasures your very being … and so calls you to have the courage to face whatever it is that you need to face. Just as the waves and sand shape away the sharp, dangerous pieces of glass; just as a vehicle of destruction is shaped into something life-giving … so we are called to fling ourselves onto the mercy of God where we will find hope for the broken and hurting places of our lives, so that our true beauty as a child of God might shine forth. No matter how broken we feel, no matter how impossible the situation, there is no place in which the love of God can not work. I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes from The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis: "God can work backwards in time to redeem the hells of our lives."

As we remember how God treasures us, we are also reminded of the need to take inventory of what we treasure … of how we treasure others. Some of you have a stockpile of things to grab if you have to evacuate your home quickly … they are the treasured things. They are symbols of what you value in life. Much more important are the spiritual treasures, for as the Ash Wednesday gospel text reminds us: "The place where your treasure is, is the place where you will most want to be, and end up being." Even as Lent calls us to turn away from the things that keep us from healing, Lent also calls us to take stock of our treasures, so that in the end we will find ourselves where we most want to be.

In grasping on to our treasured-ness in God's love, we also grasp on to the reality that God loves the next person as much as God loves us. There is no place in God's love for us to discard another person, no place for us to treat them as if they aren't good enough … there are no "nobodies." How dare we behave differently, knowing how much God loves us?

One last lesson from the sea glass … yes, it is true that the water and sand buff the glass into a treasured gem, but the glass out of water is opaque. Only when wet does the light shine clearly through it. And so it is with us … on our own we are but a cloudy reflection of what is possible. Only when we live as those washed in the baptismal waters of God's love does the light of God shine clearly through us. It is then we know that what is worth talking about is not what we do, but what Christ is doing through us.

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