Discarded Without Reason

It was time.
A few times a year I get the little crock on the laundry room counter.
I wait until the crock is almost full.
I head to the store that has the machine.

My little crock on the laundry room counter holds loose change.
When the change compartment of my wallet gets too full, I put the overflow in the crock.
I leave four quarters, three dimes, and three nickels in my wallet.
My youngest daughter laughed when she saw me do that since that is what she does as well.

I like loose change.
Loose change adds up after a while.
I tried to show that to my children when they were growing up.
It helped them learn that saving even the littlest amount matters.

It was time to get the crock.
It was also time to get the pennies out of the penny jar.
The penny jar used to be a jar when my children were little.
However, when the jar broke many years ago, the pennies went in a large crock instead.

That large crock has been on the fireplace hearth.
It has recently been discovered by my granddaughter, who just had her first birthday.
I decided that the pennies were too tempting and could easily end up in her mouth.
The penny jar my children grew up with, had a goose neck; no one could reach the pennies.

I brought a large container into the family room and scooped out all the pennies.
I never mind taking the coins to the machine.
I do mind the loud sound it makes as the coins fall in to be counted.
I watch the counter as it counts the quarters, dimes, and nickels.

I had never brought this many pennies before.
I watched the pennies fall into the machine.
There were actually over 1500 pennies.
I knew that $15 of the total would be from pennies alone.

I poured the coins from the little crock into the machine after I was finished with the pennies.
I saw the total get larger and larger.
I saw the number of quarters, dimes, and nickels as they were tallied on the screen.
Only a few more coins needed to fall into the machine.

I heard a few clanks in the receptacle below.
A reminder popped up on the screen to check for loose coins.
I bent down and pulled out two quarters, one dime, and three pennies.
I checked to make sure the coins were not rejected because they were foreign currency.

They were our currency.
They should not have been discarded.
There was nothing about them that led me to believe the machine would reject them.
I thought I would try again.

I took the two quarters, one dime, and three pennies and put them on the tray.
I lifted the tray so that they would fall into the machine.
I heard the clanking sound again.
I reached down and pulled out the same coins: two quarters, one dime, and three pennies.

I thought I would try a third time.
I repeated all the steps I just did minutes before.
I heard the clanking sound again.
I knew what I would find in my hand: two quarters, one dime, and three pennies.

It was a lesson in futility.
I put the two quarters, one dime, and three pennies in my wallet.
I went up to the customer service desk to cash in my voucher.
Those six coins would be added to the crock when I got home.

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.  If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”  have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:1-10)

How many people are like those coins?
How many people are rejected without good reason?
They are tossed aside because of someone’s preference and nothing more.
They are tossed aside because of some arbitrary standard.

Even if the machine of the world rejects them, we who are in Christ should not reject them.
Even if the world deems them unnecessary or marred in some way, we should not.
We are to be different from the world.
Everyone should be welcome at our table.

God says so.