I admit I wasn’t excited several years when our trash service started a recycling program. After years of throwing all the garbage into the same container, I had to be retrained. Now at our house we recycle newspaper and cardboard, aluminum cans, tin cans, and plastic bottles. I am a little amazed when I travel to places where recycling hasn’t yet arrived. It just doesn’t seem right to throw recyclables into the garbage to find their way to the landfill.
I know a church that raises a lot of money for its mission program by encouraging the members to recycle aluminum cans. I recently encountered a creative recycling project. I agreed to speak at a men’s retreat and spent a weekend at a camp in northeastern Oklahoma. At the first meal, we received careful instructions–separate containers for silverware, waste paper, washable dishes, and discarded food. Special emphasis: do not put food with the paper. Why? They use the food to feed the pig. Having just enjoyed some good sausage and bacon, the thought quickly arose at our table–recycling for next year’s breakfasts!
Recycling is based on the idea that one can take something without any value and turn it into something valuable. With that definition, God is in the recycling business! The people of God are called to help with recycling–as Paul urged Philemon to “recycle” Onesimus, as we are given “the ministry of recyling (reconciliation).” God sees value in sinners that others cannot see. God sees value in prodigals that even their brothers in Christ cannot see. God sees value in people that even their friends cannot see. God is in the business of eagerly seeking them, washing them off, and making them useful.
Sorting through the trash can be a dirty job, distasteful, and time-consuming. May the God who recycled us deliver us from any negative attitudes as we work in the ministry of recycling.