Sharing the Savior’s Story

From Trash to Treasure I

A couple of years ago a very dear friend talked to me about some ugly glasses she and her husband had received as a wedding gift. These glasses were so ugly the couple wondered if they had unknowingly offended the givers. “Why else,” they asked, “would anyone have given us something this ugly?” The couple contemplated putting the gift in the closet, and then, when somebody they didn't like invited them to a wedding, they could give the ugly glasses to them.

Eventually, they decided to use the ugly glasses for everyday dining. They tossed the ugly glasses around. They taught their children to drink from a cup, using the ugly glasses. Nobody cared if the ugly glasses got broken. To all in the home, the ugly glasses were a source of amusement.

Then, one day our friend joked to another person about the ugly glasses. The friend looked sick. “It sounds like the ugly glasses are a Hummel collector’s item. I don't know; I'll have to check.”

She checked. The ugly glasses were Hummel’s. The ugly glasses, in the complete set, were worth a little under $1,000. And the ugly glasses—well, they were transformed. From that moment on, the ugly glasses were handled differently. They were put up away from children's fumbling fingers. Valuable all along, in the eyes of this couple the ugly glasses had been changed—trash had become treasure.

Excerpt from The Lutheran Hour broadcast of: March 2, 2003