Last week, the penny died.
On November 12, after 232 years of production, the United States Mint ceased production of the one-cent coin for circulation. Today there are an estimated 300 billion pennies in circulation – though most are rarely used. The majority of Americans just toss them in jars or drawers. According to one source, about 2% of Americans throw their pennies in the garbage.
The first pennies produced in the United States were huge – roughly the size of a half-dollar. Over the centuries, the composition of pennies changed dramatically to lower the cost of production.
Today pennies are made primarily of zinc with only a thin coat of copper. Despite these cost-cutting measures, minting a penny still costs up to three cents – more than three times what the coin is worth.
Like landlines, typewriters, and the Sears and Roebucks catalog, pennies have become obsolete. Despite resistance from the state of Illinois – the Land of Lincoln – the penny has finally died an inglorious death.
It got voted off the island. It has gone the way of the dodo. Soon it will fade into obscurity.
The penny lasted generations. Like all good things, however, it has come to an end.
That is the way of our ever-changing world.
Steam locomotives, horse-drawn carriages, personal pagers, floppy disks – they all had their day in the sun and now are no more.
Nothing in this world lasts forever.
Everything wears out and eventually becomes obsolete – even us. The Prophet Isaiah wrote, “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field … The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God remains forever” (Isaiah 40:6,8).
Unlike pennies, pagers and people of our world, the eternal truths of God’s Word never grow old or become obsolete.
Though thousands of years old, God’s Word still has practical applications for our everyday lives. God’s promises continue to comfort and inspire in the face of our uniquely modern problems. The good news of the forgiveness Jesus won for us is as necessary now as it was two thousand years ago when Jesus died.
God’s Word is our comfort, guide, and help in our darkest days here on earth. But even more importantly, it leads us to Jesus and shows us the way to heaven through faith in him.
That is worth more than all the pennies in the world.
Pastor Andrew Schroer has been a pastor for over 25 years and is currently serving at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Edna, Texas. You can find his latest books, “364 Days of Thanksgiving” and “364 Days of Devotion,” on Amazon. com.
