Sacrifice
In the first half of the 20th Century, Canadians rallied to the cry of "For God, King, and Country." Those were the priorities for which they were prepared to make the sacrifice of going to war and, if called upon, to give up their lives. Recently, MacLean's Magazine published the response to a new poll asking what Canadians would be willing to die for. Permitted more than one choice, 83% said they would die for their family, 32% for their country, and 28% for their God. While a sacrificial death for the benefit of others is honourable and laudable, in some ways a sacrificial life may be even more of a challenge.
The concept of sacrifice flows in two parallel channels - the specific and the general. Specifically, "sacrifice" refers to the offering of a life (usually animal and often by fire) to appease or honour a deity. Generally, it means giving up something highly prized or an advantage of some sort for the benefit of another person. In our consideration of the topic, we’ll focus on the general aspect of giving up something of value in order to benefit someone else and notice that this kind of selfless act is glorifying to God at the same time.
In the Old Testament, sacrifice nearly always spoke of the offering of animals. In an agrarian culture, giving up the best of your herd or flock was a powerful picture of your regard for God and your dependence on Him. Generally speaking, farmers keep the best of their crops and herds for seeding or breeding. This ensures the maintenance of the highest possible quality for future generations. So offering your best to God was a practical sacrifice as well as a symbolic expression of faith. Ancient Israelites expressed their trust in God every time they gave up a choice animal as a sacrifice. Defective animals were never acceptable as sacrifices and several passages in the Old Testament reveal God's anger at being given left overs and cast offs.
Since God's satisfaction with the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus, animal sacrifices are set aside. Most of us don’t even own flocks or herds, but we all have things we value. In our culture, we usually think of material wealth symbolized by money, investments, property or possessions. But serious Christians might want to consider that God would welcome the sacrifice of some intangibles like time, skills, privacy, and honour.
Earlier in this series, we talked about simplicity. Let me mention that sacrifice differs from simplicity in that simplicity only touches the things we call “extras” or “luxuries.” Sacrifice digs deeper and calls us to share things we truly need and will have to do without unless God makes up the difference.
Turning to the Bible, I'll choose just one passage to serve as a background: Mark 12:41 to 44 where we read that Jesus "sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.'" (Mark 12:41-44 ESV)
This passage reminds us it is not the size of the sacrifice that makes it valuable, but the spirit which stimulates it. Sacrifice, of the nature of the widow's, moves us into experiencing true dependence on God. It is one thing to give what we don't need. It is another to relinquish that on which we depend ourselves. Read the biographies of some of the missionaries of the early and mid 1800s. Some gave up literal fortunes and profitable careers and casting themselves entirely on God went off into the unknown.
As I hinted earlier, true sacrifice will involve more than just finances. It can touch your comfort, sleep, privacy, reputation, career, safety or anything else you value highly. It is not only financial sacrifice which stimulates God's miraculous provision. He will also supply energy, strength, comfort and whatever else we need when we step out of our usual “comfort zone” and surrender our hopes and dreams for earthly or material fulfilment in favour of spiritual, intangible, future blessings.
It is only fair to mention that like all the spiritual disciplines, sacrifice has its own potential pitfalls. Sacrifice can be used to legitimize irresponsibility. It can also be pressed into service in attempts to test or to manipulate God. We think to ourselves, "If I give up this cherished thing, God will have to give me this other thing that I want." Not so. We delude ourselves. Such a thing is not sacrifice at all, but an attempt to control. We can engage in sacrifice in exchange for honour, gratitude, or even self-aggrandizement
So how can we get started? Well, examine your values and sources of security. Sacrifice will cost you, so look at the things you prize most highly. Identify some things you would be prepared to sacrifice. Remember, it need not be financial. It might be the time required to teach a skill, or the comfort of staying in your own cozy home when there are people on the street to whom you could minister. Then, ask God to show you something that He wants you to trust Him exclusively for. If you are honest about your desire to sacrifice, God will show you what He wants. Pray that He would open your heart to the needs around us - and they are all around us. Then, prepare yourself psychologically by identifying the needs in your environment. Think about what it would take to meet those needs even partially. When you find a correlation between a need and your resources, do something about it. Finally, don’t hang around waiting to be thanked.
Ron Hughes
© August 2008
