(If you need to know what this is all about, start with the first post in the series and click through the succeeding links. Also, as posts are added links will be placed in that first post to each one.) 

Today, I want to…

Sacrifice Something Worth Giving Up

Another Level

I can hear the groans now, “Edwin, you’ve already asked us to give something worth getting, what more do you want?” I want to go to the next level. I want to sacrifice something worth giving up.

The Bible story of David at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite in II Samuel 24 comes to mind. David had violated God’s law and God was punishing the people. However, Gad the prophet told David if he raised an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah, He would cease the punishment. When David explained the situation to Araunah, the Jebusite was willing to give David the threshing floor, the wood for the fire, and the oxen to offer. But David said, “I will not offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” It is not a sacrifice unless you are giving up something.

Do not be satisfied with the sacrifices of others. Do not say, “Let their money be given. Let their time be taken. Let their lives be spent. I want to hang on to me and my stuff.” When you stand idly by while others sacrifice, you are not giving anything up. Sacrifice is the means by which we realize life and the work done within it is worth something.

For American society, this is a tough challenge to offer. Many of us were raised by parents who said, “I want to give you all that I didn’t have.” They then handed over schooling, clothing, food, games, gizmos, gadgets, cars and so much more. Oh, they gave lectures about how much all this was worth. They talked about the value of a dollar. They got mad when the kids mistreated something given to them. But so few among us ever learned the value of something because we simply didn’t have to sacrifice.

Too few among us were taught the value of anything in life by having to sacrifice to get anything. That is why consumer debt in American continues to increase. According to MSN Money, the average household consumer debt is $18,654. On average, Americans spend 22% more than they make each year. We haven’t learned to sacrifice; we’ve only learned to get.

If you really want to learn the value of life and everything that is part of it, start sacrificing. Don’t put your vacation on your credit card. Instead, cut back on your eating out, your clothing, your weekly entertainment, and save the money. Suddenly, it starts to smart. That is sacrifice.

And yet, this is really the very smallest form of sacrifice. This is simply sacrificing something we want for something we want more. If we find it so hard to sacrifice in this way, no wonder we find it hard to sacrifice for others. No wonder we find it hard to sacrifice when we have no prospect of getting anything in return.

Sacrificing For Others

Sadly, we are so quick to accept the sacrifices of others for us, but find it hard to sacrifice ourselves for them. For instance, how would you feel if you had a friend that called you up and said, “I’m painting houses now, and I saw yours could use some help. I’ll be happy to come do that for you. And I really think this can be great. Since you’re such a good friend, I know you won’t mind paying me double my usual fee since times are tough for painters right now”? I imagine you’d waste no time explaining to your friend that if you decide you want your house painted, you’ll be looking at competitive pricing. You would be within your rights to do so. However, I bet you would think nothing of calling up the same friend and saying, “I hear you’re painting houses, and mine could sure use some help. But times are tough right now, and since you’re such a good friend, I was wondering if you could cut me a discount.” Do you see how quickly we look for others to sacrifice and how slowly we are to sacrifice ourselves?

We all want the sick to be helped, but who will sacrifice some time to go help them? We all want more money to go to research cures for cancer, but who will sacrifice from their own budget to do so? The fact is all these things take sacrifice. Are you willing to sacrifice something worth giving up to fill the gap?

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Perhaps the greatest example of sacrifice we call to mind today is that of Jesus Christ. Even if you are not a Christian, surely you can at least appreciate the story of His great sacrifice. Yet, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross might seem a bit extreme for most of us. We feel we could never measure up to that. How about looking at another story of sacrifice in His life? A storyis recorded in John 13. Jesus, who was the master of this small band of disciples, heard His followers arguing about who was the greatest. Instead of blasting them for not honoring Him as the greatest, He laid aside His outer garments, girded Himself with a towel, and then washed the disciples feet. He washed every one of them. He washed Peter’s feet even though Peter argued with Him and was going to deny Him. Even more amazing, He washed Judas’s feet. He washed the very heels that would be lifted up against Him and cause His death.

This is really the ultimate sacrifice for us. Many of us are willing to sacrifice money to some cause. Some are willing to sacrifice time. Are you willing to sacrifice yourself? Are you willing to lower yourself? Are you willing to set aside your reputation? Jesus sacrificed His place as head of this table and lowered Himself to perform the task of slaves for His students. Can you sacrifice yourself in this way? Sadly, some folks have completely missed the point of this example. They have acted as if they can go through some ceremony of washing feet and by doing so they are showing themselves to be like Jesus. Oh no. This isn’t about washing feet. This is about serving. This is about lowering yourself to declare others are more important than you by spending yourself in their service. If you want to show yourself a sacrificing servant, don’t wash their feet, cut their grass, clean their house, wash their car. That kind of selfless service is the ultimate sacrifice. And please note, the disciples didn’t even say, “Thanks.”

Sacrifice and Our Relationship With God

I can’t conclude a look at sacrifice without remembering Paul’s comments about sacrifice in Romans 12:1. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (NKJV). How can we talk about sacrifice without talking about our relationship with God? Sadly, all too often we treat God the same way we do everyone else. We are very quick to accept His sacrifice, but then we do everything we can to weasel our way out of any sacrifice He may ask of us. Whole doctrines have been created to explain how God asks practically nothing of us. It is vogue today to speak of God as the loving benefactor who doesn’t expect anything out of us but just to give Him a great big I-love-you hug. As long as we just praise, worship and give Him the glory, He’ll be happy with us. So we’re often told.

Mohandas Gandhi was right when he listed “worship without sacrifice” as one of the root causes of violence. We all want to talk about what a great God we serve. We wall want to praise Him. We all want to worship Him. How many of us want to sacrifice ourselves to Him? How many want to surrender our wills to Him? We want to talk about how great Jesus’ sacrifice is. Do we want to sacrifice ourselves back?

Sacrifice Something Worth Giving Up

Sacrifice is no mean feat. It is no small goal. However, without it we have no idea the value of anything. We have no idea the value of stuff, we have no idea the value of relationships, we have no idea the value of work, and we have no idea the value of God.

Today, let’s sacrifice something worth giving up.

(Come back next Wednesday for a look at Going Somewhere Worth Seeing.)