Sacrifice

Sacrifice: an act of offering to a deity that is precious and requires the death of the victim on an altar; the destruction or surrender of something for something else

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—
    but my ears you have opened^[c]—
    burnt offerings and sin offerings^[d] you did not require.
 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
    it is written about me in the scroll.
I desire to do your will, my God;
    your law is within my heart.”

Psalms 4o:6-8 NIV

 

When I first read the first this passage, two things came to mind.  The first one is the famous Micah 6:8 passage of loving mercy, doing justice, and walking humbly with our God.  This passage gets quoted all the time and it implies that our faith requires some sort of action.  In essence there is some sort of standard of how we are to conduct ourselves not only with God but also with others.  The second thing that came to my mind is the Old Testament sacrificial system.  Not only did the nation of Israel bring gifts to the altar to recognize Gods goodness and protection, but they also sacrificed a spotless animal for the forgiveness of sin and so they could maintain a right relationship with God.  This is where the Day of Atonement comes in where the Hight Priest sacrificed a spotless sheep for the sins of the whole nation.  It got me thinking that God has a standard of not only how we interact with Him, but how we interact with others.  Here are some observations I have made.

My first observation is that God can not be bought off.  How often do we try and use good works or deeds to get on Gods good side.  It could be that we lead a small group, be a sponsor in some sort of recovery program, to dropping an extra twenty bucks in the offering plate/online giving.  This sort of sacrifice comes down to two things.  The first one is that we are trying to make ourselves look better than what we are.  We are trying to distract God and others from our issues,  addictions, and our quirks.  In essence, we are trying to earn our way into heaven.  The second thing that this form of sacrifice brings is this concept of karma.  If we do more good things for God and others than bad, this means we will get into heaven.  It does not work this way with Christianity, because we can not earn our way into heaven.  If we could, Jesus death and resurrection is pointless.  To borrow a little Marin Luther, salvation comes through grace, faith and Scripture. 

My second observation is that intentions matter.  How often do we sacrifice something to get what we want.  This often is a form of manipulation, because we are holding dirt on someone and we will release it until we get what we want.  In essence, we are using people to get things, and this is not very Biblical.  We often forget about truth, honesty and integrity, because we are more concerned about stepping on people to get what we want.  Is it destroying people get a job promotion or pay raise at work?  Or is it destroying the Ex so the family for friends will like you more than the other person.  True sacrifice is where our intentions is based not on the giving or the giving up of something, but point ourselves and others to the throne of Jesus.   

My third observation is that sacrifice is relational.  My question is, can we truly give up something great, if there is not relationship.  I think that is the direction of the Micah passage.  Our sacrifices either do not carry as much weight or becomes pointless if there is not a healthy relationship.  If we are only in relationships based on what we can give and receive from each other.  It is seeing people as things or transactions and not people made in the image of God.  This business way of doing life often makes us, lonely, jaded and bitter because we often feel that our sacrifices that we put out is greater than what we receive.  This sacrifice is more of what I can get out of life than what I can give. 

My fourth observation is that true sacrifice requires not just a part of us but all of us.  In the passage above, I think that God is railing on the Israelites because He wasn’t getting all of them.  They only had one foot in the boat, and the other foot was out to bail just in case things got bad or uncomfortable.  Our sacrifices become meaningless if we are not all in.  God is telling us through David that He wants all of us or nothing at all.  This reminds me of the Movie Happy Gilmore where Adam Sandler’s character gets into a fight with Bob Barker’s character.  How often are we like Sandler and become frustrated with God and ask Him if He wants a piece of us.  Bob Barker’s character responds, “I don’t want a piece of you, I want the whole damn thing.”  When something only has are partial attention or commitment, how often do we get wondering eyes and start looking else where and doing other things that distract and cause trouble with co and others.

To wrap up, when we sacrifice or give ourselves completely to God, our outlook, intentions and relationships all change for the better.  In essence, it is a realization that everything is Gods to begin with and that sacrifice is giving everything back to God, including our whole lives.  This is when we become a living sacrifice and not only does Gods power through the Holy Spirit change us from the inside, and empowers us to do great things.  Thins changes how we view and interact with people.  This only happens when we commit to God and His laws and desires become ours.  Here is a warning, when we are living sacrifices, it is easy to get off of the altar.  This is where grace and forgiveness comes in. 

Questions to Ponder

  What makes it difficult to be a living sacrifice?

   How do our intentions affect our relationships?

   What is that one thing that God is calling you to give up or to step out on?

   Why do we desire to manipulate God and or others?