By Charlie Fuller
How much does the idea of sacrifice come into your thinking? We think of making sacrifices for our young children in order to both provide them a good life and prepare them for the same. We give of our time and energy caring for our aging parents so that they can have the best life possible in the face of declining bodies and minds. We often talk of the sacrifices made by military personnel and first responders.
What are some other ways we’re called to sacrifice?
Maybe sacrifice is something like a transaction. It’s an exchange of something of worth for something of greater worth. We sacrifice in order to receive something even more valuable.
In the gospels, a poor widow gives up much of what little earthly wealth she has in order to receive an infinitely greater reward of putting her sacrifice to a heavenly purpose.
Sacrifice is not a word you hear or see much in current media. It’s a word we once heard around church, but not so much anymore. In my life as a minister, I’ve watched a continual slide away from this word. Even in church. Maybe especially in church.
It’s not something we talk about anymore.
We also shy away from the idea of sacrifice because in the not-so-distant past, many of us have been beaten over the head repeatedly about “sacrificial” giving. We’ve been made to feel lots of false guilt over how much money we gave to the church. While giving is both good and important, I’m glad those days of false guilt and manipulation are over. But I wonder if we’ve moved too far in the opposite direction. I wonder if in our effort to not drive people away we’ve devalued the very real spiritual value of sacrifice.
Sacrifice: to give up something of worth in exchange for a greater good. To give oneself totally to a cause greater than oneself. To participate more fully in God’s work and presence here on earth.
What might you sacrifice today? Or a better question, how might you sacrifice yourself today for something greater than yourself? It’s a valid question for anyone who takes seriously Christ’s call to right the wrongs all around us, to partner in helping God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.