Do
you remember the classic O. Henry short story, “The Gift of the Magi”? It’s
typically read around the Christmas season, because it’s centered around Christmas
Eve. But the lesson it teaches fits any day of the year.
To
refresh, it’s about a young couple with little money wanting to buy a very
special gift for each other. Della secretly resolves to cut and sell much of
her lovely, long hair to buy a chain for husband Jim’s prized pocket watch;
Jim, unaware of her plan, sells his watch to buy beautiful combs for Della’s
hair.
Readers
of the story, as well as those who have seen any of its many dramatic
adaptations, are struck by the irony of their selfless gestures. Honestly, the
first time I saw it, I think my reaction was something like, “Well, that was
dumb! Now what are they going to do with the watch chain and combs?” But as you
ponder the message, it presents a tangible example of what personal sacrifice looks
like.
 |
| Sometimes life calls for a sacrifice for which there is no turning back. |
I
like how preacher James MacDonald recently expressed it: “Sacrifice is giving
up something you love for something you love even more.” The question is, how
many of us would be willing to do something like that?
Sacrifice
is a word – and an act – that seems increasingly out of fashion these days. We
might be willing to give, or lend a helping hand, but only as long as it
doesn’t require too much from us. For years, society has been convincing us,
“it’s all about me” and “you gotta look out for No. 1.” If it’s all about me, then
why should I be all that concerned about you?
At
the same time, we’re often fascinated by accounts of great sacrifice. We talk
about “the ultimate sacrifice” – a soldier giving up his or her life thousands
of miles away on a field of battle, or a firefighter dying in the attempt to
save someone else. Even though many people can’t give the biblical reference, they
appreciate the kindness of a “good Samaritan” (the story is found in Luke
10:25-37), someone going to extreme lengths to help another person, often a total
stranger.
It
was Jesus Christ who said, “Greater
love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends” (John 15:13). He then proceeded to demonstrate
that truth, giving His life on the cross to become the atoning sacrifice to pay
for mankind’s rebellion against its Creator. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The Trinity remains an
unfathomable mystery to the human mind, but the Scriptures make it clear Christ’s
sacrifice was hardly happenstance. We told, “For
God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).
Later the apostle Paul
writes that long before you or I were even a gleam in our parents’ eyes, the
penalty for our sins had been paid. “But
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). As I sometimes ask men I have the
privilege of mentoring, “How many sins had we personally committed when Jesus
went to the cross for us?” Since that was about 2,000 years ago, the obvious
answer is, “None.”
What kind of sacrifice
would you be willing to make for another person, whether a loved one – or a
complete stranger? If you’re thinking that’s a tough question, I don’t blame
you. It’s a difficult one for me, too. But ultimately, the so-called “Christian
life” is one of sacrifice, being willing to give up something we love if
necessary to serve and worship the One we love even more.
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