Sacrifices Aren’t Always What We Think

What does the term “sacrifice” mean to you? Sacrifices come in varied sizes, large and small. We might feel led to give a dollar or two to a “homeless” person standing along the roadside with a sign asking for help. We might pause to help the proverbial little old lady across the street or take in a stray puppy that seems lost and starving.

 

Then there are accounts of people making great, noble sacrifices: A single mom working two or more jobs to pay the bills and provide food and clothing for her children. A father filling the roles of both dad and mom while his wife recovers from serious illness. Parents scrimping and saving so a son or daughter can get the college education that wasn’t available to them. A young man or woman surrendering a kidney for an ailing sibling.

 

In the work world I’ve heard of business owners choosing to forgo their own paychecks so employees can get paid. Staff members working late into the night to ensure important deadlines are met or projects completed. Teachers spending their own money to provide needed supplies for their classes. 

 

Obviously, some sacrifices are more costly than others. We’ve heard stories of servicemen and women making “the ultimate sacrifice,” surrendering their lives on battlefields to save their comrades. These selfless acts affirm Jesus Christ’s teaching that it’s “more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Somehow, when we give to others – especially when it’s sacrificial – we can feel rewarded for doing the right thing.

 

The greatest sacrifice of all, many of us would agree, is what Jesus Christ did on our behalf. Romans 5:8 reminds us that, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read a similar affirmation: “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 

 

I don’t know about you, but the sacrifice He willingly made to reconcile broken men, women and children to the Father still challenges my full comprehension.

 

Sacrifice is a recurring theme in the Bible. The Old Testament reveals an elaborate system of sacrifices God prescribed for the people of Israel – bulls, sheep, goats and grain – all intended to enhance their worship of the Lord and offer symbolic atonement for sins. Many of these sacrifices served as harbingers of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice. But we find a somewhat different perspective on sacrifices in Psalm 50 that fits the season of thanksgiving and celebration we’re now entering. 

 

Speaking to the Israelites, the Lord said, “I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before Me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is Mine and the cattle on a thousand hills….” In other words, their sacrifices weren’t giving anything to God that He didn’t already own.

 

Then the passage makes a shift , telling about a very different form of sacrifice, one the Lord says He prefers: “Sacrifice thank offerings to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High…. He who sacrifices thank offerings honors Me and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God” (Psalm 50:7-14,23).

 

We find a similar perspective in Psalm 51:17, which declares, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” This isn’t to say the Lord doesn’t appreciate gifts we offer of our time, our talents and our treasures, especially those that require some level of sacrifice. But what He wants most is our hearts – sincere hearts of gratitude, reverence and worship.

 

Over the next weeks we’ll be bombarded with requests from ministries and charitable organizations for special year-end gifts to support and sustain their work, as well as to express our thankfulness to the Lord for what He is doing. Those are important and should be prayerfully and carefully considered. But as the passages above inform us, the greatest gift we can offer – the greatest sacrifice – is our unwavering, sincere thankfulness for all He has done and all that He is doing.