A Life of Sacrifice

In the summer of 1972, 3 years before I was born again, I drove my van to Philadelphia with several other friends and parked at 9:00 PM and walked to the Philadelphia Spectrum, a large sports facility. Being filled with amphetamines, we stayed up all night long conversing with the other people who had camped outside also, of which there were many thousands. When the morning came the ticket windows came alive as they prepared to sell tickets to us, that is why we were there. The stampede to the windows was so violent that the Philadelphia police were called, complete with riot gear, to organize us and bring order. After an hour of arranging barricaded lines by which we would proceed one line at a time, they commanded the first line to go to the first ticket window. Upon seeing the first line start to run to the window, the other lines kicked the other barricades over and rushed again to the window.

After repeating the entire sequence again, the police officers stood in front of the lines with their night sticks held out in order to prevent the same scenario from happening again. Upon calling through bullhorns for the first line to calmly walk to the ticket windows, the line started to run which sparked the other lines to knock over the barricades and the police! At that point the police gave up and the tickets began to be sold. The heat was intense and many people were overcome with heat exhaustion as the thousands crushed against each other and the windows. After several hours I got to the window, still crushed by the crowd and totally drenched. I ordered my allotted four tickets and asked the guy behind me to take my wallet out of my back pocket as I could not get my hands free enough to reach back. After purchasing my tickets I gripped them as tightly as I could and spent ten minutes extricating myself from the crowd.

I was euphoric as I raised my tickets and yelled, I had spent almost 20 hours and endured an incredible amount of pain and discomfort, but I now had my tickets. What tickets, you ask. What did you desire that much that you were willing to go through that sacrifice, you ask.

The tickets were for a Rolling Stones concert.

As I recall that event it seems like a dream. And against the backdrop of that former life memory I now ask myself this question, what today could elicit that kind of sacrifice from me? And to a great degree I am ashamed that I do not have that sacrificial abandonment about the Lord in comparison with some of the worldly things for which I would have sacrificed almost anything. I am writing this post to myself, you are invited to listen in.

Rom.12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Wow! What a statement. This scripture is intertwined with so many others. Jesus said,"He that loses his life for my sake shall find it". Paul said,"I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me". Again Jesus said, "So likewise, whosever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple". These and scores of other Scriptures direct us to a life of sacrifice and discipline. Yes, that's right, sacrifice, discipline, and faith. We Biblical literalists live our lives sometimes as if these and other Scriptures like them are deep, symbolic truths that are not to be put into practice literally. Here are some questions I have been asking myself:

What do I sacrifice? I mean really sacrifice? Food? Clothes? Shelter? Vacation? Do I rise much earlier than I have to so I can pray? Do I stay up much later to pray? We joke about how many shoes we have, I do not believe God laughs. Much of the world will never own a pair of shoes, while the net worth of the shoes we don't even wear could feed starving children somewhere. Have I ever given to God's work sacrificially? That means have I ever sacrificed ALL my savings for Christ at any time? Have I ever been so consumed with giving time to Jesus that I sacrifice sports? TV? Have I ever given more to the cause of Christ at "Christmas"(Jesus' birthday) than I have spent on material gifts for family and friends? In fact, have I ever just given all the money I would have spent on "Christmas" to the cause of Christ? That would be a cultural sacrifice that really didn't affect my socio-economic status. Really, what have I sacrificed for Jesus, without conveniently watering down the meaning of the word?

What does it mean to live by faith? I asked my Bible school professor decades ago that same question. I said, "Do you have enough money in savings to cover next month's rent? Do you lock your doors? Do you have insurance? Do you have enough food, clothing, shelter, entertainment, savings, investments, health insurance, and life insurance to last you quite a while?" He said he did. I then asked, "Assuming all the things I just mentioned are right before God, what then does it mean to live by faith?" He could not answer me and I'm still asking that same question. I have never met a wealthy American believer(us) that was content with food and raiment, but I have met some poor African believers that were close(they don't know any better). I have been to a restaurant with a Haitian Christian who was so grateful for his food he almost wept. I have been to a restaurant with American Christians who almost caused a scene over how their STEAK was cooked, or where they were seated, or the lack of prompt SERVICE. Again I ask, what does it mean to LIVE BY FAITH?

Being a follower of Jesus used to cost significantly, because it used to be worth something. Today most of the emphasis is placed on what Jesus can do for us, not what he requires of us! I live in luxury compared with MOST of the world. If all this has actually come from God for my pleasure, than I need not ever question it. It is the blessing of God. But I wonder why God hasn't given the same material blessings to my brothers and sisters in Christ in the Sudan. Honduras. Haiti. China. India. Mexico. etc. The goods of this world, oddly enough, seem to coincide with capitalism and democracy, and, oddly enough, unbelievers are blessed with the same materials that we are in this atmosphere(and many of them a lot more). I am asking myself, is God a respecter of culture? Does He prefer one over another? Will He materially bless unbelievers because they live in a capitalist democracy, while He won't materially bless His own children just because they don't? Or maybe....just maybe, my lifestyle misrepresents my Heavenly Father.

The other view I am contemplating is that we are hording up goods for our own pleasures, while other believers are in great need. I am guarding against judging anyone, I personally have a long, long way to go. I say this so you can let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart through some of the things I share. I want to be a blessing to my Lord and I have absolutely NO grounds for self righteousness or pride. I am a sinner saved by the grace of God, kept by the grace of God, and will one day be with Jesus by the grace of God. But I believe God wants to challenge(convict, correct, chasten) us to a deeper discipleship for the Lord Jesus. As the song prays, "Change my heart O God...".

So then, what is a life of sacrifice? Can we horde money and goods and still claim we have no attraction to this world and that "our life is hid with Christ in God"? And today while so many are preaching from the gospel narratives while neglecting the epistles, let us ask ourselves do we really desire to emulate the "Jesus lifestyle"? Does the "foxes have holes" thing draw us? He even had to borrow another man's tomb, so follow those steps. Even the early disciples confessed "silver and gold have I none", so next time we do a series on Peter let's not just present the typically entertaining and somewhat identifying survey of his strengths and weaknesses, let us look at how he lived. Jesus, our example? Careful, God may one day require that of us. I believe that the Amish, albeit extreme, live outwardly closer to the Biblical teachings of the New Testament than we do. Sorry, I didn't mean to offend the health and wealthers, or the high churchers, or the...well...the us. We have changed the Word, and although I significantly disagree with most of the emergent conclave, I do believe they have put their finger on one examinable observation, we have changed the definition of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

To be a follower of Jesus do these things:

• Repeat the words someone tells you to (the sinners prayer)
• Remember you repeated what you were told
• Go to church (there is a wide variety of accepted consistency)
• Give some money sometimes
• Try not to get drunk
• Get baptized on the special, comfortable, and peer pressure day planned by the church
• Get a Bible
• Bow your head when someone prays
• Cut down on cursing
  

There you have it. At your funeral a clergyman will take his $100 and place you in heaven because after all you did make a "profession of faith". Sacrifice? Forget about it (New York accent), nobody else is doing it, so cruise right into eternity on the wings of a commitment that was significantly less than your commitment to your dog.

I Jn.3:16-18 - Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Ja.2:14-17 - What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things that are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone

Ja.5:1-3,5a - Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days....Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth,