April 16, 2000 Mark 15; Luke 23
Living Sacrifice – Part 2
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or the hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward. Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis, had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his grist mill were laid waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
1. Sacrifice will cause others to mock you. “He saved others, but He can’t save Himself!” (Mark 15:29-32)
Just a few days before Jesus’ death, He was in the home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Not long after the meal had been served, one of Lazarus’ sisters, Mary, took a bottle of very expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet. Immediately, one of Jesus’ disciples, Judas Iscariot started to put up a fuss. “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money used to help feed the poor?” From a human perspective, the argument that Judas gave was a good one. If his assessment of the value of the perfume was correct, it was worth almost a year’s pay since the average amount that a person could earn in any one day was a denarii.
You’ve all filled out your tax forms by now. You’ve looked at that W-2 over and over again. You know how much you earned last year. If you’re like me, during the year, you wish that you were earning more money, but when it comes time to pay your taxes, you wish that you had earned less money so you wouldn’t have to pay so much taxes. Now imagine bringing a year’s salary in cash to church next Sunday, carrying it to the front of the church and setting fire to it. You can hear the shouts of people as they see the flames begin to grow. “You idiot! We could have paid a year’s rent on the building with that money!” “Why did you go and do a stupid thing like that?! We could have put a down-payment on a piece of land with that!” “That was a total waste! What good does it do anyone now?!” We can justify a gift when we see tangible results that come out of the gift. But ultimate acts of worship are not very easily justified.
As Jesus hung on the cross, persons at the foot of the cross made statements that made sense from a human perspective. “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. Then we will believe you.” Sounds like a pretty fair proposition on the surface. But the problem was that Jesus had already proved who He was over and over again. Those at the foot of the cross that were making those statements had no interest in placing their faith in Jesus. The Bible doesn’t record it, but I can hear others at the foot of the cross saying things like, “What a waste! He was such a good man. He had so much to teach us. He healed so many people. And now He hangs on a tree, dying as a common criminal.“ True sacrifice will rarely ever make sense from a human perspective.
When you bring your sacrifice of obedience and service and offerings to Jesus, expect others to not understand and to mock you. “You would get up on a beautiful spring morning like today and go to church? That doesn’t make sense! Why not go golfing with me or to the amusement park or to the lake. Who wants to sit and listen to some boring guy tell you everything that’s wrong in your life for 30 minutes or so when you could be enjoying the great outdoors with your family? And you mean to tell me that you actually give financially to that church? You were just telling me the other day how far in debt you are and that you are just barely making it! Man, I thought you had it all together, but now I’m not so sure.”
2. Sacrifice will cause others to abandon you. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:33)
Jesus disciples had stood with Him for three years. They had stood with Him when He fed the 5000. They had stood with Him when He taught the people on the side of a mountain. They had stood with Him when He healed Lazarus. But on the night before Jesus died, as He prayed over what was soon coming for Him, they could not stand and sacrifice some sleep in order to pray with Him. Three times, Jesus went off a short distance to pray, and each time that He returned to where His disciples were, He found them asleep. And then when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, it looked like the disciples were going to rise to the challenge. Peter pulled out his sword to prevent Jesus from being taken. But instead of congratulating Peter on his bravery, Jesus scolded him for his action. Jesus knew that in order to fulfill Scripture and pay for the sins of mankind, He must die.
Peter was more than willing to stand up and fight alongside of Jesus even if it meant the loss of his life. But to willingly turn himself over as a sacrifice was more than he could do. (Mat 26:55-56 KJV) In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. Instead of standing with Jesus in his hour of greatest need, all of His friends abandoned Him. They knew that to associate with someone who was to be a sacrifice might mean their own sacrifice as well. They weren’t prepared for that, so they ran.
You may have experienced that kind of abandonment by people in your life. When you gave your life to Jesus Christ, you may have suffered the loss of people that were important to you. They didn’t understand you anymore. You were operating from a different philosophy and living a different kind of lifestyle. They walked away because they felt convicted or because they thought that this sacrifice stuff might be catching, and they didn’t want any part of it. Sacrifice will cause people to walk away.
As if it wasn’t enough that Jesus had to suffer the abandonment of those humans who were closest to Him, He also felt the abandonment of His Father. “My God, my God; why have you forsaken me?” I wouldn’t pretend to explain all the doctrinal and theological implications of that statement that Jesus made on the cross. How could God turn His back on God? How could God the Father be separated from God the Son when they were one in the same? I don’t have the answer. But what I do know is that Jesus’ sacrifice on that cross caused Him to feel as if He had been abandoned by everyone. He was all alone. When he desperately needed the touch of a friend, someone to understand, someone to endure the pain with Him, He was left to Himself. Have you ever felt abandoned by God? Have you ever cried out to Him for an answer to some question that has been plaguing you or for relief from some pain that has been draining all your energy? But it seems that no matter how much you cry out, there is no one listening. When David wrote Psalm 13, he felt that way. (Psa 13:1-4 NIV) For the director of music. A psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall. Do those words sound familiar? Maybe they sound like words that have come from your own lips in your crying out to God. Job knew what it was like to cry out to God with seemingly no answer. Abraham knew what it was like too. He had cried out to God for a son for decades! But God had remained silent. I don’t have all the answers for why God seems to be silent in our greatest hour of need, except to suggest that He is testing the level of our faith. Do we really believe that He is present with us always even when we can’t feel His presence? He has promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us. Do we really believe that? One thing that we can believe is that regardless of how alone we may feel, Jesus has felt that aloneness too and because of that, He knows how to strengthen us. (2 Tim 4:16-17a) At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; When you can’t feel God’s presence, will you respond like David did. (Psa 13:5-6 NIV) But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
3. Sacrifice will cause others to believe you. “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39) “Jesus, remember me . . .” (Luke 23:42)
When the bills need to be paid, Bryan Johnson thinks about what might have happened if he had sold the ball. He could have paid off his college loans or helped his girlfriend build her house. He could have realized the dream of quitting his government job and starting his own business.
The questions started the minute Johnson caught the ball Sept. 6, 1995, in the fourth inning of Ripken’s 2,131st game. “Don’t give it back!" other fans shouted. A man appeared waving bills of cash, asking "How much do you want?"
But Johnson held fast, and somewhere around 2 a.m. the next morning he handed the ball to Ripken. In return, Johnson got a Louisville Slugger bat signed with this message from Ripken: "Thank you very much for the ball. . . . We both share the same memory."
Johnson said there are other things he finds more valuable than that bat, which sits in a plastic case on his wall. There are letters from strangers, thanking him for doing the right thing. There are the photographs people have sent him of the moment. Then there’s the memory of his father, William Johnson of Franklin Fork, PA. saying he was proud.
Or the letter he got from his girlfriend on the anniversary of the catch. "Life provides us with defining moments now and then," she wrote. "Times when we’re tested to see if what we say we are is who we really are. Well, in this defining moment - you truly shined." Johnson said he would take these things over money every time. - Associated Press, 9/26/96
Abraham knew what it was to sacrifice. He was told by God to take his son, his one and only son and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Abraham willingly obeyed. He went to the place that God told him, bound his son and was getting ready to plunge the knife into his son’s chest. Just at the last moment, the Lord called out to him and told him to spare his son. Then the Lord said this: Gen. 22:12 “. . . Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son.” His willingness to sacrifice that which was most valuable to him proved that what came out of his mouth was reality in his heart.
In 1921, perhaps one of the most amazing operations of all time occurred. The physician was Dr. Evan O’Neil Kane. Dr. Kane was a strong advocate of using local anesthetic whenever possible instead of general anesthesia. But in order to prove his theories, Dr. Kane needed to find a volunteer. No one was willing. They were afraid that the anesthetic would wear off in the midst of the surgery. The thought of being awake while they were being operated on scared them half to death. Finally, Dr. Kane found a candidate for the surgery who was willing. The surgery was to be an appendectomy. Dr. Kane had done approximately 4000 such operations, so he knew the procedure well. The patient was prepped and taken into the operating room. He remained awake during the entire operation and reported only minor discomfort. The patient went home from the hospital two days later, much faster than patients with general anesthesia usually did. Dr. Kane had proven his point. Local anesthesia worked and was much safer than general anesthesia. Modern medicine owes much to this innovative doctor and his brave patient. By the way, the patient’s name was Dr. Evan O’Neil Kane. He had operated on himself in order to prove his point. His sacrifice caused others to believe his words more than any lecture or logical argument ever could have.
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, a soldier and a criminal believed words that they would have accepted in no other way. When you are willing to die – willing to sacrifice everything – for what you say you believe, that is when others stop and take notice.
Now friends, I am going to say something here that I want you to hear very carefully so that you do not misunderstand me. If I had to make my choice of what faith I was going to follow solely by watching the level of sacrifice in each faith’s followers, then I would not be a Christian. I would be a Buddhist or a Muslim or a Jehovah’s Witness. If I did not know what the Bible said, and I had to judge whether or not Christianity was true by looking at Christians, I would walk away from it. Christians are lazy. Christians of today don’t know what it means to sacrifice anymore. We aren’t willing to sacrifice the time and effort it takes to get to know our Bibles like the Jehovah’s Witness do. We aren’t willing to sacrifice the embarrassment of having a door slammed in our face like the Mormons are. Muslims are willing to give their lives for their faith. That’s what makes them such good terrorists. They have no thought for their own life when they drive a car bomb into an American military base. When people look at your life, do they see a willingness to sacrifice everything for what you say you believe is true? You say that you believe that people around you are dying and going to hell. If you really believed that, wouldn’t you be willing to sacrifice your favorite TV show in order to tell them about Jesus? If you really believe that Jesus is coming back soon, why aren’t you willing to live holy lives?
4. Sacrifice will produce forgiveness. “Father, forgive them . . .” (Luke 23:34)
Someone has once said that “Forgiveness is surrendering my right to hurt you for hurting me.” Archibald Hart, quoted in James Dobson, Love Must be Tough. Of all the things that Jesus said on the cross on the day of His sacrifice, these words, from a human perspective, are the hardest for us to grasp. “Father [sound of pounding], forgive them [sound of pounding] for they don’t know [sound of pounding] what they are doing!” I can imagine that as Jesus looked up into heaven and could see His Father standing there, He saw the anger building in His Father’s eyes, much as the anger you and I would feel when someone is hurting our children. I can see the Father getting ready to give the order to go and destroy mankind rather than allow them to hurt His Son so. It is in moments like that that we humans would seek revenge. It is my right to hurt you for hurting me.
“Some fellows were stationed in Korea during the Korean War. While there, they hired a local boy to cook and clean for them. Being a bunch of jokesters, these guys soon took advantage of the boy’s seeming naivete’. They’d smear Vaseline on the stove handles so that when he’d turn the stove on in the morning he’d get grease all over his fingers. They’d put little water buckets over the door so that he’d get deluged when he opened the door. They’d even nail his shoes to the floor during the night. Day after day the little fella took the brunt of their practical jokes without saying anything. No blame, no self-pity, no temper tantrums.
Finally the men felt guilty about what they were doing, so they sat down with the young Korean and said, “Look, we know these pranks aren’t funny anymore, and we’re sorry. We’re never going to take advantage of you again.” It seemed too good to be true to the houseboy. “No more sticky on stove?” he asked. “Nope.” “No more water on door.” “No.” “No more nail shoes to floor?” “Nope, never again.” “Okay” the boy said with a smile, “no more spit in soup.”
We laugh at something like that because on either side, there was no real harm done. But when it comes to Jesus, he gave up his right to revenge not because the other side asked for forgiveness and not because he realized that the other side was right. They were not right. He gave up His right to revenge because of His love for those who were hurting him so desperately.
There was a dispute which had grown into a lawsuit between two farmers as to just where the line between them was and where a fence should be. Finally one of the farmers sold out, and the purchaser moved in. Soon he met Farmer Smith, who was agitated and said to his new neighbor, "They tell me you have bought this farm, and I just want to inform you that you have bought a lawsuit." He was asked to explain, and said, "Well, the fence, being located where it is, cheats me out of two feet of my land." "Then," said the newcomer kindly, "we will move it back four feet." "No," said Farmer Smith, "that is more than I ask." "But," said the new neighbor, "I would rather have peace with my neighbors than a few feet of earth!" "Then," said Farmer Smith very quietly, "if that is the way you feel, the fence stays just where it is and the lawsuit is all off." The Bible says, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." - William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations." Are you willing to sacrifice your right to revenge in order that forgiveness might flow?
5. Sacrifice will show your complete dependence on God. “Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46)
When the ship Empress of Ireland sank, 109 of the 130 Salvation Army officers on board drowned. Not one of them had a life vest. As the ship went down, the crew discovered that the ship was not carrying enough life jackets for everyone. The Salvation Army officers removed theirs and strapped them on the passengers. - Herb Miller, "What Constitutes a Healthy Congregation?" The Parish Paper (American Baptist Churches of Indiana, 1997) When I give of my limited resources to the extent that it creates a perceived need in my life, it shows that my dependence is on God, not my checking account, not people, and not my own self-sufficiency.
6. Your sacrifice will create sacrifice in others. “Joseph . . . accompanied by Nicodemus . . .” (John 19:38-42)
In the winter of 1956, Jim Elliott and four other missionaries were finally realizing their dream. It had been their dream for years to work among the Auca indians in Ecuador. This tribe of indians was among the most feared in all the jungle because of their savage ways. Jim and his friends had come up with a plan in order to establish a relationship with these Indians. They had a plane that they would fly over the Indian village and drop trinkets and gifts down to the tribes people below. Things were progressing as planned. Slowly, the Aucas seemed to lose their fear of these white men. The day came when 3 Indians came and met with the missionaries and exchanged broken communication. One of the Indians even went for a ride in the airplane. Several days later, while flying over the jungle, one of the missionaries saw a group of ten Indians approaching the camp that they had established. He radioed back to their main base camp that it looked like things were finally happening as planned, and they were going to have a full-scale meeting. He radioed that they would next call at 4:30 that afternoon to report on how the meeting had gone. 4:30 came and went without any word over the radio. 5 minutes passed, and then 10, and then hours. The next morning, the wives of the men who had been out among the Indians radioed for help. A rescue party was quickly arranged. The rescuers found the bodies of 5 missionaries – each one killed with a spear. At the young age of 27, Elisabeth Elliott was a widow.
The world press reacted with outrage. “What a waste!” they said. Jim Elliott didn’t consider it a waste though. Long before his encounter on that day, Jim had written “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” What happened as a result of his sacrifice. I want to read you a portion from the book that Elisabeth Elliott wrote about her experiences during those days. [read page 242 from Through gates of Splendor] Two years later, Elisabeth Elliott sat in the village of the men who had killed her husband, many of whom had now turned to Jesus Christ for salvation.
When you sacrifice, it will lead others to sacrifice. After Jesus had breathed his last, and the sacrifice was complete, John records that Joseph from the city of Arimathea came to Pilate and asked him for Jesus’ body. Joseph was probably a man of some wealth and influence to have that kind of access to Pilate and to have a tomb that had been hewn out of rock. To identify himself with Jesus when popular opinion had swung against Him was a dangerous thing. But Joseph was willing to face the sacrifice of everything and sacrifice his own burial place because of the sacrifice of Jesus for him. Joseph was accompanied by another man – Nicodemus – the same Nicodemus that had come to Jesus by night and had received a lesson on what it means to be born again. Nicodemus too was risking a lot by identifying himself with Jesus. He was a part of the ruling religious leaders – the same group that had murdered Jesus. He risked his position, his power, even his life by performing this final act for Jesus. Scripture records that Nic. brought a mixture of spices to be used on Jesus’ body to prepare him for burial. 75 lbs of spices would have cost a great deal. But no cost was too high for either of them to pay having now witnessed the high cost that their Savior paid in order to secure their salvation. This Scripture also records that both of these men had been very secretive about their relationship with Jesus prior to His sacrifice. But now they boldly stood before Pilate, the onlooking soldiers, and perhaps even some of the religious leaders who had hung around until the very last moment and openly showed their love for Him. Why were they now willing to sacrifice what before they had held so dearly? Sacrifice in you will produce sacrifice in others.
I don’t say this as a hard and fast rule, but as a general principle. If you want selfish kids, be selfish. If you want kids who lie, cheat and steal, then lie, cheat and steal. If you want kids who refuse to forgive, then don’t dare forgive anyone for any harm that they ever caused you no matter how insignificant or how long ago it happened. But if you want kids who are loving, then love. If you want kids who are forgiving, then let them see you forgive. If you want kids who are sacrificial, then sacrifice. We all learn by example much better than we will ever learn by lecture. The old idea of “Do as I say, not as I do” just won’t work anymore. In fact, I don’t really think that it ever has worked.
CONCLUSION
Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: "I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I’ll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!" The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. "I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I’ll be the strongest ship in the world!" The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. "I don’t want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they’ll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world."
Years passed. The rain came, the sun shone, and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain. The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With swoops of his shining axe, the first tree fell. "Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!" The first tree said. The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With swoops of his shining axe, the second tree fell. "Now I shall sail mighty waters!" thought the second tree. "I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!" The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the woodcutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me." He muttered. With a swoop of his shining axe, the third tree fell.
The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter’s shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feedbox for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, with treasure. She was coated with saw dust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals. The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day. Instead the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river; instead she was taken to a little lake. The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?" The once tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God..."
Many many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feedbox. "I wish I could make a cradle for him." her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and the sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful." she said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world. One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through with the wind and the rain. The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the king of heaven and earth. One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man’s hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God’s love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God. That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.
Are you willing to sacrifice everything in order to point people to God?
