Wednesday, August 30, 2017

A Life of Sacrifice

Thursday, August 31, 2017
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.  He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.  Ephesians 5:1-2(NLT)
I am always somewhat embarrassed when someone refers to my brief stint as a member of the U.S. Army and says:  Thank you for your service.  It’s not that I’m ashamed; it’s just a part of my life that I endured.  I did not join-up to defend home, hearth and freedom; I was drafted because my number came up.  I didn’t request to go to Vietnam – I was assigned because they needed another grunt to fill a spot.  I didn’t do anything particularly heroic; I was there for a year and came home.  When I took the oath to defend the United States against all enemies, domestic and foreign, it was for two years, and then, if I survived, I would be free to go on with my normal life.
I’m glad I survived, but there were those many that didn’t.  They, along with many others from many other wars, are part of a group to which we refer as heroes, those whose sacrifice made our freedom possible.  We don’t investigate those lives too deeply.  We want our heroes to stay heroes; it’s much easier on Memorial Day to have a parade and be glad we survived, and be at least momentarily thankful that others died to protect our way of life.
But what of the living heroes, those who gave up so much and yet survived to carry the scars and stress, bearing the cost of our wars in their bodies and minds?  And how do we genuinely honor such sacrifice?  I trust, for the sake of those who live in the shadows of their horror–filled, PTSD daily nightmares, which can never truly be repaid, we are finding ways to sacrificially support recovery and rehabilitation.  And that we do not just throw money at the symptoms.
Of course the sanest way to push-back against the need for the kind of heroes we honor and memorialize is to make bigger heroes out of peacemakers, people who find ways to diffuse anger and make war a faded archive.
How you do that is another thing.  I’ve never been much of a joiner in the waves of political movements; I hate waving any kind of flag.  It may be somewhat emotionally exhilarating to get on a charismatic leader’s bandwagon, but most of it is simply to get a political career off the ground.  Rather, I see value in living an authentically changed life.  I see movement one life at a time.  I guess my calling as a pastor is tied to that kind of core value; I cannot change the whole world and I know it.  But if God can use me to make a difference one life at a time, at one moment in time, it somehow resonates with Paul’s challenge to live in imitation of Jesus who loved me, and loved us – enough to sacrifice His life to clear our sins out of the pathway to God. 
I cannot offer a world peace strategy, or save everyone ravaged by the infections of natural disaster, war or some heinous deed.  But I can be ready to be involved with the person right in front of me.  I can come alongside and be a voice of hope for one other human soul.
This is the working out of what Jesus said is the key to genuine life:
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.  Luke 9:24(NLT)
Trying to hold on to everything that benefits your selfish desires spends life like a prodigal son in the far country, but a life of sacrifice, investing in the lives of others is what will make our life blossom and mature into the kind of Kingdom vine you were meant to be.

For You Today

Somewhere in this day you’ve been given will be an opportunity to plant a sacrificial Kingdom seed.  The authentic follower of Jesus Christ living a sacrificial life will not hesitate to kneel down, dig a little hole, and plant deep in someone else’s life!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!


[1] Title Image: Courtesy  Pixabay.com

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