Sermon for 10/29/06

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Sermon for 10/29/06
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So you want to be like Christ? - SACRIFICE: Giving Over

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, AMEN

Main Theme: This series is designed to take us past the good news of God’s grace! Grace is amazing but it is completely God driven. AFTER salvation comes the task that includes our participation: Becoming more and more Christ-like; the purpose of a Christian’s life! How we grow deeper in love with Jesus requires an intentional lifestyle aimed at becoming godly, not religious! We will look at 8 essential disciplines that will help our relationship with Jesus grow! Today, in our last week, we explore “sacrifice”. Sacrifice is simple to give up something for the sake of something better – God! It must be applied in three areas of our life: Personal, relational, and material. Resistence to sacrifice will come from Satan, our friends, and our selfish nature. But sacrifice results in spiritual blessings beyond description. Choosing and trusting in God is demonstrated by becoming “living sacrifices”. (Based on Chuck Swindoll’s book “So, you want to be like Christ?” and other research.)

1) SLAUGHTER! I want you to take a good look at the altar this morning. It is clean, decorative, covered in nice linen, and upon it are the candles, the communion set, and the large Hymnal. But it is a far cry from the ancient Jerusalem altar, where oxen, cattle, sheep, and other animals were slaughtered, and blood flowed down the sides, and into troughs that collected in barrels during the busy Passover. Can you imagine the smell and the flies! Whew! In fact, the Hebrew word for altar is formed from the verb for “slaughter” and means literally, “slaughter place.” Altars were used primarily as places of sacrifice, especially animal sacrifice.

2) SACRIFICE! The altar in today’s churches still remains as a symbol of sacrifice, though most worshippers never give it much thought. Oh sure, the symbols of Jesus’ blood and body, the bread and wine, are kept there until received. And we do place our collection plates there after the offering. But the whole concept of “sacrifice” is now sterile, clean, and often glossed over. True, we do focus on the amazing sacrifice of Christ – after all, it is sacrifice that distinguishes the Son of God from all other historical figures and identifies Him as our Savior. But what we don’t often talk about is OUR sacrifices. In fact, we don’t especially care for the word at all. And yet, in Roman’s 12:1 the Apostle Paul tells us, “Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”

3) LIVING SACRIFICES! Paul used the words “I urge you” – that is, he is pleading with us because he knows sacrifice does not come naturally. After all, sacrifice hurts. Sacrifice seems to go against our natural inclinations to preserve “self” at all costs; to keep a tight hold on our possessions and creature comforts; to watch out for ourselves, guard against risk, and preserve our own lives at any cost. Whereas “sacrifice” suggests we pour ourselves out for someone else at great cost to ourselves. Yet Paul is pleading for us to give up our life as we continue living it. He is calling us to awake each morning, and go to school or to our jobs, and whether we work or play, we are to carry out our responsibilities as a deliberate act of submission out of obedience to God! This path that Paul suggests, makes us a living, breathing sacrifice – dead to anything our Master hates, and devoted to everything He loves. (pause) Hmmm… how are we doing with that? As we search our hearts this morning, do we see ourselves as “living sacrifices”?

4) PURPOSE! Remember the paraphrase of our “purpose” as Christians? Philippians 3:10 “For my determined purpose is that I may know Him – that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding (the wonders of His person) more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from his resurrection (which it exerts over believers); and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed (in spirit into His likeness even) to his death.” Did you catch it: “to be continually transformed even to his death”? See, if we want to be like Christ, then apparently we need to become a person who is characterized by the discipline of sacrifice – the ultimate expression of Christ-likeness. Sacrifice describes our purpose!

5) SOMETHING BETTER! In Ephesians 5:1-2, Paul describes the kind of sacrifice we are to make of ourselves: “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Obviously, Paul is suggesting we are to give up something – something valuable. Why? For its replacement. That is, to sacrifice is to give up something for the sake of something better: a deeper more intimate relationship with God! Look at yourself; your goals, your dreams, your career, your possessions… and ask yourself, “Am I willing to give up all that I am and have for the sake of something better – a growing relationship with God?”

6) MORE HIGHLY! Let me put it another way: It isn’t hard for most of us to understand why a husband or wife would sit for month after month caring for a spouse dying of cancer, or why a soldier would throw himself on a grenade to save his buddies – that’s what real love does! True love sacrifices for those they think more highly of than themselves! There is only one reason a person does NOT sacrifice for someone, they think more highly of themselves! Ask children if they would give their life for their mother or father and most say “yes”. Ask them if they would die for their brother or sister and they often start to frown. Ask them if they’d die for a stranger and the answer is “No way!” We only sacrifice for those we think more highly than ourselves. Do we think more highly of ourselves than Christ? If we truly claim to love Christ, and sincerely claim to place Him higher than ourselves - then let’s ask: what of ourselves have we given up for Christ? Do we truly think more highly of Him or ourselves? Then what are we sacrificing to show that love for Him? What are we clinging to that Christ is calling us to surrender in order to be like Him? Is it hatred? money? jealousy? anger? lust? need for power? True love sacrifices for those they think more highly of than themselves!

7) SACRIFICE COSTS! See, to sacrifice means to give of something that costs the giver in terms of self, time or money. A sacrifice costs. It is more than a token effort or a mere gift. A sacrifice means something not only in how it affects the receiver, but how it affects the giver. A willingness to give is commendable. But, when that willingness stops short of pain, it demonstrates a lack of commitment to the God who blesses us with all things in the first place! A willingness to exchange things in our lives, (riches for poverty, our time for someone else’s, our convenience for an inconvenience), is the true meaning of Christian sacrifice. A sacrifice costs!

8) TIME, TALENT, TREASURES! We’ve all been given time and talents to serve God, we know that. But as we evaluate how we actually used our time and talents this week – did using them really cost us anything? Did we help out at the church or the feeding program or visit someone in the hospital because we had nothing better to do? Or did we actually sacrifice: say, time in front of the TV, give up an entertainment or hobby opportunity or time to pamper ourselves? Did giving up our time and talent actually cost us anything? Like wise, if we separated the financial treasures in the offering plate into two piles - mere gifts, and those that were truly sacrifices – which pile would ours be in? A “gift” reflects this attitude: “Hey I had a couple of dollars left over after taking care of myself and Jesus can have them”. A true sacrifice shows “I intentionally collected less material possessions, bought a smaller home, take less fancy vacations, and live a more modest life in order to faithfully reflect God’s love and support His church’s mission!” So… did your offerings of time, talents, and treasures this month “cost you something”? Did it represent the sacrifice of self – believing that God was more important?

9) PERSONAL SACRIFICE! Sacrifice as a discipline is hard! The key is to start out small, but as you consistently carry it out, you will find it becomes habitual! And we must ask God to help us apply the discipline of sacrifice to at least three parts of our life: personal, relational, and material. First, 1) Personal Sacrifice. If you have ever read the Sermon on the Mount, you will remember Jesus saying things like:

“Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth… store up for yourself treasure in heaven…” (Matthew 6:19)
“No one can serve two masters. He will either hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24)
“…do not worry about your life… (Matthew 6:25)
do not to worry about what to eat, drink, or wear because “…your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (vs 32-33)

The fact is, we are handicapped by our greedy grappling for more and more stuff! Because it’s true, “We don’t own our stuff, it owns us!” The more we collect, the more we are chained in bondage to maintaining it. That’s the opposite of personal sacrifice, which frees us to give generously, trusting Christ to meet our needs.

10) TRUST? Fact is, personal sacrifice begins with a choice: who will we TRUST to meet our needs? Ourselves? Money? Or God? Scripture awakens us to the truth; we serve who we trust! Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount that money and nice things are not bad; but that we should never be owned by them, or put our trust in them. As soon as something becomes a little too crucial to our happiness or safety, it’s time to apply the discipline of sacrifice. Chuck Swindoll challenges his readers; “Are you open to a little advice for no extra charge? Show your material stuff who’s boss by giving it away.” See, we serve who we trust!

11) GIVE AWAY? My old fishing buddy (who died last year), would have laughed at that suggestion. When he gave me something, (some free fishing tackle, or the like), I knew he expected something in return. He’d want me to edit or re-write an article for a fishing magazine about the equipment he pro-staffed for, or help him photograph underwater footage of fish behavior. But to give away something for free – blasphemy! His security came from hoarding, or bartering stuff, but giving it away was out of the question! Personal sacrifice did not come naturally for my friend, nor does it to any of us. When was the last time you just GAVE something away? Not outcast or worn out stuff. I mean something nice. …something that has meant something to you. See, the discipline of personal sacrifice requires faith! To give nice things away, shows you trust that God provides!

12) SAW OFF A LIMB! Dallas Willard once wrote: “The discipline of sacrifice is one in which we forsake the security of meeting our needs with what is in our hands. It is total abandonment to God, a stepping into the darkened abyss in the faith and hope that God will bear us up… The cautious faith that never saws off a limb on which it is sitting never learns that unattached limbs may find strange, unaccountable ways of not falling.” My new fishing partner, who has had to give away all his possessions, (due to his wife’s severe chemical and electrical sensitivity), knows when you have to depend on God, you discover that God truly does provide! In fact, he has wondered aloud how much better we all might know God if we didn’t all make such a good living. He wonders if many of us don’t have intimacy with God because we haven’t given enough away. Do we trust our God sufficiently? To exercise the spiritual disciple of personal sacrifice, we need to ask God to empower us to start cultivating generosity. In faith we need to saw off a limb we’re sitting on; we need to free ourselves by giving things away! We’ll be amazed at how trusting God to provide, enriches our life!

13) RELATIONAL SACRIFICE! We also need to exercise 2) Relational Sacrifice. Almost every Sunday School kid can tell you the story of Abraham and God’s request to sacrifice his son Isaac. God had promised Abraham a son who would become “a mighty nation”. But at 100 years of age, he and Sarah, (herself 90 years old) were shocked when God actually fulfilled that promise. So you can imagine that Isaac was everything to Abraham! Then God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his young son on the mountain. Abraham was devastated! But the bible tells us that broken hearted Abraham wasted no time obeying. Hebrews 11:19 suggests that “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead…” Perhaps. All we know is that as much as Abraham loved Isaac, He loved God more! In faith he raised the knife above his son’s heart – but God stopped him and said, “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:12) Hmmm…Is God the #1 love of your life?

14) GIVING UP OUR LOVED ONES! Ask yourself: Would you be able to sacrifice a loved one to show that God is your greatest treasure? That question isn’t as strange as it sounds. Have you ever had a loved one whom you have had to give up? While God asked Abraham to literally lay Isaac on the altar, your situation may be more figurative. Sometimes we are asked to give up, to sacrifice, our will on God’s altar and let a loved one go. When a loved one lies dying, we naturally pray for healing. But God stands before us and asks us to say these words, “Thy will be done”. He asks us to sacrifice the selfish part of us that thinks we know better than God as to what is best for our loved ones.Can we trust God with the decision of life and death?Can we trust that heaven is truly a better place? Can we trust God to truly be there to help comfort us in our grief should a loved one die?Can we believe that anyone we commit to Him is really safe? Is our love for God great enough to place our will upon the altar and sacrifice it, giving up our loved ones to God?

15) LET THEM GO! It is not always the threat of death that causes us to place our will upon the altar in terms of our relationships. Sometimes our loved one is in jail, or addicted to drugs, or lured into a cult. And we need to let them go! Sometimes it’s getting an e-mail like I did this week from my only brother:“Hi, Charles ... sorry, so long to answer ... been moving into a brother-in-laws back room. Don't have a phone right now ... lost everything ... no business, no job, no money, no house, no property, phone, pool, or pets ... LOL ... oh, well ... starting over again at 50!! Still fairly healthy though ... will let you know when I get a contact number ... tx, for the bday greeting ... love to all of yours ... Carl” As much as I tried to help my atheist brother see the truth, as much as I once worried, I had to learn to place my will on the altar, and trust in God to care for him. You might say I sacrificed my brother, that is I gave him away – to God! …the only one who loves my brother more than I do! Whether it is a lost brother, child, spouse, or friend… sometimes we also need to join Abraham in sacrificing our will for our loved ones – that is, we need to let them go. We need to believe God will provide!

16) FINANCIAL SACRIFICE! Sometime in the next sermon series we will address the third area, 3) Financial Sacrifice, in more detail. But it is enough to say financial sacrifice overcomes a love for money and possessions. Fact is, once you have worked through the first two categories (personal and relational sacrifice) – financial sacrifice just comes naturally! When you get closer to Jesus, when Christ starts living in your heart, your life starts overflowing with thanksgiving and joy, and you begin to “live to give”. When you truly believe that God will abundantly supply your needs – then your fears of poverty fade away and, like with relationships, you discover GOD PROVIDES! Your God is infinite in His power, resources, and in His Creativity. He never runs dry! So “fear” fades, “faith” blossoms, and we learn to experience the joy of placing our financial resources on the altar – a sacrifice based on loving trust in God’s ability to provide.

17) NOT EASY! Now, as I said; personal, relational, and financial sacrifice is not easy. 1) Satan will hate it when you put God above all else, and He will work to undo it. As soon as some of you walk out of this church, he will suggest you forget what you heard and encourage you to doubt God can or will provide. 2) As new Christians find out early, your friends and acquaintances will think you have lost your senses. They will call you a religious fanatic and tell you to stop sacrificing what you are and have for the sake of some dead guy on a cross. And 3) also be aware of internal resistance – your self-centered mind will suggest that if you keep sacrificing, you’ll regret it later, and eventually you will run out! Do not be naive – there are plenty of opponents, internal and external, that hate and fight the idea of sacrifice. Sacrifice is not easy – but it is Christ-like and brings us closer to God!

18) PRECIOUS! Eight weeks ago, Christ began pointing out that these disciplines are not easy, nor do we have to work them out ourselves – for if we try we will fail! No, Christ is here today to offer Himself to do what we cannot! The battle is the Lord’s! He calls you today to present Him with the desire to exercise the discipline of sacrifice. He is so eager to do so! Christ has come that you might know Him – and to empower you to lovingly sacrifice for others as He sacrificed for you! He’s here to fill you with the Holy Spirit that you may offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God! He comes to enable you to think more highly of the Father and others than you do of yourself, because He knows; true love serves and sacrifices for those we hold above ourselves. He patiently awaits for you to sacrifice yourself in small amounts, one decision at a time, one day at a time, so that you may enjoy an ever-increasing intimacy with Him. Jesus wants you to know that those who are precious are saved only by sacrifice. And it’s clear, by looking at the cross, that you are precious to Him!

Praise God!

AMEN!

Sermon/Confessional Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we confess that we too often come to you as consumers, looking to see what is in it for us. We tend to use you to get what we want, instead of sacrificially giving up all we are and have to serve your life-giving will. Forgive us for giving you our leftovers, mere gifts, and not true sacrifices. Forgive us for not thinking more highly of you than we do of ourselves. Help us to make you our great love and empower us to trust in you to provide for our every need.

Lord, we admit that personal, relational, and financial sacrifices do come easy to us. We seek comfort, and selfishly seek to avoid any pain that sacrifice may demand. It is obvious we fear giving ourselves or our things away, because we do not always trust in you to provide for us. Forgive us and empower us to become living sacrifices that reflect your amazing and unconditional love to a broken and needy world! Help us to joyfully and increasingly give up everything we are and have to gain the blessings of getting closer to you!

And now Lord, although you know us better than we know ourselves, listen as we share in a moment of silence, those other parts of our lives that need to be forgiven, washed clean, healed, and recommitted to you! (made anew.)

(Silence)

Lord, if we are called to love and serve because you first loved and served us, then we must learn to sacrifice, because you sacrificed everything for us on the cross! Our hearts are open, come now and do what we cannot do by ourselves; draw us closer and make us more and more Christ-like each and every day! In Jesus Name We Pray. AMEN

Assurance of Forgiveness:

Friends, listen to the good news: The Lord, who offers you the life-giving discipline of sacrifice, …that Lord has mercifully heard your confession and eagerly forgives you all your sins. Go now, and remember: we serve what we trust. So if you truly do trust in Christ, let Him teach you to sacrifice that His loving nature may become yours! As Jesus showed us, we save those who are precious through sacrifice! Praise God! AMEN

Opening prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we spent another busy week in a world that insists we focus on ourselves; our needs, our goals, our dreams, and our possessions. We’d like to say that we were impervious to these desires. We’d like to say we spent all our time, talent, and treasures serving you instead sacrificial ways – but you know the truth. We have a long way to go before “self” will bow willingly to your life-giving will, and so we come here today – because in is in communion with you and our church family that you pour down your divine Word that fills us with the Spirit that enables us to increasingly reflect your nature in what we say and do. We come as clay -asking that your creative hands mold us. We come tired and dirty, caked in sin - that you may wash us clean and renew our Spirits. We come broken and hurt - that you may dress our wounds and heal our broken hearts and bodies. We come with large holes in our understanding of life and your will - that you may teach us and write upon our hearts your life-giving commands. As you embrace us, love us, and empower us this morning, receive our humble gifts of praise, prayers of thanksgiving, and our lives! Take them, bless them, and above all use them. As you sacrificed in faithful obedience to the Father for our sake, come live within us that we may also lovingly sacrifice for others in Christ-like ways! In Jesus Name We Pray! AMEN!

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