Dear Rose Park,
There’s only twenty-four hours in a day. Some of us wish there were a few more hours so we could get a few more items crossed off our continually growing to-do-list, but there’s only twenty-fours in a day. In short, this is what it means to be human; we are finite creatures with limited time so we have to make choices as to what we prioritize each given moment. Inevitably, sacrifices are required.
Each and every day, we look at our calendars and we make choices as to what must be done and what can wait for tomorrow given the available time. Some choose to sacrifice personal rest in order to pursue career advancement. Others choose to sacrifice time with family or friends in order to chase down personal goals or dreams. If we’re honest, some choose to sacrifice communal worship in order to sleep-in or travel more. And still others choose to sacrifice spiritual maturity in order to gain temporary happiness. Consciously, and sometimes sub-consciously, we make sacrifices each and every day.
In his book The Jesus Way, pastor and Theologian Eugene Peterson writes, “the operating biblical metaphor regarding worship is sacrifice - we bring ourselves to the altar and let God do with us what He will. We bring ourselves to the eucharistic table and enter into that grand fourfold shape of the liturgy that shapes us: taking, blessing, breaking, and giving - the life of Jesus taken and blessed, broken and distributed. That eucharistic life now shapes our lives as we give ourselves, Christ in us, to be taken, blessed, broken, and distributed in lives of witness and service, justice and healing.”
In other words, sacrifice is required from the follower of Christ. However, I worry through our choices we have sacrificed the wrong things. Instead of pursuing God, we have sacrificed discipleship. Instead of corporate worship, we have sacrificed community. Whether this is a conscious or sub-conscious choice is different for each of us, but if we are to faithfully follow Christ, we must be willing to sacrifice. In particular, we must be willing to sacrifice ourselves.
We must approach worship with a sense of humility seeking that God might work within us, on us, and through us in order to bring about righteousness. We cannot approach worship, or faith in Christ in general, as a consumer looking to gain more and more for the best bargain (or without giving up anything). Instead, we must approach the throne of grace willing to make difficult sacrifices in order that our faith might grow and God’s will be done.
There’s only twenty-four hours in a day. Each and every one of us makes sacrifices in order to prioritize each moment. May the Spirit give us wisdom to sacrifice the right things so that God might be glorified.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark