Spirituality Column #767

July 27, 2001

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

The Odd Mercy of Sacrifice

By Bob Walters

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” – Hosea 6:6

Author Ayn Rand was an atheist who nonetheless expressed one of the most profound ideas about sacrifice I’ve ever encountered.  She posited, approximately:

“An act is not a sacrifice if it is something you already want to do.”  Given how heavily most Christianity revolves around the idea of “sacrifice,” let’s consider our Christian faith and our lives in Jesus in terms of this statement’s logical parallel:

Why would anyone ever do something they really didn’t want to do?  

Why would anyone “sacrifice” themselves to bring pain?  Isn’t “joy” our goal?

Given the enormous emphasis of sacrifice in both the Bible and the universal body of Christ, i.e., the church, perhaps what the word “sacrifice” needs is not a rigorous definition but a faithful understanding.  At first, even the Bible is confusing on the issue.

Sacrifice doesn’t make human logical sense, and the Bible very plainly in Hosea 6:6 (and more extensively in Hebrews 9-10-11) says “sacrifice” is not God’s ultimate priority.  What God desires is mercy and acknowledgment, not burnt offerings.  So how does one explain all of God’s sacrifice instructions in the Torah, and Jesus’s “atoning sacrifice” in the Gospel for our sins?  God didn’t want those?  I don’t understand.

No … the key to understanding is to consider God’s point of view, not man’s.

God in the Old Testament instructed the Israelites to sacrifice something of theirs to God.  It was an obedience thing, not a wrath-avoiding “or else” thing.  Read closely; you never see God telling the Israelites to sacrifice this or that in order to avoid His wrath.  That’s what pagans did (and do).  What God did was reveal His sincerity, truth, power, and love in the merciful action of building relationship with His chosen people.

God’s mercy required the action of the people so they could grow in relationship with God by involvement with Him.  God’s chosen people of Israel were to obey God.  To sacrifice something of and from themselves was to participate in that relationship for their own sakes.  It was to teach them to love God purely for His glory, not their comfort.

Jesus, in terms of a sacrifice, was just the opposite: God sacrificed something of Himself – Jesus His Son – to show His love for humanity with a human relationship.  Both these types of sacrifice were God’s mechanisms for revealing His truth and glory: in the Torah, to Israel for a time; in the New Testament, to all mankind for eternity.

The sacrificial purpose was more than God’s love; it was showing humanity what God’s glory truly meant.  And it meant giving of oneself – giving of ourselves – for the purpose of glorifying God.  That’s the lesson of the cross: Jesus died for the glory of God.  We are to die to ourselves for the glory of God and love of others.  That’s our sacrifice: understanding that God’s glory is more important than anything else in this life.

What do we “get” for our sacrifice?  Why would we “want” to sacrifice?  This question exposes Ms. Rand’s – and most of the world’s – definition of “sacrifice” for its error.  In Jesus, we understand a “sacrifice of worship” for God’s glory is the exact, most important, most joy-generating, most comforting act / attitude available to humanity.

It’s an odd mercy, but our sense of sacrifice informs our joy, and we want that.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) next week: Sacrifices sneak up on us in odd ways.