sacrifice

The Conclusion of the Matter

Frank

I’m not a very good closer. Whenever I write reports for work I always get stuck at the conclusion. Even my blog posts will often ramble on for one or two paragraphs too many because I don’t know how to finish my thoughts. I can’t even imagine trying to conclude and summarize the themes of a book.

This is the last week we’re discussing A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God and concluding with his chapter, The Sacrament of Living. It is a lofty goal to even begin to describe the holiness of God and then to follow up with practical application to pursue that holiness in our own unique spiritual walks. So I have to admit I was expecting this last chapter to summarize the rest of the book and leave me, the reader, with marching orders to go forward in my own pursuit of God.

Just looking at the chapter titles, you can tell Tozer is building his case: Following Hard After God, The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing, Removing the Veil, Apprehending God, The Universal Presence, The Speaking Voice, The Gaze of the Soul, Restoring the Creator-creature Relation, Meekness and Rest, and finally The Sacrament of Living.

I often state that Romans 12 gives most comprehensive description of Christian living in the Bible- talking about sanctification, humility, applying our spiritual gifts, generosity, and forgiveness. But that chapter doesn’t just come out of nowhere. It begins “Therefore…” The lifestyle Paul describes in Romans 12 requires Romans chapters 1-11. “Therefore, in view of God’s mercy…” There it is, our Christianity needs to be motivated by God’s character and what he has done on our behalf. “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1) Paul could have stopped there.

So how does Tozer conclude his premise of the pursuit of God? What does he write after his “therefore”?

“the sacramental quality of every day living.” (pg 90)

Like I said, I was expecting some lofty conclusion, some kind of new wisdom that I could apply to my own spirituality. Yet I should not have been surprised that Tozer came to the same conclusion as Paul (and Solomon for that matter): that our lives, our everyday lives, should be lived for the glory of God. That is how you pursue God, by seeking to glorify him in all things no matter how big or small, how routine or extraordinary, how mundane or exciting. A fitting end for this blog as well, whose overall theme is that of living out our faith in the day-to-day.

“We must practice living to the glory of God, actually and determinedly.” (pg 87)

Tozer closes with this prayer:


Lord, I would trust thee completely; I would be altogether Thine; I would exalt Thee above all. I desire that I may feel no sense of possessing anything outside of Thee. I want constantly to be aware of Thy overshadowing Presence and to hear Thy speaking Voice. I long to live in restful sincerity of heart. I want to live so fully in the Spirit that all my thought may be as sweet incense ascending to Thee and every act of my life may be an act of worship. Therefore I pray in the words of Thy great servant of old, ‘I beseech Thee so far to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee.’ And all this I confidently believe Thou wilt grant me through the merits of Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen.

This blog is part of a book club reading The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. Please join the discussion here and at our hosts, Jason Stasyszen and Sarah Salter. Need a copy of the book? You can get it for free on Kindle.

.140 Millimeters

Frank

As the days are getting shorter and temperatures are dropping, I expect my kids to come home from school with the sniffles. All it takes is one child in a room full of thirty to sneeze on a hand, touch a doorknob, drool on a toy, or stick fingers where they have no business going to spread germs that ultimately find their way home and require me to take a sick day. (The other night my children kept me up as my daughter suffered through a stuffy head as my son coughed with such fury it could be measured on the Richter scale. How do I feel today? Don’t ask)

But I’m lucky. I have health insurance. I can afford over the counter cold medicine. And my job allows the flexibility to take a sick day now and then. Not everyone is so fortunate.

A month ago at church we had a guest from one of our local school districts describing a need that seemed trivial on the surface, but has significant impact. Her schools represent an underprivileged demographic in our community, so you would expect the need to be school supplies, classroom volunteers, etc. Instead she expressed a single need: tissue.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 22 million sick days will be taken this year due to the common cold. That’s one day for every other student in America. For an impoverished community, missing school means missing at least one if not two meals, missing being inside with heat during the winter and air conditioning in the fall and spring, having running water if that only means a toilet and sink, and most importantly receiving an education to help raise them out of their socioeconomics.

So my congregation set out on “Operation Bless You” where we took donations of boxes of tissue. Donations of winter coats, backpacks, etc can cost tens to hundreds of dollars. A box of Kleenex at Wal-Mart costs a little more than a buck. Our goal was 1000 boxes. I think we blew that out the first week. I haven’t heard a final number, but even after a couple of deliveries I think we have more tissue than we know what to do with!

.140 millimeters is all it takes to stop a sneeze. This comes to 42 millimeters total in a box (for single-ply laid flat). It isn’t much, but it goes to show that every little bit adds up. .140 millimeters can prevent the common cold. .140 millimeters can keep a child in school one more day where there basic needs can be met.

No effort so small goes unnoticed. Any little act can have big impact. No need is too trivial to meet.

‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:40)

Take One For the Team

Frank

The eleventh chapter of Kyle Idleman’s book, Not a Fan almost had me stumped. Though the title of his book relates to a sports meme, he actually doesn’t spend that much time talking sports. That’s where I come in. But I was struggling coming up with a sports analogy to this chapter’s theme of dying to self. Then this weekend, the biggest sports headline (other than March Madness) fell right in my lap.

We all knew Peyton Manning would be looking for greener pastures long before he was officially released. And when I saw the writing on the wall I told my football fanatic friends that “the Denver Broncos should make a serious play to get him.” What? After all the Mile High Messiah did last year? Of course! Doesn’t it make sense to have your potential franchise quarterback with major technical flaws study under one of the most technically proficient passers in the game? I guess I wasn’t the only one who thought so as sports-talk radio and the Internet speculated away all weekend as Peyton Manning met with Hall of Famer, and Broncos exec, John Elway to talk shop. (Let’s pretend I actually got this post out on time and Manning hadn’t yet met with the Dolphins and Titans)

So what does this have to do with dying to self? Well the consensus in the talk circuit was that someone with such a will to win as Tim Tebow displayed last year wouldn’t put up with being a second stringer after all he accomplished last season. (A good example of this opinion is the Denver Post’s Mark Kiszla, who knows the Broncos better than just about anybody.) But I think that’s where the prognosticators are wrong. If any number-one could take a back seat to a future Hall of Fame quarterback, even if he were to pull a Brett Favre and postpone retirement a dozen times, it’s Tebow. That is, if his off field humility matches his on field display of faith. (And based on his many mission trips, hospital visits, and that goofy smile that drives me nuts, I suspect it does)

Would there be a better example of taking one for the team than the NFL’s most popular player (according to multiple polls last season) riding pine so that he can get better under the tutelage of one of the all time greats? If that’s not dying to oneself, I don’t know what is.

But I have a better example: Eric Liddell. If the name isn’t familiar, think Chariots of Fire. Yeah, that guy. If you don’t remember the two hour long epic and its Christian underpinnings, one of the driving plot lines was Liddell’s refusal to participate in the 100 meter dash, his best race, at the 1924 Olympics because that would have required him to compete on a Sunday, the Christian Sabbath (he also didn’t run the 4×100 or 4×400 relays for the same reason). Instead he focused his training on winning the 400 meter dash, of which he was a significant underdog. Naturally, he won and set a World Record in the process.

He literally sacrificed his best for the greater glory of God. There was no guarantee he would win the 400. It was unlikely he would even make the finals. And if the race didn’t have such a storybook ending, could you imagine the backlash over his religion? Instead Liddell leveraged his new found fame to become a famous preacher and author. Oh wait, no he didn’t. Instead he went back to China, where he was born on the mission field, and continued his calling as a missionary. In fact, he didn’t rely on his celebrity to keep him out of an internment camp when the Japanese occupied China just prior to World War II. He had opportunity to leave, but refused. And instead of living the life of an celebrity athlete or even a recognizable face in the Christian community, he died humbly from a brain tumor after serving the other missionaries and youth held with him in captivity.

So the fan of Jesus watches the movie and listens to sports-talk radio and might get inspired by the sacrificial act of an athlete. But does that inspiration spur them on to “love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24)? It’s unlikely you or I will ever have to face decisions like Tebow or Liddell. But that doesn’t mean we don’t face forks in the road nearly every day where we must choose whether to live for ourselves or die for Christ. A fan cheers for himself, but the follower sacrifices for others.

I woke up this morning with this song in my head:

Oh the wondrous cross,
Oh the wondrous cross,
Bids me come and die
and find that I
may truly live

Die to live. Take one for the team. Don’t just be a fan.

This post continues my series blogging through the book, Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman. I encourage you to follow along by clicking on the Not A Fan label to the right. And I urge you to pick up a copy of this book for yourself.

Treasure, Aaarrrgghh!

Frank

My son loves pirates. It’s one trend he isn’t fickle about. Star Wars is hit and miss. He’s lost interest in his monster trucks. He no longer wants to grow up to be an astronaut (snif). But you can never go wrong breaking out some pirate toys.

So it was fitting that over spring break we went with grandma to a museum exhibit on pirates. I wasn’t sure how well it would hold my six year-old’s attention, but I shouldn’t have worried. Myself, I’m a museum nerd. I will read the description on every display and I’ll be lucky to make it through a single wing in a day. I even bought the audio guide to the exhibit. A lot of good that did, as I would be listening intently, studying what was before me, while my son would be ripping my arm out of its socket to lead me around the corner to see what was next.

There were canons, guns, flags, and of course, treasure. Real pirate treasure! Funny thing about pirates, much of what we think we know are really products of books (Treasure Island) and movies (“Peter Pan”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”). For example, did you know that walking the plank is a recent fabrication? There is one known example of this being documented, but it was in the late 1800’s, well after the peak of piracy we associate with the Jolly Roger. In fact, the image of walking the plank was introduced to our cultural memory by the original stage production of “Peter Pan”.

Another myth is that pirates buried treasure. This myth was encouraged by the book Treasure Island. But the truth was that the “booty” pirates would collect from captured ships was often spent in port on alcohol and prostitution. It would be unlikely there would be any left after a shore-leave of revelry.

That doesn’t make Jesus’ parable of the buried treasure irrelevant however. In Jesus’ day there were no pirates, but there was buried treasure. It wouldn’t be uncommon for a family to hide away some of their possessions by burying them. After all, there were no banks insured by FDIC and they were under Roman occupation. It was a safe (though unreliable) way of protecting what was yours. But there was a risk in doing so. They could forget where they buried it, or they would often be forced to move before having a chance to retrieve it.

So imagine someone’s surprise to find treasure buried in a field. In Jesus’ parable, it is an honest man. I think today, we’d just dig it up and claim it as our own. But he went and sold all he had so that he could buy the land and its treasure.

This is a parable of the Kingdom of God. What is it worth to you? Are you willing to give up everything you have, risk it all, for the sake of God’s Kingdom? After all isn’t the treasure being stored up for us in heaven more valuable than anything we could ever obtain on this Earth? Or like the pirates of old are you wasting what you have here on worldly pleasures as if our short life is no different than a stop in port?

Aaaarrrgghh, indeed.

This entry is part of Peter Pollock’s blog carnival. This week’s topic is treasure. Be sure to check out the many other thoughtful posts.

Blessing or Curse?

Frank

Yesterday I talked about stress and worry. It’s a topic worth talking about more (and you’ll notice there’s a theme to this week).

Stop and think about what stresses you out. The little things and big things. What are you stressed out about right now? What were you stressed out about a week ago? (admit it, you were stressed out about something a week ago I’m sure)

Of all the things we stress about, either major or minor, we stress because we can’t control it. We don’t know the outcomes. At its root, we simply do not trust God.

But what do we stress most about? Our family, our jobs, our car breaking down, our bank account, our leaky roof… What do all of these things have in common? They are blessings! Think about it. The things that stress you out the most are blessings from God. You don’t deserve them, you aren’t owed them, but God has given you a family, a roof over your head, a job (or even at times, no job at all), money in the bank account (even if just pennies until the next check). And yet we want to control what God gives. We want to know how things turn out when only God knows.

This week’s Blog Carnival topic is Sacrifice. It may be cliche to reference Abraham and Isaac when talking about sacrifice. I’m sure you’ve heard a dozen of sermons asking, “what’s your Isaac?” But it’s worth looking at again.

Going back a bit, Abraham and Sarah were stressed about not having children. Then God came along and made Abraham a promise. The promise wasn’t fulfilled right away, so they stressed some more and made a bad decision along the way to allow Abraham to lay with Hagar in order for her to have his child since Sarah was barren. But God eventually came through and Sarah gave birth to Isaac.

Then we get to Genesis 22, where God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son. Abraham doesn’t protest, he doesn’t even say a word. He just goes. When Isaac asks where the sacrifice will come from, Abraham simply replied, “the Lord will provide.” (v 8) Still no stress, but simple trust in God’s promise.

Abraham was willing to sacrifice a blessing because he believed in God’s promise. He didn’t know how God was going to work it out, but he knew God would. So he had no stress, no worry.

Of all the blessings that stress you out, what are you willing to sacrifice believing in God’s promise? No, God probably hasn’t personally spoken to you to promise anything. But there is this, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Another cliche, but consider what that “good” is that God promises. Verse 29 continues, “…to be conformed to the likeness of his Son…” That is the good we are promised.

Are we being conformed to the image of Jesus when we stress out? Not likely. But we are when we are willing to give some things up, even if they are blessings, because we believe God’s promises.

What are you willing to give up?

This post is one of many on the topic of sacrifice. Be sure to visit Peter Pollock’s blog to see other posts to be inspired, encouraged, and challenged as others share their thoughts, feelings, and convictions.