“And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” And they all left him and fled. And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.” Mark 14:43-52
When it comes to making sacrifices to G-d, we need to understand what “making sacrifice” has meant over the many millennia. In our day and age, it is good to give up something like chocolate or coffee for Lent. Denying ourselves something for the season of Lent, or even Advent is a good thing. But is this really a sacrifice? I would say no. It is a good discipline, but it is not a sacrifice.
When the Temple was in full motion after Solomon had it built, sacrifices were given as “gifts” to a gracious G-d. When they performed sacrifices, ancient Israelites gave to G-d some of what they believed G-d had given them, expressing their close relationship with G-d and seeking to deepen that bond. People would “sacrifice” the first of their crops, or the best of their sheep or goats thanking G-d for all of their blessings that they understood “came” from G-d.
Today, my friends, G-d desires a different kind of sacrifice, one that encompasses our very being. In King David’s famous confession concerning his adultery and murder and cover up, he comes clean with G-d. He writes: “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of G-d are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O G-d, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:16-17).
What we hear, then, is a new way to think of a “sacrifice”: no excuses, no ritual ceremony, just impassioned prayer and complete trust in and obedience to G-d. This is what people do when they have come to the end of their rope, and the end of themselves. They bring absolutely nothing to the table, and count on G-d to be everything to them.
Just as “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4), nothing we sacrifice for G-d will “tip the scales in our favor” or satisfy G-d’s holiness. G-d alone blots out all our iniquities and restores to us the joy of our salvation. David’s point was not that sacrifices would no longer be made (they would), but simply that a sacrifice in and of itself counts for nothing apart from the heart of the one who offers it. G-d desires our whole heart, and the only way to give yourself completely is to let go of the notion that any part of your heart or your spirit or your life is good apart from G-d.
When we stop trying to justify ourselves before G-d, when we allow ourselves to see the scope of our sin, when we understand our total depravity, our hearts will break as David’s did. We will cease striving for a righteousness of our own, stop covering up our unrighteousness, and look only to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of G-d, who died once for sins, that he might bring us to G-d.
Pastor Dave
