Risking a Sacrifice

Luke 6: 35-36

But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Repentance and sacrifice are bedrocks of this season of reflection. To repent, we turn from those things that separate us from right relationship with God, creation, and ourselves. This work is difficult and can be painful. We break open our hearts and our whole selves, and we spend this time examining the pieces.

The purpose of sacrifice and repentance is not to have our hearts broken for the sake of inflicting pain and suffering with no thought of healing or balm. It is from love that we break our hearts. This love, a true kind of love, is more than simple platitudes or gestures. This kind of love is sacrificial, full of risk and vulnerability, and discomforting to our whole way of being.

We sacrifice and turn from that which separates us from God, only to risk seeing ourselves and others as God sees all of creation. It can be terrifying, especially as we examine those pieces of our hearts that hold fast to grudges, anger, and the desire to be “right.” In risking everything to see ourselves and creation as God sees, we are transformed.

We sacrifice these pieces of ourselves on the altar of a God who loves us so much that we are redeemed by love so great we can only comprehend a reflection. We turn from those things we hold so dear, and yet do not give life. We risk being changed, redeemed, and forgiven. We risk what feels like so much, and yet is so little compared to the reality of Good Friday to come.

So for today, and to practice for our lives, let us risk just a little and sacrifice a bit of our heart for the sake of God in Christ Jesus. Sacrifice is a journey of love. It isn’t simple, and it is worth our deepest effort.

prayer

Let your Spirit, O Lord, come into the midst of us to wash us with the pure water of repentance, and prepare us to be always a living sacrifice to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.