An Uncommon Love

Hello! Merry Christmas! Here is this week’s Living Water! It’s a remix of Sunday’s message. Please remember to listen to Walk With Me, Wednesday night, 8 pm on yfnradio.com. And if you’re in the North Jersey area, please join us on Christmas Eve, 5:30 pm at First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook. Blessings, Christopher

An Uncommon Love

So I typed “the need to be loved” into Google and it registered 362 million results. Not surprising right? 

Just a quick survey of conversations with family and friends as well as today’s popular songs, television shows, movies and books reveals that many of them revolve around this quest to love and be loved. 

This is not necessarily a bad thing. To love and be loved, well, those are good things. It’s the kind of loving though that is presented through these media and more importantly, the loving that many of us experience in life that is concerning. Because with reality and in media, we don’t often see loving that is healthy, life-giving and whole. And yet it is driving a significant amount of behavior and decision-making – ranging from well-intentioned to foolish to destructive to even worse. 

Unfortunately, much of the love we experience and witness is based on appearances and surface, self-serving, often manipulative, convenient, and safe; in other words not really love at all. In addition, what adds to fuel to the fire with all of this is the strong connection between self-worth and loving. 

And yet, at the heart of all the sentimentality of Christmas is a great, wonderful, powerful, transforming truth: God’s uncommon love is made visible in the birth of Christ. Let me show you…

This uncommon love has four characteristics. First, it’s a faithful and promised love. It’s hard to find good examples of faithfulness and kept promises today. When Jesus was born, it was the fulfillment of a promise God had made to His people, that their redemption, the whole world’s redemption would come through David’s lineage. “I will maintain my love to him (the promised descendant of David – Christ) forever, and my covenant with him will never fail (Psalm 89:28).” When Jesus was born that never failing love was nearer than ever before and remains as close and promised today for us through the new covenant in His blood and through the Holy Spirit.

The second characteristic of God’s uncommon love is that it is unconditional – meaning there it is a free gift – we don’t earn it, keep it or remove it. Why? Because God loves us uncommonly because it is about Him; it’s His character. Much of the love we experience is based on our behavior, expectations, agendas and more. That’s not God’s love. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10).” God’s love as made visible in the birth of Christ was about Him and was His initiative. In our lives today, He loves us…just because. Unconditional love is so liberating – it frees us from who were were, from the past, it upholds us in the present and allows us to step confidently into the future. 

The third characteristic of this uncommon love is that it is sacrificial. Loving sacrificially is not too popular today. We want to love and be loved…conveniently, safely and without any pain. That usually doesn’t work out anyway. But God’s love in Christ is very different. “Who, being in very nature, God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness…(Philippians 2:6-7).” He was and is the Son of God and He completely condescends to us – Creator taking the form of one of His creations – to live, suffer, die and be raised for us – out of love. It wasn’t a mistake or random event that He came here. There is truly nothing like this. 

Finally, the fourth characteristic of God’s uncommon love is that it is daring. Jesus coming into this world as a human, as a child – think of the vulnerability, the risk. This is what moves us we about romantic love – a hero or heroine risks and dares to love when it doesn’t make sense, in ways that do not make sense or are unconventional. As well, Jesus enters this world not just as a vulnerable child – God dwelling in the flesh, so close, but then He dares to and actually does reach and transform human hearts, while at the same time challenging the religious establishment and turning social conventions upside down. He loved and still does love the unlovable among us and sheds His grace upon our unlovable characteristics – this is a daring, risky, nonsensical love – but it’s true and it’s ours. 

You’ve heard Garth Brooks, Adele and others sing this song. I ask you to listen to it as if it were coming from Jesus, “When the evening shadows and the stars appear and there is no one there to dry your tears, I could hold you for a million years to make you feel my love…I’d go hungry, I’d go black and blue, I’d go crawling down the avenue, know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make you feel my love…Go to the ends of the earth for you, to make you feel my love.” This song echoes all of these God love characteristics. When you think about all of these together – faithful, unconditional, sacrificial, and daring – this uncommon love of God is, for many of us, barely believable – too good to be true. It’s inspiring and breathtaking and adds such meaning to what Christmas is really about: the revelation of God’s love in Christ – powerful, transforming, healing and ultimately saving…in other words, a miracle, a visible demonstration of God’s love and power. 

It’s the love you’ve been searching for, the love of which you’ve dreamed, the love you’ve been thirsting for…and it’s the love that doesn’t have to be sought after or found; it finds us…it has found us – that’s the baby in the manger! Please hear me today. Loving and being loved never should have been and no longer has to be a distorted, fearful, manipulated, or pretentious experience. Oh, when we awaken to find and behold the gift of God’s uncommon love for us in our hearts and lives – it’s better than even the best Christmas morning gift opening! Then all the fear and self-serving and confusion can disappear as fast as the wrapping gets torn off presents. And then when you and I, depending on God, start to try to love others in these ways – loving spouses, children, family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, fellow church members, everyone faithfully, unconditionally, sacrificially and daringly…what’s possible is this amazing, uncommon love of God becoming more and more visible so that while it may not be a baby in a manger or a man on a cross or an empty tomb; but it will still be His body. Christ in and through you and I – loving, reaching, restoring, liberating, lifting up, and embracing right here, right now for all the world to see and know. 

May the gift and miracle of God’s uncommon love truly become yours this Christmas.  

Amen. 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

 

Christopher B. Wolf is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and With You Every Step of the Way (September, 2011); and the host of Walk With Me, Wednesdays 8 pm on WYFN 94.9 FM-NY and on http://www.yfnradio.com.

 

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

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The Heart of a Pastor, Part I

In the last couple of months, I have been vividly reminded of why I do what I do. Pure ministry – loving, leading, and encouraging others in Christ’s name by Christ’s power. To be the presence of Christ, an ambassador, in the best and worst times of His people’s lives. To offer prayers when words seem to fail. To love and believe when it doesn’t make sense. To see things that don’t yet exist and try to point others in their direction. To boldly speak about life in the face of death. To offer hope in the midst of despair. To honestly face my own sins, weaknesses and failures in front of a lot of people. To follow God’s lead even when I don’t want to. To try and make God’s grace visible. To tell the truth when it doesn’t want to be heard. To try and make God’s grace visible. To forgive and forgive again. To try to live in such a way that my faith and passion for Jesus Christ and the Gospel are obvious – in person or even via the phone and internet. And to sacrificially love and care for many, many other people and share in their lives.

 

I don’t always get it right. I am a human being and I make mistakes. I am a sinner saved by grace too. I have my own battles to fight. And I take myself and my work way too seriously at times. But, I am called to be a pastor to God’s people. And while this calling is challenging, draining, confusing and many other hard things – it is also the most fulfilling and meaningful vocation that exists. O, how I have been blessed and transformed by sharing in the lives of people as a friend, brother, and pastor!

 

The below thoughts are attached to numerous faces and stories and are some of what goes through my heart and mind on a regular basis in trying to be a faithful pastor. These are some pieces from…

 

The Heart of a Pastor, Part I

Matthew 25:35-36

 

“…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Matthew 25:35-36

 

When you are hungry, I will cook a feast.

When you are sick, I will pray and stay with you.

When you cry, I will wipe away the tears.

When you need prayer, my lips will already be moving.

 

When you need a hug, my arms will be open.

When you need wisdom, I will find it for you in the Word.

When you are lost, I will not stop until I find you.

When you are trapped, I will lead the rescue effort.

 

When you are lonely, I will sit with you.

When you are sad, I will dance (which will make you laugh!)

When you can’t say it, I will still know.

When you are hopeless, I will show you how.

 

When you need to see the Lord, I will bring Him to you.

When you are silent, I will still hear you.

When you can’t go on, I will carry you.

When you can’t let go, I will be patient.

 

When you can’t stop, I will pray and wait.

When you are scared, I will take your hand and whisper comfort to you.

When you are seeking, I will walk alongside you.

When you push me away, I will understand and come back again another time.

 

When you keep me at a distance, I will wave and wait.

When you want to remember, I will show you.

When you are drowning, I will dive in.

When you feel worthless, I will show you how treasured you are.

 

When you are hiding, I will keep trying to find you.

When your precious heart is broken into pieces, I will pick them up and start putting it back together.

When you are facing terrible enemies, I will be right next to you.

When you are dying, I will sit with you until the end, and after.

 

When you lose faith, I will try to give you a reason to believe.

 

And, if you don’t know Jesus I will tell you about Him and try to show you who He is through me.

 

Amen.

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The Best Way

“I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love…Love one another the way I Ioved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends.” The Message, John 15:9, 12-13

 

 

I think we have all asked ourselves this question at some point…

 

It goes something like, “Am I really loved for who I am?”

 

Love has become so distorted today – to the point that real, healthy love is almost unrecognizable.

 

One of my favorite new songs is by a Christian band called Addison Road and it is titled, “Hope Now.” And in the song the refrain repeats, “Your (God) love sets me free, your love sets me free.”

 

And I just keep thinking about love, God’s love and a kind of love that can set free.

 

See, so much of the way we love is about control and about maintenance and about fear. And as you know, control, maintenance and fear are not liberating. They are the opposite. They enslave and capture and bind.

 

We see this play out in all the places of our lives. In homes – we see controlling love between spouses as well as between parents and young people. In churches – we see maintenance kind of love – a love that says it’s okay to stay the same and not grow in Christ. In all kinds of relationships – we see fear keeping people apart and scaring people from loving and receiving love.  

 

But it doesn’t have to be this way.  

 

God’s love as fully demonstrated in Jesus has three main characteristics – unconditional, sacrificial, and bold.

 

It’s unconditional because it isn’t earned. It is just given. There is nothing we can do to stop it or change it or weaken it. It’s not based on who we are or what we achieve or own. It’s a love that we don’t deserve and can’t earn but is worth more than anything else we have.

 

Through faith in Jesus, we don’t have to be good enough for God to receive His love – we are “made” good enough in Christ.

 

It’s sacrificial because He gave himself up for us. He put our lives above his. It’s a love that isn’t seeking something. It’s a love that just gives and will never get what it deserves in return. It’s a love that loses but somehow still wins.

 

There is no way we can pay Jesus back for what He did for us. The Word of life died so that we could live. His loss was our gain.

 

It’s bold to the point of being absurd. It’s a love that loves the unlovable. It’s a love that reaches and stretches out to the rejects and losers and the broken. It’s a love that overcomes hate and walls and the past and the deepest wounds. It’s a love that doesn’t make any sense and yet makes all the sense in the world.

 

Jesus told this story that a son took his inheritance and wasted on worldly stuff and then when he hit rock bottom he came back to his father. And the father didn’t scold him or punish him – he embraced him and threw a party. Crazy, right? Not to God, that is how He loves.

 

It is this combination of unconditional, sacrificial and bold that offers a freedom unlike anything we know. “This is very best way to love,” as Jesus said.

 

Imagine waking up and knowing with absolute confidence that you are loved so completely that no matter what happens today, you will be loved, there is nothing that can take it away, there is nothing you have to do to keep it, it heals you, it transforms you and its source is unending. Can you see how our outlook on life would be totally different if we lived like that?

 

We are asked to love one another like this – at the cost of ourselves, putting our lives on the line; to love without any condition or pretext; to love boldly and foolishly – when it doesn’t make sense.

 

I can’t tell you how many times I have loved others boldly and foolishly. And sometimes it has worked and sometimes it hasn’t. These Living Waters are mostly inspired by trying to love some people in my life boldly and foolishly – trying to write “letters” to some people to show them that they are loved for who they are. And I keep doing it because of this verse and in part because I know that I have been loved boldly and foolishly by God and by others.

 

When we love like this, we are obeying Christ’s command, but we also help in setting others free.

 

I want to love people in a way that sets them free. I have at times and it has been the highlight of my life and ministry. But it is also the most challenging thing I have ever done. I want to be loved in a way that is freeing. I am in many ways.

 

I don’t know how you have experienced love in your life. Maybe you have never felt loved for who you are. Maybe you feel trapped by love rather than set free. But I want to tell you today that God created you and loves you uniquely and He wants to set you free from sin and death and misery through his love.

 

Are you really loved for who you are?

 

Yes. You are loved with the very best love. And that very best love is given for you and me to share with one another.

 

Amen.

 

 

Discussion Questions

1. How do experience love? Is it working for you?
2. Is there something in your life that God’s kind of love could set you free?
3. Do you love unconditionally, sacrificially, and or boldly? How has that happened?
4. Do you feel God’s love for you in your life? What does it look like?
5. What are some ways you can love others in “the best way?”

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The Ugliest Day

Mark 15:25-32

The Ugliest Day  

“25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him… 29 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself and come down from the cross!”…“He saved others; he cannot save himself… Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.”

 

            Good Friday.

 

            One thing about Good Friday is what it reveals about us humans. You know it is the day Jesus died for our sins; He atones for our sins and takes the punishment so that we can be reconciled with God. You know that part…

 

            But there is another part of this that may often be missed.

           

            This is such an ugly scene. We have seen some very terrible things in our lifetimes – wars, murder, terrorism, September 11^th, all of these are/were awful in their own ways. And all of those were perpetrated by…other humans. 

 

            When you read the above passage we see many of the same things, directed of course at one person. And this is the crucial part of the magnitude of this. The victim or target here is Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. Here is a sample of how He was treated: Put on the cross; He was innocent but was put in the same place as criminals; humiliated and put down; and taunted by officials and the criminals. This is how we treated God then; this is how we often treat God now.

 

            Good Friday is a naked revelation of how awful and ugly the human heart can be. It is a revelation of how far away the human heart can stray from God’s Word and ways. It is a revelation of the hatred and violence and disregard the human heart is capable. It shows how easy it is to be blinded by fear and hatred to “eliminate the problem.” And before you say, “That was then and this is now,” is it really? Don’t we do these things in little ways in our lives? And while we were not there physically that day, as the old hymn asks, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” – Yes we were. The character of humanity, in which we share, was there and at its worst.

 

            And while all of this ugliness is on display, it is called “good.” Why? How?

 

            Because even for all of what happened on that day, and all the minor ways we today mirror the hatred, violence and disregard; all of the culmination of sins in which we live and are drenched in – even with all that – and really, thanks only to Jesus going to the cross and taking all of this on, there still is an Easter morning, the resurrection and the possibility of new and eternal life.

           

            And for us, as much as we hate; as much as we kill; as much as we disregard God and others – thanks to Jesus, the door is open to acknowledge that in all that we need a savior to redeem us from all that we have done. And by acknowledging Him as our savior and repenting of our sins – we will die and be raised by, through and be with Him forever. There is this great quote by a church father named Gregory of Nyssa, “What is not assumed, is not healed.” This is a good explanation of why Good Friday had to be so bad. While on the cross, Jesus assumed the sin of the world, this fallen heart and character of humanity, so that it could be healed. So yes, was it ugly and terrible? But, it had to be to make our redemption possible.

 

            You see, we will never begin to fully understand God’s grace and love in Jesus Christ until we start to see from where it comes – from the depths and horror of sin and darkness and suffering and isolation of the cross. It wouldn’t be God’s awesome, life-giving, liberating and eternal grace, if it didn’t require a savior, a savior named Jesus…

 

            Later this week, on Good Friday, please take time to reflect on what the “good” means to you.

 

            Amen.  

 

Discussion Questions

1. Prior to reading this what were you thoughts about Good Friday?
2. What are some of your thoughts on sin after thinking about Good Friday in the above way?
3. What are some ways we can personally reflect/acknowledge Good Friday in light of this Scripture?
4. Think of some adjectives to describe the events described in the above passage.

 

 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-B-Wolf/17378287393

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The Cross

Isaiah 53:4-6

The Cross 

4 “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:4-6 

Why? 

In this infamous and often quoted prophetic passage that clearly points to Jesus and the cross, we hear of punishment and sacrifice and misperception.  The misperception is alluded to when it says, “yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.” Back then, on Good Friday, you had people fulfilling these words when they said things like, “some king.” They couldn’t see the “bigger picture” of what was being accomplished. They saw some guy who made outrageous claims and was being put to death.

One could ask, “Why the brutality and violence?”  Even today, there are people who don’t see it. Maybe even some believers don’t understand or misperceive the purpose of Jesus going to the cross to suffer, bleed and die. 

It starts with the reality of God’s holiness. Very simply, God is holy and we are not because of our sins and our sinful natures. But…But God still wanted us to be reconciled with Him. After all the sins, after all the failures, after all the turning away from Him, He is still standing there with His arms open. This is the grace and mercy of God.  

So there had to be a way that we as sinners could be reconciled with the Holy God. Because God is both just and merciful at the same time (another Living Water maybe) the justice part had to be fulfilled too. The penalty had to be paid… “But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed (5).”

Prophecy and reality were fulfilled when Jesus, the Son of God, willingly went to the cross to accomplish these things.  As horrifying and ugly as the reality of the cross was and is, we must look at it especially this week each year.

You see, the cross in some ways is a mirror; at the cross we see the devastation and consequences of sin – yours and mine. Sin is so destructive that from God’s perspective we, all of us fall short and deserve to face the consequences of our sins. It is very much like we are guilty during a trial, but during our sentencing, someone, namely the Son of God, stands up and says, I will take the punishment for _________ (fill in our names). Talk about courtroom drama! 

And so that is how we are made whole and healed. Because as awful as the cross was and is, beyond it, the other side of the cross is Jesus’ resurrection and consequently we are made whole and healed. When we are in Christ, in God’s eyes we go from condemned to redeemed; because of Jesus’ shed blood and death on the cross – nothing that we did or could do. 

The cross is perhaps the most powerful and meaningful symbol in the world – signifying all at once, defeat and victory, pain and healing, sin and grace, hatred and love, life and death, mercy and justice, strength and weakness, the cosmic and personal, separation and reconciliation.  

This is why we talk about “going to cross” or walking with Jesus to the cross this week because we can never even approach understanding Easter and the resurrection and all that it means in life and eternally, until we truly see the cross.  

When we truly see the cross, it may “cross” our minds that it could have been us that could have suffered, could have paid the penalty for our sins, could have been separated from God. But it wasn’t us; it was Jesus on the cross… 

If you are asking “Why?” about the cross this week, for the first time or as a reminder…it still comes down to one thing – because He loved, loves, us that much. 

Amen.   

Discussion Questions

1. In what other ways have you understood God’s holiness and our sinfulness? Have they been helpful or not and why?
2. In what ways can you look at the cross differently this week?
3. If you don’t already, what is keeping you from believing that God loves you as much as is described above?
4. How might your Easter Sunday be different after hearing all of this?

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Saving Lives

Saving Lives 

There is this song on the radio, sometimes on Christian radio stations too, called “How to Save a Life” by The Fray. It has been out for a while, but even now when I hear it, I listen. It is a pretty good song, but the real reason why I listen is the title and lyric, “And I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life.”  

According to a band related website, the song was inspired by the lead singer’s experience as a mentor at a camp for troubled teens. One (click on the word video to watch it) video for the song shows the band performing the song as many “regular” people with different emotions are shown; some happy, some sad, mixed in with numbered steps (of how to save a life), “have faith,” “believe,” “let go,” “remember,” and “say goodbye.”  

I never worked at a camp like that, but already when I was in high school I was watching out for friends and adults even who were troubled by many things. And it was also at that time that I began to dream of saving lives – that continues to this day. 

But what does that mean – saving lives? How does one save a life? From what are people saved? What does it look like? I know for a while, before I conceived of saving people in Biblical terms, I always thought of this line from a poem attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson titled, “Success.” The line reads, “To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” I always liked that. I wanted to be that person for people.  

The song goes, “And I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life.” I have stayed up at night praying and listening to people, trying to save them. I know for me it comes from a good place – a place of care and compassion. For me “saving” someone has meant being an instrument of hope in the midst of despair; never quitting on someone even when they wanted to (or when I sometimes didn’t want to keep trying); helping to make sense of senseless things; being proof of God and his love and grace in Jesus Christ; showing someone that they had value in this world when all else said otherwise.    

How many times though have I wished that I could save a life? Maybe I have and I don’t know it. I know that I have prayed many times for God to use me in that way. My Dad used to be an EMT and I know he has saved many lives through CPR. What an amazing thing. 

I fully confess there is something egotistical about thinking this way. Believe me, I have thought of that. Who am I to think that I can save others? Well, it’s not exactly like that. Don’t I need saving too? Yes, please! And in fact I can think of a bunch of times that I have been saved. Starting with God bringing me to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. But also my mother Kate deciding to keep me safe in her womb even though she wasn’t married and was under pressure to get an abortion. Another “save” was when a cute, very joyful girl named Jennifer at college who became my best friend and wife and has shown me unconditional love. Or a little boy named Brian who I literally dreamed of before he was born and whose birth opened me up to my life’s purpose and saved me from what would have been a miserable career track. 

The thing is that God was working through all of those “saves” because in fact, God is the only one who can do the saving – eternally and in the living of our lives. And I guess what I am trying to do is use the gift of salvation and of abundant life that I have been given and extend it to others. Out of my brokenness, out of all that I have been given as well as lost, I reach out with a healing hand to others.   

You see, as glorious as “saving lives” sounds, there is a cost – a cost mere mortals like you and me aren’t often willing to pay. The Jesus model of saving involves losing a life to save a life. He lost his life to save ours. His was no ordinary life though. It was the fact that He was the Son of God, and that He gave His innocent, sinless life that opened the door for eternal salvation and redeemed us. This is why we think of military, fire and police personnel with such regard, because they are willing to put their lives on the line for others at a great cost and sometimes at the ultimate cost. 

And then there are these words of Jesus, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it (Mark 8:35).” Even to have the abundant life God promises, we have to lose ourselves in order to be saved from ourselves by Christ. Do you know what I mean?  

“And I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life.” How to save a life? It starts with a willingness to lose ourselves – our pride, our ego, our self-sufficiency, our sinfulness – in Christ. And then through that, it takes a willingness to lose and sacrifice ourselves on behalf of someone else – for no other reason than love, pure love, agape love – not because we get something out of it. Saving a life, truly saving a life, means losing a life or parts of a life. 

Amen.  

Discussion Questions

1. Are there people in your life that you would love to save or have saved? What can be done for them?
2. How do you define “saving a life?” What does it look like?
3. Can you think of some times in your life when you sacrificed for someone else? What was the experience of that?
4.  Have you let Jesus save you yet? Or are you still trying to save yourself? If you want to, email or call me so we can talk about what that means.

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Leaving it all on the field

Romans 12:1

Leaving it all on the field(Remix of Sunday’s sermon – audio at www.firstgrandville.org – Resources/Dowloads/Sermons/A Personal Mission, Sept. 30)

“I appeal to you, therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Romans 12:1 

There is this idea of “leaving it all on the field,” from sports, but I want us to think about it today in terms of our spiritual life in Christ.  When we “leave it all on the field” it means that we have exhausted all energy, all effort, all strategy, everything has been used in the given mission or endeavor – nothing is held back.  

And that is where this idea of present ourselves as living sacrifices comes in. Prior to Jesus, the idea of sacrifices to God meant that the sacrifice was destroyed. When Jesus went to the cross, died and was resurrected – it changed everything but also changed the definition of a sacrifice for God. It became possible to be a living sacrifice. 

There is a song by Pearl Jam called Wishlist and there is a line in it, “I wish I was a sacrifice and somehow still lived on.” By Jesus’ example and Paul’s reference to being a living sacrifice, we have a call to live our lives, our worship, our service, to give it everything we have – to somehow give of ourselves to the point of sacrifice, and often pain and loss, but still live on. And not only live on but be more like Christ because of how much we sacrificed. Part of the faith journey is to have less and less of ourselves and more and more of Christ visible and reigning in our lives.  

Jesus said, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it (Mark 8:35).” So often as Christians we take the safe way – in worship, in serving, in our time and money that we give. We are trying “save” ourselves while still trying do “something” for the Lord.” Even with the best of intentions, when we hold back from God, we lose. When we give everything to him and sacrifice all of our desires and things for His sake, we win. I know, I know, it is the opposite of what the world says.  As Jesus’ and Paul’s words testify, we can’t do both – hold back and win.

To be a living sacrifice means that something (a lot of things really) have to be lost. When we follow Christ and leave it all on the field – there is nothing safe about that – it is about risking it all, stretching and reaching beyond what we have and what we believe we need to save or protect. To actually be a living sacrifice also means to trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to provide what we need to accomplish the sacrifice and/or mission.  

Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice on our behalf for our sins – lost himself to death on the cross – literally left it all on the field and gained eternal life for us. With this in mind, we are called to leave it all on the field in Christ’s name when we – pray, study the Word, love, reach out, heal, encourage, parent, mentor, serve, give, and hope. 

Amen. 

Discussion Questions

1. What are some parts of your life through which you could leave it all on the field in a way you haven’t done before?
2. What are you holding back from God? What are you holding back from others – especially those with obvious needs?
3.  What would it look like if you left it all on the field for your church or your family? What would be different than now?
4. Recall a time when you left it all on the field. What did that feel like? What was the impact?

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