S is for Sacrifice

Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?

Matthew 16:24-26 (The Message)

Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

Matthew 16:24-26 (NIV)

Faith is spelled R.I.S.K…

... and I have blogged a little bit about risk before. I have also written quite a bit on the subject of faith before.

Being a follower of Jesus takes faith - even to the extent of looking a fool. Jesus never promised His followers that everything would be “rosy”.

In fact, quite the opposite. He said:

Mark 8:34-38 (The Message)
Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for? If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I’m leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you’ll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendour of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.”

We are called to live an "alternative" lifestyle. A life of sacrifice, a life of denying oneself and living the way Christ teaches us to. And that can be scary. And can makes you feel extremely vulnerable.

But it's the right way. The way to go...

It is OK to say No...

I suppose this particular entry follows on a bit from my last post about selfishness and selflessness. You see, I am often told by my friends and family that "it is OK to say no" once in a while. They say it with the best of intentions. Why do I need to get so involved in so many different things?

Well, I love to be doing something useful. I want to be out there making a difference, in my own way. Yes, sometimes I do push myself a little too hard sometimes, going from one thing to another without too much of a break...

However, sometimes No is really not that easy. Well, it's not saying no, it's working out exactly what to say no to...

For example, I look at this week's calendar and I see a number of different 'appointments'. Opportunities to be a blessing to others, to encourage people, to learn more about myself and my own Christian walk. Then there are things I need to prepare for; things for the Army, prep for next week at work. There are places where the kids need to be, so Dad has to be there as taxi driver. Help with my son's CV. And there are even more practical things, like the car's MOT and servicing. I usually manage to fit it all in. Somehow.

I had something in the calendar on pretty much every day - on some days there were three or four things. So where could I start cutting things out? If I had missed, say, the appointment for the servicing of the car, I would have let down a friend who I had promised to visit in North London; been unable to drive my daughter to her disco last night. If I decided I simply couldn't be bothered, would there be anybody else to do these things? In some cases, the answer was a definite no. So I end up saying yes, 'going the extra mile'. Isn't that what you're supposed to do? (see link)

In fact, I then went on to spend a hour or so trying to 'thin out' the week, crossing out things where I could. Do you know what? In order to be true to myself, if I had to give a no or two then I'd rather ditch some of the 'social engagements'; the get-togethers, the chats. That would at least remove all that difficult 'small talk'... ugh! Does that sound awful? To an introvert like me, trying to make conversation is so draining.... so difficult. It can be hard work! However, I can't really say no to these events either - who would that annoy? Unfortunately, the very people who care for me, who encourage me to say no! They'd then say I'm being antisocial...

I'm really not. It's just not the way that I relax. The ideal way that I unwind is to lose myself in a good book; to catch up with friends on Facebook; even by writing this blog. That's how I recharge.

Friends, I care for you too. But I also care about the causes that I work for, the people I want to help. I want to do these things. Sometimes if I have to choose, to cut down, that might mean that I have to say no to you...

On the other hand - why not turn it around? Instead of me saying No, why don't you say Yes and come along with me? I get to see you; you get to work alongside me, see what I do, give me a hand. Work with me? Any time.

”This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.” (William Shakespeare - Hamlet)

D is for I Dare To Be Different

I love the sentiment of this Salvation Army Songster piece, written by Commissioner Harry Read and with music by Commissioner Dick Krommenhoek. The version I have on my iPod is from the International Staff Songsters.

"I dare to be different, I dare to believe;

I dare to be different, God’s Spirit receive.

I dare to be different, my life sacrificed;

I dare to be different by living like Christ."

Surprised By Joy

James 1:2 (NIV)
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds...

The above verse of scripture was emailed to me this morning - and only seeks to underline something that came to light following the meetings at the Army yesterday. You see, I understand all what was said yesterday about mission; the Great Commission if you will. I understand the sacrifice; I understand the need to minister to 'others'. No problem with any of that.

There's just one aspect that seems to be eluding me. An understanding of the joy that comes out of this service. The same joy mentioned in the above passage. The joy experienced and mentioned throughout the Christmas story.

And, looking back over this blog, it seems to be a subject that's been eluding me for a while. Is there something that I've yet to consider; something that seems to be robbing me of that joy?

Heading into the latter part of the Advent season, then, the goal then is to find that joy. That deep satisfaction that comes from knowing God, hearing His voice and obeying. The quality that allows us to be strong; able to face those kinds of trials.

In 1955, C S Lewis published a book which related the story of the author's conversion. It was entitled "Surprised by Joy".

That's the sort of surprise I am looking for this Christmas.

By Love Compelled

The title at the top of this entry comes from a piece of Salvation Army music by Ray Steadman-Allen. I feel it's quite an appropriate title!

The last few weeks I've been reading up on sacrificial giving, as today (in most Corps) is the Army's Self-Denial Annual Appeal Altar Service. I've been looking up examples from scripture on which to base further study, looking at individual motivation.

First on my list is Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10), a short man with a burden at least twice the size of him! His job was to collect taxes, a particularly unpopular job even then, and to top it all he wasn't too honest about it. Listening to Jesus' teaching had prompted a change of heart, and Zaccheus resolved to give back much more than the law dictated. He gave sacrificially...

There was Mary, the sister of Martha (John 12:1-6), who gave the gift of precious perfume to anoint Jesus. This was a gift she had really saved up for, the equivalent of the cost of a year's wages. Certainly sacrificial!

And there's Barnabus (Acts 4:36-37), a disciple who happened to own a field. There were a great deal of folk around at the time who were in need, so in response to that he sold his land, placing the money sacrificially at the disciples' feet in order to meet the need. Being a Levite, Barnabas had the right to be supported by others (Numbers 18:21). Instead, he made a conscious decision to give, to help others.

Let's also consider the members of the Macedonian churches (2 Corinthians 8:1-6). They gave sacrificially to help fellow Christians in Jerusalem. They gave joyfully, even beyond their ability to give, and even begged to do so! Phenomenal!

What motivated these guys to give so freely? To give so much more? In the case of Zaccheus, it could be argued that there was an element of guilt involved. A need to make amends, to recompense for his misdeeds. Well, I understand that Jewish law already make restitution an essential anyway - however Zaccheus' response goes far beyond legal requirements...

And what about Barnabus? The Christians in Macedonia? We know nothing of their individual backgrounds. Surely there must be looking for something other than just guilt.

Whatever motivated them to such extremes of sacrifice must be something pretty powerful. Could it be the awesome power of the love of God within them? The power of the Holy Spirit, transforming them, compelling them. Encouraging them. Sacrificial giving is their response to such unconditional, sacrificial, agape love.

What is your response? What is that still, small voice telling you?

"Go without, for those going without" - taken from the Self-Denial Appeal envelope, 2011

Generosity

Acts 20:35 (New International Version, ©2010)

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Repetition is such a necessity for effective training. You need to be told something a number of times before it eventually takes hold and sinks in. I can't remember the number of times that I have heard the above quotation. I have endeavoured to practice this, to live out the concept in what I do and say. However, it's only over this weekend that I began to grasp some of the reasoning behind this concept.

I think part of the problem is 21st Century culture. If I am injured, society teaches us that I need to seek compensation (I did a separate post on 'Blame Culture', a while ago. See the link here). If I do something for someone, society says that I expect to get adequately compensated for the task. "You don't get something for nothing!"

Now, I look at this a little differently. I've worked in a whole host of voluntary roles for pretty much all of my life. Social clubs, Fan clubs, Advisory Councils, Committees, Scout Groups, and of course Church. If something catches my eye as being worthwhile and exciting, I'll be there, showing an interest. It's not what it earns me that motivates me. I have found this attitude causes confusion - people simply can't grasp why I could do something for nothing. It doesn't make sense to them.

At the weekend the meeting touched on the subject of sacrificial giving, as part of the launch of the Army's Self-Denial Appeal for this year. The subject matter has really challenged me to rethink my whole reasoning for giving. Not to encourage me to give - I do that anyway - but to examine why I give. Giving of your time and talents freely, and sacrificially. Giving, because there are folk out there who have so much less than you. Giving, because without your gift, they would more than likely continue to go without. Giving, and not expecting to be paid back. Giving until the pips squeak...

We have a practical example here in the incident described in Mark 12:41-43, the donation of the "Widow's Mite". In this example, Jesus told his disciples the widow had given so more than all the others. The rich folk donated only a small proportion of their wealth; the widow put in two small coins, however this was all she had.

"If not you, then who?
If not now, then when?"   - Hillel the Elder

I guess that this is a topic I'll come back to again this month. I'll leave you with this quotation:

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”  

  - John Wesley