Supreme Sacrifice Day

Apparently March 18 is "Supreme Sacrifice Day." At least that is what my friend Brad Kautz told me. He found out through his monthly cultural diversity newsletter at his work. And included within the newsletter was a link explaining the day. According to holidayinsights.com it is an annual holiday to celebrate:

"the ultimate sacrifice made by some for the good of others. History is filled with examples of people who offered the supreme sacrifice for other people."

And they offer these examples:

• "Jesus Christ gave the supreme sacrifice when he died on the cross for us.
  
• "Soldiers in battle gave their lives to protect our freedom, our way of life, and to keep us safe.
  
• "Fireman and police officers have given their lives in the line of duty, while saving and/or protecting people.
  
• "More often than you think, a young man or a young women caught up in a love triangle, gave up the chase for the sake of their loved one."
  

Wait...what? Ok, I get the first one. I even get the next two. But not the last one. I realize that giving up on "love" can seem like the end of the world. But is backing out of a "love triangle" really on the same level as the first three? Does that constitute a supreme sacrifice? So just what is sacrifice from a Christian perspective?

Paul had something to say about sacrifice from a Christian perspective in Romans 5:6-8:

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die–but God show his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Paul is saying that there are occasions when someone will give their life for another when they think that they are a righteous or a good person. We do see this in life and in the above list the soldiers, firemen and police officers are giving up their lives for what they see as a group of good people. These men and women give up their lives so that the people in our country can go on living. That is quite a sacrifice to pay and they pay it because they see our way of life–at least generally–as important enough for them to give up their own lives. It is the whole "truth, justice and the American Way" thing.

And it is also true for someone that gives up on their own hopes for someone else that they care about deeply. When we love someone else we are willing–or at least are supposed to be willing–to give up our own selfish desires in order to do what is best for both people in the relationship. So from that perspective I can sort of see how someone backing out of a "love triangle" can be considered a sacrifice.

But neither of these types of sacrifices even come close to the sacrifice that Christ paid. He is the only one that paid the Supreme Sacrifice. Paul makes it clear that Christ died for us when we we were still sinners. We might want to try and make the argument that are good people. But from God's perspective of being perfect are not good and we are most assuredly not righteous. When we sin we are rebelling against God. We are God's enemies. But Christ died for us anyway.

That means the only Supreme Sacrifice Day worth "celebrating" will fall on April 6. That is Good Friday. It is the day that Christ died for us. And what is even better is that we get to the real celebration three days later. Not only did Christ give up his life to pay for our sins but he also returned from the dead and is willing to give us eternal life. We just need to repent from our rebellion against God and to put our faith in Christ. Then Easter morning and the resurrection of Christ is our real celebration of the Supreme Sacrifice.

For more on Supreme Sacrifice Day you can read Brad's thoughts here.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The relationship of the Old and the New.

I came across an illustration by John Phillips from Exploring Hebrews shared by Jared Wilson on his blog The Gospel Driven Church. The illustration does a wonderful job of showing how the New Testament both fits into the Old Testament as well as provides an even better way to God. It is something that I will file away for future reference.

Imagine with me a Moabite of old gazing down upon the Tabernacle of Israel from some lofty hillside. This Moabite is attracted to what he sees so he descends the hill and makes his way toward the Tabernacle.

He walks around this high wall of dazzling linen until he comes to a gate and at the gate, he sees a man. “May I go in there?” he asks, pointing to the gate where all the bustle of activity in the Tabernacle’s outer court can be seen.

“Who are You?” demands the man suspiciously.

“I’m from Moab,” the stranger replies.

“Well, I’m very sorry, but you can’t go in there. You see, it’s not for you. The Law of Moses has barred the Moabite from any part in the worship of Israel until his tenth generation.”

The Moabite looks so sad and said, “Well, what would I have to do to go in there?”

“You would have to be born again,” the gatekeeper replies. “You would have to be born an Israelite, of the tribe of Judah, or of the tribe of Benjamin or Dan.”

“Oh, I wish I had been born an Israelite,” the Moabite says and as he looks again, he sees one of the priests, having offered a sacrifice at the brazen altar and the priest cleansed himself at the brazen laver and then the Moabite sees the priest enter the Tabernacle’s interior. “What’s in there?” asks the Moabite. “Inside the main building, I mean.”

“Oh,” the gatekeeper says, “That’s the Tabernacle itself. Inside it contains a lampstand, a table, and an altar of gold. The man you saw was a priest. He will trim the lamp, eat of the bread upon the table and burn incense to the living god upon the golden altar.”

“Ah,” sighs the Moabite, “I wish I were an Israelite so that I could do that. I would so love to worship God in there and help to trim the lamp and offer Him incense and eat bread at that table.”

“Oh, no, the gatekeeper hastens to say, “even I could not do that. To worship in the holy place one must not only be born an Israelite, one must be born of the tribe of Levi and of the family of Aaron.”

The man from Moab sighs again, “I wish that I had been born of Israel of the tribe of Levi of the family of Aaron,” and then, as he gazes wistfully at the closed Tabernacle door, he says, “What else is in there?”

“Oh, there’s a veil. It’s a beautiful veil I’m told and it divides the Tabernacle in two. Beyond the veil is what we call ‘the Most Holy Place’… ‘the Holy of Holies.’”

“What’s in the Holy of Holies?” the Moabite asks.

“Well, there’s the sacred chest in there and it’s called the Ark of the Covenant. It contains holy memorials of our past. Its top is gold and we call that the mercy seat because God sits there between the golden cherubim. Do you see that pillar of cloud hovering over the Tabernacle? That’s the Shekinah glory cloud. It rests on the mercy,” said the gatekeeper.

Again, a look of longing comes over the face of the Moabite man. “Oh,” he said, “if only I were a priest! How I would love to go into the Holy of Holies and gaze upon the glory of God and worship Him there in the beauty of His holiness!’

“Oh no!” said the man at the gate. “You couldn’t do that even if you were a priest! Only the high priest can enter the Most Holy Place. Only he can go in there. Nobody else!”

The heart of the man from Moab yearns once more. “Oh,” he cried, “If only I had been born an Israelite, of the tribe of Levi, of the family of Aaron. If only I had been born a high priest! I would go in there every day! I would go in there three times a day! I would worship continually in the Holy of Holies!”

The gatekeeper looked at the man from Moab again and once more shook his head. “Oh now,” he said, “you couldn’t do that! Even the high priest of Israel can go in there only once a year, and then only after the most elaborate preparations and even then only for a little while.”

Sadly, the Moabite turned away. He had no hope in all the world of ever entering there!

. . . Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Here it is, a tremendous word of welcome, extended to Jew and Gentile alike, to come on in and worship, not in the holiest place of the human tabernacle, but into the Holy of Holies in heaven itself "by the blood of Jesus."

Source: The Gospel Driven Church