On Sacrifice

The other day I came across another of my favourite stories in the Bible. This one (again) involves King David. But first let me tell you a story, which may explain my point, at least I hope so.

So there was a church bake sale and one of the mothers was running late.  She baked an angel food cake but in her haste, she opened the oven door too soon and it fell.

There was nothing she could do because time was running out, so she grabbed a roll of toilet paper, put it in the crater of the cake and put an impressive amount of beautiful icing on it before jettisoning out the door for the church.

As she and her daughter hurried for the church, daughter was given specific instructions,  "You run the cake into the back, I'll park the car and get to the table before it does and buy it!  Then, I will have paid my participation dues and no one will know what a disaster it was!"

They agreed and the daughter hopped out with the beautiful cake.  But as the mom was heading into the church the girl ran out with a very distressed look on her face.

"Mom!  Before I could even put it down, that mean ol' Mrs Smith swept it out of my hands and said she'd pay for it.  It never even got put out!

Well, what could the mom do?  She was a little bit happy that the disaster went to such a difficult woman, but she didn't share those thoughts with her daughter.

A few days later the women's Bible study met, and this week it was at Mrs. Smith’s house.

You can guess the rest of the story.

Mrs Smith glided into the room, cake held high to everyone's adoration.

"Yes......." she beamed, "I made it myself!"

So here's the Bible story …

King David did something and he felt the need to give a sacrifice to the Lord in repentance.  He approached a guy named Araunah, who owned a nearby threshing floor. There, he 'ordered up' the land, wood and meat necessary for a sacrifice to do the job.

Of course, Araunah, in awe of the king, refuses payment and offers to foot the bill for the whole thing himself.  After all, this is the KING we're talking to. Araunah couldn’t have been expected to respond any other way.

But David's answer rings true over the millennia,

“But the king replied to Araunah, ‘No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.”   (2 Sam 24:24)

I’m thinking we live these days in an era of 'free grace', as I mentioned last week, where 'me' is more important than any personal suffering. Most times, we would rather enjoy the affirmation over any kind of humbling experience….. or any experience, for that matter that might make me uncomfortable. 

Like the lady with the cake, she was happy to 'take the credit', even tho she didn't do the work, pay the price or suffer in any way. We can only imagine how that worked out for her. 

I know folks today who are making real sacrifices as we speak.  And to make it worse, for a lot of them, neither the sacrifices nor the events surrounding them are generally known. They simply suffer in silence. 

And as we lead up to Easter, let’s remember the One who gave His ultimate Sacrifice, on the Cross.  

Till next time, Marsha




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