From the Ashes: Sacrifice

Big Idea: The Hebrew people experienced the temporary forgiveness of sins by the blood of an animal sacrifice. The sacrifice of Jesus, to leave heaven and offer himself on the cross, was an atoning sacrifice that is effective throughout eternity. Through Christ we are completely redeemed from the ashes of our former life.

Prayer: “Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice. Without your death, burial and resurrection, we would all stand condemned in our sin. Remind us today that we’re no longer slaves to sin, but free in You. Help us to live our lives sacrificially, and be willing to lay our lives down for others.

Introduction

Today, we’re going to be looking at the sacrifice of Jesus and the impact his selfless actions have had on all the people of the world.

To illustrate the idea of sacrifice I want to share an historical account with you from the trenches of World War II.

“John Robert Fox was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in May 1915. By all accounts, he was a smart, diligent young man and attended Wilberforce University. There, he signed up for the Reserve Officer Training Corp, meaning he not only finished college with a graduate degree, but with a rank of Second Lieutenant. When war broke out he took his commission and joined the 92nd Infantry Division, a segregated division for African-American soldiers that fought with distinction throughout the conflict.

With his unit, Fox was sent to the European theater of war. There in 1944, he found himself fighting the Nazis Wehrmacht's Austrian 4th Mountain Battalion in Italy. Then in December of that year, he was tasked to stay behind in the small village of Sommocolonia, in Tuscany, part of the German Gothic Line. The people of Sommocolonia had virtually nothing to eat other than chestnuts but that situation changed when the African American soldiers with the United States Army's segregated 92nd Infantry Division arrived in the village and shared their field rations with them.

On 26 December 1944, soldiers with the 92nd Infantry Division clashed with the Wehrmacht's Austrian 4th Mountain Battalion in Sommocolonia during the Battle of Garfagnana. 70 American soldiers and 25 Italian partisans were surrounded in the village by the Austrian forces. During the battle, 1st Lt. John R. Fox with the 366th Infantry Regiment's 598th Artillery Battalion volunteered to stay behind in the village as a forward observer. The village was eventually overrun by Nazis, and Americans were in retreat. Fox found a house to hide in and, from the second floor, he used his radio to contact his colleagues.

While calling defensive artillery fire and a smoke screen to cover the escape of wounded American troops and partisans, he realized his observation post on the second floor of a house was surrounded by the Austrian soldiers. He then ordered a heavy concentration of mortar and 105 mm artillery shells on his own position. The artillery officer on the other end, Fox's close friend Otis Zachary, was stunned, knowing Fox's chances of survival would be very slim, but Fox demanded the barrage go ahead, saying "Fire it! There's more of them than there are of us. Give them hell!" as his last transmission. The resulting barrage killed Fox and approximately 100 Austrian troops surrounding his position. Fox's sacrifice halted the Wehrmacht's advance and allowed the U.S. Army to plan a counterattack. Sommocolonia was recaptured by 1 January 1945.[2][3][4][5]

Fox’s act of sacrifice was not in vain. As he planned, the artillery barrage did indeed give his comrades the chance to regroup and launch a successful counterattack. When the US army entered Sommocolonia, they found Fox’s body surrounded by the bodies of nearly 100 Germans.[1]”

The sacrifice of John Robert Fox gave life, opportunity, and victory to his fellow soldiers in a decisive battle with the Germans.

After a review in 1982, Fox was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions. A later investigation in 1997 led to Fox and six other African American soldiers being awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration for valor in the United States Armed Forces.[2][3][5]

The residents of Sommocolonia dedicated a monument to Fox and the eight Italian partisans who died while defending his position. In 2000, they also dedicated a peace park in memory of Fox and his unit.

Christ’s sacrifice also gives life, opportunity, and victory to all who would believe. The sacrifice of Christ is so completely sufficient that there’s no need for any other work to be done.

Let us now look into the sacrifice made for all by Christ Jesus. It begins with humility.

Humility & Sacrifice

Philippians 2:6–8 NASB95

who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Christ voluntarily gave up Heaven to come to earth to become the sacrifice for our sin. He did not hold onto His position and power, but instead laid it all down to be a humble servant and give up His life on a cross.

He knew, in order to rescue the world from the curse of sin, it would cost Him His life.

There Is A Cost

If you are going to be a disciple, which simply means to follow in the footsteps of Christ, then you are going to know sacrifice. Jesus is very candid about this fact when He shares it with us in the Gospel according to Luke.

Luke 14:25–33 NASB95

Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

This is admittedly one of the more difficult passages in the New Testament. Jesus’ challenge is to be willing to give up family, plans, and position in the process of discipleship. Another way to say it, to paraphrase the lesson of this passage, is to say, “You have to be willing to let go of everything as you follow Christ.”

Anything that we cling to, hold tightly to, can and most likely will become an idol and a distraction for us. We are to serve one God, the God of heaven and earth, the Creator, the Savior. ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Deut. 5:7) Israel struggled and often disobeyed in this issue and it led to discipline with many years in oppression.

If Christ gave Himself as the sacrifice to bring redemption then you are going to need to make sacrifices as you share that redemption with others. Andrew, Peter, James and John all gave up their livelihood (“they left everything” Lk. 5:11)to follow Jesus. Matthew left his position and source of income {“he left everything” Lk. 5:28 ). Paul left his identity and religious up bringing. Along with the others.

I just celebrated the life of a dear friend and ministry mentor, George William Curry III. As i listened to the testimonies of family and friends the over arching theme was personal sacrifice. George would do anything for anyone at anytime. It did not matter who you were, how long he had known you or what your circumstances were. He sacrificially invested himself in others in order to emulate the love and sacrifice of Jesus. I had been the recipient of that love on multiple occasions. I received help with a problem vehicle, help understanding how to minister to others and help in raising my children. George gave willingly of himself for more people than we will ever know.

As we consider the cost of our sacrifice we must remember our position in Christ.

Crucified with Christ

I am certain you’ve heard this verse from Galatians before, simply because it so clearly describes our position with Christ and our relationship with the world around us;

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

Yes, Discipleship and sacrifice can be difficult.

Yes, You and I have to be willing to let go of everything that was once so very important to us.

Yes, there definitely will be opposition. It may come from family, friends, classmates or co-workers.

However, God will be with you always… In fact He lives in you, empowering you to live the life of faith. So, as hard as it is to let go of things and make sacrifices don’t forget that He’s with you and He’s the perfect High Priest;

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:15-16

Sacrifice takes courage, conviction, and confidence, but it’s worth it.

It’s Worth It

So here’s the encouragement today; Hebrews 12:1 encourages us to throw off the past sin and shame in which is so easy to become entangled. And Run the race set out before you… keeping your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith… who for the JOY set before Him endured the cross.

Jesus sacrificed His life for the joy set before Him. And let me tell you today – there is a very real, deep abiding joy in serving others and sacrificing your life for someone else.

Think about the last time you went out on a service project… You sacrificed time, energy, and possibly material resources to serve and be a blessing to someone else. And you know what? I bet it felt amazing, I bet you walked away having experienced a fullness that was different than you’d felt before.

I remember such a time recently, when a group of our men went over to the home of Mike and Sandy Ohlinger. In their yard we picked up sticks, trimmed bushes, mowed, edged. It was fun being there with a group of men on a Saturday morning. We invested, time our time and energy, but it was a great feeling of accomplishment knowing that we had helped Mike and Sandy by doing things they no longer could do.

When we trade our selfish desires and wants for a life of discipleship and serving others the sacrifices we make have meaning and purpose.

Without the sacrifice of Christ, there’s no redemption.

And without the sacrifice of all the saints who’ve gone before us, there’s no church.

Sacrifice is powerful, it can change the outcome of a battle...like the story I shared at the beginning of service. It can change someone’s life who needs help. And it can redeem someone’s eternity… Think about that for a moment.

No matter how hard life has been. No matter how far from God you may feel here today. No matter how irredeemable you believe your life to be… The sacrifice of Christ was completely sufficient.

And today is as good a day as any to rise above the sin and shame and accept the gift that God has given you through the sacrifice of His son.

Conclusion/Application

As we wrap up, I want to take a moment to recognize that today, the Sunday before Easter, is called Palm Sunday. And on Palm Sunday many churches read the passage where Jesus rides a colt into Jerusalem. In that story Jesus is treated like royalty and all the people lay their cloaks down before him as he rides along.

The whole crowd of disciples begins joyfully praising God in loud voices for all the miracles they have seen, and they say, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Luke 19:35-38

And then, as Jerusalem comes into view Jesus weeps over the city and says;

“If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” Luke 19:41-44

Friends, next week is Easter Sunday. It’s a day when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and the fulfillment of the prophecies about Him. There were many contemporaries of Christ, many well educated and faithful people, who didn’t recognize He was in fact the Messiah. For them, the sacrifice was nothing more than the loss of a human life. But for those who believe, it’s the promise of eternal life.

How will the sacrifice of Christ change your life this coming week?

What are some things that you need to let go of in order to give your life, time, money, skills, knowledge, etc… so that others may experience the life of the gospel?

What areas of life are you being called to greater sacrifice?

This life of faith can and will be a costly one, but remember that Christ is always with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Let’s pray together.

[1] https://historycollection.com/10-of-the-most-heroic-acts-of-self-sacrifice-in-history/2/