Rethinking Sacrifice Week 1 By: E. Philor Sr.

Scripture: Matthew 4:1-4 KJV

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Rethinking Sacrifice

What do you think of when you hear "Lent"? For many, Lent or the Lenten Season is simply about giving something up for 40 days, but it’s deeper than that. Lent calls us to sacrifice. When we sacrifice, we release one thing and make room for something else.  The Lenten season begins today, with Ash Wednesday. In a typical year, Christians all over the world would bear Ash Crosses on their foreheads to honor the opening of this season. The text set before us discusses the time Jesus spent in private, praying to the Father. He spent 40 days in constant, uninterrupted communication with God. Lent, in our perspective, is geared toward modeling the time of prayer and fasting that Jesus did before beginning his public ministry. This season of forsaking his needs brought him to a deeper relationship with the Father. While the text suggests that He was in the wilderness, it is a juxtaposition of His ministry that will follow. The wilderness is typically a desolate place where nothing can grow. He went into a wilderness but the ministry following is fruitful. The time of sacrifice should cause a shift in life beyond it. Jesus didn’t stop praying when he left the wilderness. His intimacy with the father didn’t dwindle.  

Can I be honest? I think it’s ironic that Jesus, who would later be the ultimate sacrifice, made another sacrifice. He spent 40 days alone in the wilderness, without food. For many of us, the mere thought could drive us insane. We live in a society where we crave the connection and approval of the people whom we admire. Our relevance comes from how many people think we are important, based upon their standards. This can impact us to the point of us not seeing our value of self. The work of reminding us that we are more than our likes and follows on social media. We are worth more than the number of retweets we get. God gives us value that no one can ever take away. 

In our country, we were living into the normalcy of our lives when Lent began last year, without much regard for how an illness could forever change us. By Easter, our normality was gone. But, in this season of wilderness, many have made life-altering shifts. As we begin Lent again, what is the sacrifice you’re willing to make? Giving up something for Lent has become more of a secular fad than a sacrifice in the lives of Believers. People we know will ask: What are you giving up for Lent?  What if we change the narrative of Lent from Giving up to giving in? Let's submit to the will, work, and way of God. Let's do more! Let’s pray more! Let’s fast more! Let’s do more Kingdom Worship! Let’s do more Kingdom Witness! Let’s do more Kingdom Work! And, Let’s do it in more Kingdom Ways. 

This year, let's not simply give up things like processed food, refined sugars, or the creature comforts we adore. Food is not something we simply want; our bodies need food. Jesus sacrificed a basic need before beginning his ministry because He had a "why". What is your "why"? Before you pull out the record of things that God has done for you in the past year, think of a sacrifice made for you years before your existence. As we journey together, I want to simply remind you that lent isn’t about giving up a particular thing or behavior. Lent is about sacrifice. 

Lent is a season of Sacrificial Submission to God, with hopes of a deeper connection. The sacrifice of time, company, food, and any other thing we value; could never compare to how much God values us.

Join us throughout this season, where together we’ll Rethink Sacrifice!