SACRIFICE

The Influence of a Sacrifice

What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? Luke 9:25 (HCSB)

Sacrificial living always impacts those around you. We rarely understand how the stand we take in Christ influences others. Read the story of Polycarp as told by Ken Pell and pay particular attention to the reaction of those who interact with him.

“Can you imagine what it was like for the church in Smyrna as they watched their beloved and aged pastor burn at the stake? Polycarp was his name. He was a disciple of Jesus’ disciple, the Apostle John. One could tell it immediately because he possessed the same tenderness and compassion as his mentor.

Polycarp was Bishop of the church at Smyrna (present day Turkey). Persecution broke out in Smyrna and many Christians were fed to the wild beasts in the arena. The godless and bloodthirsty crowd called for the carcass of the leader – Polycarp.

The authorities sent a search party to find him. He had been taken into hiding for some Christians but the Romans tortured two young believers until they finally disclosed his location. When the authorities’ arrival was announced there was still time to whisk Polycarp away but he refused to go saying, “God’s will be done.”

In one of the most touching instances of Christian grace imaginable, Polycarp welcome his captors as if they were friends. He talked with them and insisted they eat a meal. He made only one request before being taken away – he asked for one hour to pray. The Roman soldiers listened to his prayer. Their hearts melted and they gave him 2 hours to pray. They had second thoughts as well and were overheard asking each other why they were sent to arrest him?

Other authorities also experienced a warmed heart when Polycarp arrived. The Proconsul tried to find a way to release him too. “Curse God and I will let you go!” he pleaded.

Polycarp’s reply was: “For eighty-six years I have served him. He has never done me wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King was has saved me?”

The Proconsul again looked for a way out. “Then do this old man, just swear by the spirit of the emperor and that will be sufficient.’

Polycarp’s reply was: “If you imagine for a moment that I would do that, then I think you pretend that you don’t know who I am. Hear it plainly. I am a Christian.”

More entreaties by the Proconsul

Polycarp stood firm.

The proconsul threatened with the wild beasts.

Polycarp’s reply was: “Bring them forth. I would change my mind if it meant going from worst to best, but not to change from right to wrong.”

The Proconsul threatened, “I will burn you alive!”

Polycarp’s reply was: “You threaten with fire that burns for an hour and is over but the judgment on the ungodly is forever.”

The fires engulfed him. The witnesses noticed his faith and joy. He was finished off with a dagger. He was buried for the cause of Christ on February 22, 155 A.D.

It was as much a day of victory as it was a day of tragedy.

Polycarp illustrated the power of knowing Jesus intimately. Intimately enough to follow Him into the flames. As Jesus said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

Help me to live out my faith with conviction and may others see the consistency of my faith no matter what the circumstances. In Jesus Name, Amen.

SACRIFICE

A Renewed Hope

Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? Luke 9:23-25 (HCSB)

Sacrifice is the only act I can think of that evokes so many positive responses. I believe the reason to be that it is born of out selflessness. Selflessness always seems to inspire people to heights of greatness. It renews hope when it seems all is lost. It can help someone who would normally shrink back in a crisis to find courage they never dreamed possible. And the last I would mention today is gratitude. It always fills us with gratitude. Paul Harvey’s The Rest of the Story told about “The Old Man and the Gulls”. It is a moving story of sacrifice and gratitude.

“It is gratitude that prompted an old man to visit an old broken pier on the eastern seacoast of Florida. Every Friday night, until his death in 1973, he would return, walking slowly and slightly stooped with a large bucket of shrimp. The sea gulls would flock to this old man, and he would feed them from his bucket. Many years before, in October 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was on a mission in a B-17 to deliver an important message to General Douglas MacArthur in New Guinea. But there was an unexpected detour, which would hurl Captain Eddie into the most harrowing adventure of his life.

Somewhere over the South Pacific the Flying Fortress became lost beyond the reach of radio. Fuel ran dangerously low, so the men ditched their plane in the ocean… For nearly a month Captain Eddie and his companions would fight the water, and the weather, and the scorching sun. They spent many sleepless nights recoiling as giant sharks rammed their rafts. The largest raft was nine by five. The biggest shark…ten feet long.

But of all their enemies at sea, one proved most formidable: starvation. Eight days out, their rations were long gone or destroyed by the salt water. It would take a miracle to sustain them. And a miracle occurred. In Captain Eddie’s own words, “Cherry,” that was the B- 17 pilot, Captain William Cherry, “read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my eyes to keep out some of the glare, I dozed off.”

Now this is still Captain Rickenbacker talking…”Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a sea gull. I don’t know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food…if I could catch it.” And the rest, as they say, is history. Captain Eddie caught the gull. Its flesh was eaten. Its intestines were used for bait to catch fish. The survivors were sustained and their hopes renewed because a lone sea gull, uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from land, offered itself as a sacrifice. You know that Captain Eddie made it. And now you also know…that he never forgot. Because every Friday evening, about sunset…on a lonely stretch along the eastern Florida seacoast…you could see an old man walking…white-haired, bushy-eye browed, slightly bent. His bucket filled with shrimp was to feed the gulls…to remember that one that, on a day long past, gave itself without a struggle…like manna in the wilderness.”

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

Help me to be ever mindful of the sacrifice you made just for me! With a heart filled with gratitude, let me live to share the story of Your love with others. Thank You, In Jesus Name, Amen.