Aaron Siebers. The 27-year-old Denver man, a Blockbuster employee, was skateboarding yesterday afternoon when he fell and ripped his uniform pants. Due to work last night--and concerned about getting "written up" by Blockbuster superiors for not wearing his work-issued khakis--Siebers came up with a harebrained idea. Instead of just calling in sick, he stabbed himself in the leg and showed up at work claiming to have just been attacked by three Hispanic males. Siebers, who told cops he was assaulted as he walked toward the Blockbuster in Edgewater, had a deep stab wound in one leg and several other minor cuts on his face and stomach. As investigators began hunting for the assailants, they reviewed surveillance video from outside a Target store where Siebers claimed the attack occurred. The footage, however, showed no such assault. Confronted by cops, Siebers, pictured in the below mug shot, admitted that he had stabbed himself. He told investigators about the skateboarding accident, the resulting ripped pants, and how "he did not want to lose his job so he stabbed himself in the leg," according to an arrest affidavit sworn by Officer Shawna Naumann. As a result, Siebers was named in a criminal complaint charging him with filing a false report and obstructing police, both misdemeanors. (thesmokinggun.com)
Now that is what I would call commitment to keeping your job – I mean are you dedicated enough to stab yourself for your boss?
We have been talking about commitment in the sense of giving to the church for the last 4 weeks – and I am not going to ask you to show me by drawing blood! This is the final week of our series “Saving for Life” which has been our stewardship campaign for the church – this week you should be turning in your intention cards about giving to Forest Dale for 2010 – those little green slips of paper are a challenge to all of us to give consistently and sacrificially. There is more to this that just wanting to increase our budget as a church – there is some incredible things which happen to us when we decided to something sacrificially.
I. The Decision to Give
A. I will warn you that doing anything sacrificially will have an effect on more than just yourself. Doing anything sacrificially means people will question your intelligence because it will cost you more than most people are willing to pay. If you choose to sacrifice people will consider you….
1. A Fool – your little decision won’t make a difference in the growing tide of wrong.
2. A Waste – throwing away perfectly good things which you could have used doing something fun.
3. A Pain – why put yourself through all of that when it isn’t necessary.
4. A Wacko – Why would someone do something against their own personal interest and happiness?
*And when it comes to making a sacrifice with your money then the attitude is generally this – what do I get out of it? If you aren’t getting something financial or beneficial for your sacrifice then most people will consider it worthless. But In the strictest sense, sacrifice is about giving without an expectation of return – in its purest form to sacrifice means to give up for the love of something.
B. An incident in the book of Luke changed the way everyone looked at giving sacrificially.
1. It happened when Jesus and his disciples were sitting near the temple treasury where everyone would enter to give their tithes and offerings.
2. To get the full impact of this story takes a little description of the Temple during Biblical times.
Listen to this explanation I found researching some of the practices of the Temple.
“One of the notable features of the Court of Women was the glazophylakion or “treasury,” thirteen trumpet-shaped receptacles placed there to receive the offerings of the faithful for the maintenance of the temple and its ministry. One day the Lord called attention to a poor widow whom he saw casting her last two coins into the treasury. Now let me continue on what the research said - the coins (lepta) were so small that they had no strict equivalence in the imperial monetary system, and because they would not be familiar to Mark’s readers at Rome, he explained that two of them were needed to equal a single quadrans (12:42).” Now originally I planned on using the reference to this story from Luke 21 but during this week I decided to look at the same incident recorded in Mark because it offered a few more details. Mark 12: 41-44 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. 43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
C. There were quite a few reasons why the widow could have just skipped giving all together.
1. From the human perspective the large amounts given to the temple would have far reaching effects. No matter how wealthy someone is, giving a large amount is still difficult to give.
2. In comparison a half of a penny wasn't going to do much to improve the temple life or even be enough to pay someone to polish the gold on the walls.
3. In terms of real money here gift was meaningless. Why even bother giving such a small amount? That's the kind of attitude a pragmatist would take or a realist would say, “Quit fooling yourself thinking what you give is going to make any kind of difference to yourself or anyone else.”
4. Yet it Jesus was watching and used that willingness to give as an example to the men who would teach the world about the good news of salvation. Her obedience became a lesson to some important people.
* This is something we have to remember in our own giving – that what we choose to give is witnessed by Jesus and he is pleased when we step out in faith and give more than we think we can. But we don’t automatically give more – selflessness is a trait we learn because selfishness is very natural for us. So as a church we have a Stewardship Campaign every year with a bigger objective than just giving – it is a challenge to set a goal to give more than you did last year. The theme of “Saving for Life” is a reminder that what we save is for a bigger purpose and our generosity does more than just pay the bills. When you make a decision to give, just like the widow, your amount of generosity and sacrifice is noticed by Jesus. If the widow’s example has made such an impact on the Christian world what could our larger amounts do?
5. Jesus states, because this woman did more than her duty she pleased God more than any of the largest monetary gifts. The manner and motive not the money is the real way to give.
II. The Call of a Higher Duty
A. Something we have to consciously remind ourselves; being a Christian is not about finding a cheaper and better way to do things.
1. This is the general feeling around us – that everything can be improved enough to make it relatively painless and quick. If we approach our relationship to God this way it will not work.
2. Jesus preached over and over again about increasing our level of commitment and our willingness to sacrifice – Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” That is a drastic dedication.
*Being a Christian is the decision to live a life of sacrifice and struggle. There isn’t a short cut way or an upgrade or a premium plan where you can buy more coverage. The wealthy people at the temple could not buy God’s favor, the widow didn’t buy it either – it came to hear because she was willing to obey even when it hurt.
3. So when it comes to making a decision about how much we should give to the church is about how much we are willing to sacrifice.
*I have witnessed in my years of ministry people come to church and when they do not like a decision of the leadership or the minister, they decide to stop giving as a protest or decide to shift their giving to missions in order to inflict pain on the ministry of the church. That might be okay if it was a spiritual problem but I have seen it happen over things like the kind of music the church is using or the refusal to put a plaque on something or because they wanted things to go back to the way it has always been done. I have also witnessed people give to the church anonymously with no strings attached – to me those people are models of what it means to sacrifice. They present their gift and say “God I know you are in control of your church, I release this to you for whatever you want.” It is harder to do something like that because it means trusting not only God but the people who are in the leadership positions of the church. Giving sacrificially hurts to do and takes faith because it means letting go of control and believing that God can work through even unsure circumstances.
4. Only through this voluntary act of sacrifice do we grow any better. Think about In fact sacrifice is necessary to belong to Christ – as the offering for us
B. Over and over again the message from Jesus is the same – the best life consists of one where a person makes sacrifices in the present for greater rewards in the future.
*Listen to this verse closely. Luke 14:33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. That is a steep price and what we should ask ourselves is why Jesus wants this much? The reason is because each time we choose to sacrifice something happens to our heart.
Paul states what kind of life we are to live.
Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, bothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship
1. The power of sacrifice brings Obedience in the midst of desperation. Some of the widow’s friends and family would have called her wasteful and stupid for putting her last coins into the treasure, after all what business did she have giving when there was nothing else to live on? Choose a side – Going “All in.”
a. One of the hardest things to do is to obey God when there doesn’t seem like much practical reason to do so. Think about it; if the most depressing, lousy, hopeless circumstances do not deter you from being obedient, Satan loses his power over you. If you are willing to go on just because Jesus said to, then what will ever discourage you? Sacrifice is a key to being free from what scares people the most.
*And when it comes to giving to the church there might be a real sacrifice you will have to make in order to give a tithe – but you really want to because you know God has made some great promises about what happens when you do. Or it might seem like you just can’t find the time to spend with God in prayer or serve or read the Bible, and even if you do it doesn’t seem to make that much difference. The problem is not a matter of time, talent or treasure, it is a matter of whether or not doing for God is worth it even if it doesn’t always appear to be working right away. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. What God wants from us is to obey in both good and bad times, so that we will know that he is the Lord of all places and all times but particularly when things are very bad. God tells us so but we really only believe it when we go through it ourselves.
2. The power of sacrifice means the Amounts do not matter. Jesus viewed the amount of sacrifice greater than the amount given when watching the temple treasuries. The reason is because sacrifice is a personal choice – a personal decision between the individual person and God. We can speak about percentages and plans and giving generously – those are guidelines but really only we and God know how much of a sacrifice we make for him. It is about letting go of what we value – be it money or time or family or job or control – to give them up for Jesus is the key not the amount. He is more concerned that our hearts are committed and given to him than our incomes.
Hebrews 13:15-16 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Now you can’t see if God’s face is smiling when you sacrifice your time, treasure or talents – but the small sacrifice was pointed out and praised by Jesus – he will still do that today with our gifts to his Heavenly Father. LOOK! LOOK WHAT MY BROTHER DID! THAT WAS FANTASTIC!
3. The Power of sacrifice is that it Lasts a long time.
When little Elena was diagnosed with the rare and terminal form of pediatric brain cancer in 2006, her parents were told she had just 135 days to live. The distraught couple vowed to make each moment special for Elena and her sister Gracie, then four.
'We wanted to protect her so we never told her she might not make it,' said Mr Desserich.
'We didn't want to focus on the cancer, we wanted to focus on being a family and doing all the things that Elena wanted to do.'
Mr and Mrs Desserich were worried Gracie might grow up and not remember Elena, so they began to write a journal about their kind little girl who loved books and art.
She was a wonderful little girl,' said Mr Desserich. 'She loved books, they were her passion. She said she wanted to grow up to be a teacher and a mother.
'She loved to nurture people and she was always so bright.'
While the Desserichs were forming their own tribute, Elena was secretly writing notes and tucking them away in nooks and crannies in her house and the houses of relatives.
'She was a child who was wise beyond her years,' said Mr Desserich. 'I hate to think she knew she was dying but I think she did.'
'I think the notes were her way of telling us that everything would be OK,' added Mrs Desserich. 'It feels like a hug from her every time we find one.'
Despite a month of radiation therapy, Elena's condition deteriorated rapidly. She lost the ability to speak and gradually became paralyzed.
But the brave child would not be silenced. She continued to hide the love notes and drawings for her mother, father, sister, grandparents and her favorite dog Sally, who belonged to her auntie.
Some read simply 'I love you' or have pictures of hearts and flowers.
Many are addressed for Gracie and one reads 'I love you Gracie, Go Go.'
'We don't ever want to find the last note,' said Mr Desserich. 'I hope we keep on finding them for years to come.'
In fact, both parents have saved one unopened note from Elena which they carry with them in their briefcases.
'It's our way of saving the last note,' said Mrs Desserich.
Sacrifice goes way beyond our life – it is the lifeline some people need long after we are gone. If we don’t leave it then they lose it. When we sacrifice we mimic the great sacrifice Jesus made for us.
The Bible was a letter left which speaks of someone dying for us – letting his life be rough and deprived and oppressed and hurt and then spiritually punished for the sins of all of us. Jesus volunteered to be destroyed so that none of us would have to. And you know what the last note he left us says? I imagine it this way.
“You have heard and seen that death is the end. It is not. I have been there. Hold on and don’t give up. I gave myself to make a way for you to live forever. I have arraigned it all. Don’t worry about your stuff, you won’t need it – just get here. And if you want you can bring a friend.” Hey you wanna go? If so then time to give up yourself for a new life. Take the dangerous plunge of sacrifice and life filled with it. But let’s let Jesus speak his own final note.
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
