When Praise Becomes a Sacrifice
Hebrews 13:15-16
Hebrews 13:15-16
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-- the fruit of lips that confess his name.
16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
(NIV)
A guy walked into a pet shop, and he said, “I’d like a Christian parakeet.”
The other guy said, “What do you mean, you’d like a Christian parakeet?”
“Well, the last parakeet I had cussed and swore, and I had to kill it.”
The guy says, “Well, we don’t have a Christian parakeet, but we have one that’s never said a word. Would you be interested in that one?”
The guy says, “Yeah, but if it swears, I’ll pull all his feathers off.”
They guy says, “Well, he doesn’t speak.”
He brought the parakeet home. The parakeet was with him for two years and didn’t say anything. Then one day he was feeding the parakeet and accidentally dumped water all over it. His parakeet let flow a line of blue, horrible language—questioning the heritage of this man’s background, talking about his mother, terrible things this parakeet said.
The guy reached in the cage and grabbed it by the neck. It was all wet, the little parakeet. He opened the freezer and said, “Now, you will not speak like that in this house, and you’re staying in here until you can decide you won’t.” He threw him into the freezer, and he shut the door.
An hour later he came back and opened the door. There were little icicles hanging off the parakeet. He was still sitting on the shelf where he had landed, shivering imperceptibly. The guy said, “I am sick of cursing. It will not happen in my house. You will not say bad words of any kind. Do you promise?”
The parakeet said, “I promise.”
He said, “I’m not going to let you out. I’ll let you freeze to death unless you promise never to say another bad word.”
The parakeet said, “I promise. But could you please tell me one thing?”
The guy said, “What? What do you want to know?”
The parakeet looked down and said, “What did that turkey say?”
Shouldn’t praise be an easy thing for us to do? Shouldn’t thanksgiving be natural? Times when it is hard to praise: When you are hurting. Or when you are afraid. Or when you have to do without? Or when bad things happen? How can we praise God then? The scripture says,
“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1Thessalonians 5:16-18 KJV)
Do you ever find it difficult to give thanks?
While Corrie ten Boom was living in a German concentration camp, her entire body became infested with lice, making a bad situation worse. She was complaining about it one day, and her sister reminded her of the Bible verse that says, "In everything give thanks," and she challenged Corrie to give thanks for the lice. Corrie’s response was, "How can I give thanks to God for lice?" But she made a choice to offer thanks for the lice anyway. Later, she found out that the lice had actually protected her from the assaults of the German soldiers.
If you had been a Pilgrim, would you have given thanks?
Consider what they had been through, the men and women who broke bread together on that first Thanksgiving in 1621.
They had uprooted themselves and sailed for America, an endeavor so hazardous that published guides advised travelers to the New World, "First, make thy will." The crossing was very rough and the Mayflower was blown off course. Instead of reaching Virginia, where Englishmen had settled 13 years earlier, the Pilgrims ended up in the wilds of Massachusetts. By the time they found a place to make their new home - Plymouth, they called it - winter had set in.
The storms were frightful. Shelter was rudimentary. There was little food. Within weeks, nearly all the settlers were sick.
"That which was most sad and lamentable," Governor William Bradford later recalled, "was that in two or three months’ time, half of their company died, especially in January and February, being the depth of winter, and wanting houses and other comforts; being infected with the scurvy and other diseases.... There died sometimes two or three of a day."
When spring came, Indians showed them how to plant corn, but their first crops were dismal. Supplies ran out, but their sponsors in London refused to send more. The first time the Pilgrims sent a shipment of goods to England, it was stolen by pirates.
If you had been there in 1621 - if you had seen half your friends die, if you had suffered through famine, malnutrition, and sickness, if you had endured a year of heartbreak and tragedy - would you have felt grateful?
When should a sacrifice of Praise be given?
Psalm 107:19-22
19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
20 He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.
(NIV)
A) When God delivers you from trouble (vs. 19)
B) When God heals you (vs. 20)
C) When God rescues you from death (vs. 20)
The Thanksgiving sacrifice is classified as a fellowship offering. This was the type of offering you gave because you were in fellowship with the Lord.
Lev 7:11-15
11 "’These are the regulations for the fellowship offering a person may present to the LORD:
12 "’If he offers it as an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering he is to offer cakes of bread made without yeast and mixed with oil, wafers made without yeast and spread with oil, and cakes of fine flour well-kneaded and mixed with oil.
13 Along with his fellowship offering of thanksgiving he is to present an offering with cakes of bread made with yeast.
14 He is to bring one of each kind as an offering, a contribution to the LORD; it belongs to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the fellowship offerings.
15 The meat of his fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; he must leave none of it till morning.
(NIV)
Thank offerings had to include meal offerings and meat offerings:
1) cakes of bread made without yeast and mixed with oil
2) wafers made without yeast and spread with oil
3) cakes of fine flour well-kneaded and mixed with oil
4) cakes of bread made with yeast
Thank offerings were offered as wave and heave offerings.
The heave offering:
Lev 7:13-15
13 Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.
14 And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for a heave offering unto the LORD, and it shall be the priest’s that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings.
15 And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.
(KJV)
The wave offering:
Lev 7:30
30 With his own hands he is to bring the offering made to the LORD by fire; he is to bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast before the LORD as a wave offering.
(NIV)
Thanksgiving became sacrificial to the Isrealite because it would cost him something to praise God. Usually, because you were so grateful, you gave more than what was required.
2 Sam 24:24
“… I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." (NIV)
Offering God a sacrifice of praise, praising Him when you don’t feel like it, will always cost you something! But remember, you cannot outgive God!
Malachi 3:10-12
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
The wonderful blessing for those who gave their thank offering in Biblical times was that the offering of Thanksgiving was the only offering which was given back to the giver! And it had to be completely consumed before you went to bed!
Leviticus 7:15 “The meat of his fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; he must leave none of it till morning.”(NIV)
Lev 22:29-30
29 "When you sacrifice a thank offering to the LORD, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf.
30 It must be eaten that same day; leave none of it till morning. I am the LORD.
(NIV)
How can you do this? You call everyone you know and invite them to the feast of Thanksgiving! Break out every dish in the cabinet and every glass in the cupboard! Beg anyone and everyone to come because God has blessed you!
Giving thanks to God is costly, but the returned blessing is more than you could imagine!
There was a man in England during the 1900’s who also saw the power of Jesus to feed a group of people. The man was George Muller and he founded several orphanages which cared for as many as 2,000 children. One night Muller was informed that the supply of food was gone at one of the houses. The next morning he joined the children at breakfast. There was a bowl, and plate and glass in front of each of the several hundred children, but all were empty.
Mr. Muller asked the children to bow their heads as he prayed. His words included "Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat."
After he ended the prayer there was a knock at the door. A baker was standing there who said, "I couldn’t sleep last night. I felt you didn’t have any bread and the Lord wanted me to send you some, so I got up at 2:00 this morning and baked some fresh bread for you."
George Muller not only thanked the baker, but also said a prayer of thanksgiving to God.
Within a few minutes there was a second knock at the door. There was a milkman standing at the door. He explained that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the home. The milk had to be unloaded and he wanted to give it to the home for the children. "Could you take it?’’ he asked.
Andrew knew that Jesus could do something very special with the limited resources of bread and fish. George Muller knew that if he would turn over to the Lord the problem of the hungry orphans, the Lord would provide. There is a lesson in this for us. When we turn over to the Lord the resources he has given us, he will use those resources to further his kingdom in ways that we cannot understand.
Hebrews 13:15-16
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-- the fruit of lips that confess his name.
16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
(NIV)
