The couple I have in mind are here every Sunday at the 11 AM worship experience. The only time they miss is when they are out of town. Then, every week, they sneak into the building and make their way to the Food 2 Go room to stock the shelves and take inventory. In spite of their faithfulness, they are not known by many people. It is not because they do not have warm personalities, but simply because they have the personality type that is quite content not being noticed. However, I cannot help but notice them because yesterday they taught me a lesson on a theme of Lent I would just as soon forget. Yet Jesus make sit clear that this lesson is par for the course in following him. The couple taught me a lesson on sacrifice.
Jesus said, "If any one would come after me he/she must deny him/herself and take up his/her cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his/her life will lose it, but whoever loses his/her life for me will find it" (Matthew 16:24 & 25). Let's be honest...we want to follow Jesus, but we don't want to make the sacrifice. But Jesus is honest when he says that no following of Him happens without sacrifice.
To follow Jesus means we will let him show us what of ourselves must be set aside. What of you is Jesus asking you to deny? I don't know about you but regularly, Jesus is showing me that I need to deny myself of my comfort zone, convenience, my time, my money, my personal preferences, my right to be angry, my permission to be negative (I can be really good at that)...the point is, to follow Jesus means sacrifice--small or big. Of course, verse 25 reminds us to keep the sacrifice in context of the promise. Those who loose for him...well, they don't loose...they gain...they gain more than all they could have ever held onto in this life time or the next. Those who lose for Jesus gain life...life to the full now and forever!
That takes me back to the couple in our church family. You see the wife has one kidney that has stopped functioning and another that is failing. She has a portion of her brain that has stopped working and the doctors cannot explain why, but it does explain why her neck involuntarily and painfully turns to the left. She talked about how challenging that makes it for her to read the Bible every morning. On top of that her blood count is off which has the doctors concerned of other, to this point, undiagnosed illnesses. And as if that is not enough, she has severe chronic pain caused by inflammation of her joints. Because of her kidney condition the only over the counter relief she can take is Tylenol. All the while, her husband watches her go through this every day, stands by her side, supports her, encourages her and yet carries the burden of not being able to fix this for her.
And what are they doing? They are gathering with other believers for worship every Sunday? Do you think she feels like being here very Sunday? Don't you think it would be easier for both of them to stay at home? Would anyone blame them? I wouldn't. Believe me, I know plenty of other folks that consider corporate worship an option they can only choose if all the planets in the universe are in perfect alignment. So, why is this couple with legitimate excuse here to worship with other believers every Sunday? The Bible calls it a "sacrifice of praise" in Hebrews 13:15. It is sacrifice that the Bible says God honors in delight. God forgive us for being tempted to make our time of set aside worship together as something that is only important if it is convenient and if it serves our preferences and needs. A sacrifice of praise is beautiful to heaven.
But this couple does not just make a sacrifice of praise on Sunday, they live out the rest of the verse. Hebrews 13:15-16 reads, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."
This couple could very easily say, "Well, we made it to worship on Sunday. There... we did our part. God understands our physical problems. We'll let the healthy serve others." We might think that for them or for ourselves, but they do not think that. You see, they understand that to follow Jesus involves sacrifice. And the sacrifice that makes God smile is when we "do good and share with others." Every week, they make their way to the Food 2 Go room to do good and share with children who would otherwise go hungry on the weekends in our community. Not only to do they do what God has called them to do to help hungry children, but they do it with a smile and an attitude of joy.
So, I want to thank James and Diane Van Nest and all of you who week after week make a sacrifice of praise as you gather for corporate worship on Sunday and then make what you do on Sunday matter by making a sacrifice of doing good and sharing with others. I hope you never forget the words of Jesus, which are his promise to you as you deny yourself: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Sacrifice will only cost you, but when done for the sake of Christ, it will always gain you a life worth living! Thank you for your sacrifices of time, talent and treasure!
By the way, wouldn't it be great if we showered James and Diane with cards of encouragements this week? Whether you know them or not, why not send them a card? Their address is:
Van Nest
658 Loxwood
Centerville, OH 45458
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