We recently celebrated Memorial Day. Memorial Day in America commemorates military soldiers who gave their lives in defence of American freedom. Few people would argue the point that self-sacrifice is the most noble act one could commit. The Bible itself and the salvation message confirms this. At the centre of Christian teaching about redemption is Jesus who gave up his life. Some of the better-known Bible verses that speak to this point are:
- Romans 5:8: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
- John 3:16–18: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
- John 15:12–3: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
The question is, why is self-sacrifice so noble? And, if self-sacrifice is so noble, why do so few do it?
The reason that self-sacrifice is so noble is because it goes against the grain of human nature by putting the interest of others before our own. All living beings are compelled by self-preservation. It’s what makes us tick. It is hardwired in us to survive—to live at all costs. We are self-focused. Our point of reference for everything is me.
Self-sacrifice breaks the rules of nature (which, by definition, is a miracle). Someone who sacrifices his or her self is able to step outside of the modusoperandiof the human psyche. These operate on a superior moral plane by consciously rejecting what nature dictates by counting others more important and more valuable then oneself.
This is easy to do for those we love. It’s quite natural to self-sacrifice for family members and possibly even good friends. But what about strangers? What about enemies? Isn’t it interesting that American soldiers who died to preserve American freedom died for their political and ideological enemies? Not many would be willing to do that. Would you be willing to do that?
In a way too, sacrifice is the only way to bargain with the future. It is the ultimate way to demonstrate that human beings are not subject to fate or destiny. As humans, we can choose to make a sacrifice that ensures that the future would be better than a good of the present. For example, we save money for our kids’ college education. We could choose to spend this money on ourselves nowand have a more comfortable life and a higher standard of living. However, the future will be better for our kids if we sacrifice today’s comforts for their education.
The obvious example the week of Memorial Day is a soldier giving his or her life for the freedom of others. To put one’s life on the line is negotiating for a better future for fellow citizens. Today’s loss translates into a better tomorrow for others.Put another way, sacrificing oneself means taking the present and future burden of others into oneself so as to alleviate that burden.
Are you willing to make sacrifices for others? How else can we soak up the evil in the world other than absorbing it into ourselves in the form of self-sacrifice? Do you have that kind of courage?
This is what Jesus did, and it’s what all Christians are called to do.
