The Cross Is Not Mere Sacrifice

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.  (Hosea 6:6, NIV)

I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6, NLT) 

The Hebrew word for "mercy" in the NIV is chesedh, which is translated as both love and mercy.  The older translation from the King James of "lovingkindness" may capture most of the word's meaning.  In a more story-form, it is the quality of kindness that is usually reserved for close friends and family members.  "A person exercising chesadh has chosen to treat the recipient as if such a relationship did exist," whether it does or not.

To further explain this term, Hosea places it parallel to "knowing God."  Knowledge of God is nearly always understood in the Bible as an interactive or conversational relationship.  It is not merely knowing about God, but actually knowing him in a personal way.  So, when God desires lovingkindness, it is not so much as an act done to others around me, but as a quality that I live in.  God is saying he wants my love more than my "sacrifices."  He wants to know me and not just receive homage from me.

In the Old Testament, sacrifices demonstrated the love and faithfulness of Israel to God.  Hosea is pointing out a disease that had spread among the people of Israel.  They were giving sacrifices without lovingkindness.  They brought their offerings without seeking to know the God they brought them to.  Their hypocrisy became plain in how they dealt with each other, showing that God's mercy and the awareness of him did not salt their attitudes toward each other.  Hosea was saying that such sacrifices were worthless and that God had no use for them outside the context of this tender love and eager conversation he longed to have with his people.

The cross of Christ stands as the final sacrifice for all people, but it must be clear that God does not desire sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice.  What underlies the sacrifice of Jesus is this lovingkindness and this passion to know God.  Jesus' loving and willing obedience to the Father is what gives the cross its ultimate significance, not his painful, morbid death.  Without such love on Jesus' part, his death is a mere tragedy - actually pathetic.

Jesus embodiment of God's lovingkindness and his awareness of the Father's presence moved him to the cross as atonement.  Jesus death by itself does not rescue me from death - separation from God - any more than the sacrifices of the Israelites in themselves brought them closer to God.  No, Jesus himself is my atonement, my covering.  His sacrifice is the most significant proof and outcome of that great love he has from the Father for me, but in itself that death means nothing apart from the life of Jesus with me.  His continuing relationship is what atones or "covers" me, not just something he did.

When I apply "I desire mercy, not sacrifice" to the cross, I find myself drawn to he heart of Jesus.  I find that God's desire is for my heart to be the same as Jesus' more than for me to suffer for him.  That is why following Jesus in Jesus' own words is "Take up your cross and follow me" rather than "Believe in my cross and you will be saved."  The response that God wants from me when I see the cross is not merely "What a wonderful thing Jesus did!"  or "What a good example Jesus gave!"  The response that God wants is "God is love.  I want to know Jesus and his Father.  I will give up this life I try to lead on my own to the cross and enter into life with him today!"  If my understanding of the cross does not naturally move me to an interactive, conversational relationship with God, then I do not understand the cross of Christ.

Lord, let your lovingkindness saturate my life.  Let this desire to know you through Jesus guide me.  Deliver me from mere sacrifices into the joy of giving up everything to you in trust and dependence.  Let the cross be to me a landmark of your great love and my increasing desire to obey you out of trust.  Apart from your daily relating to me - walking and talking with me as your own - I will not make it.  Be not far from me, Father.  Amen.

Hope in the Kingdom of God: The Gospel

Who hopes for what he already has?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. . . .  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  (Romans 8:24b, 25, 26b)

This then is how you should pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. . . .  (Matthew 6:9)

The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.  (Romans 14:17)

Hope and prayer are tied together.  As Paul writes, "Who hopes for what he already has?"  It is no accident that his next section deals with prayer: "We do not know what we ought to pray for."  The prayer of faith springs from the hope that delivers me:  "That faith and hope that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel."  (Colossians 1:5)

Without hope, faith has no basis.  "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  (Hebrews 11:1, KJV)  As an idea gives birth to an invention or a feeling sprouts into a desire, faith stands on hope.  Hope waits for and eagerly anticipates what is not yet seen.  It is not wishing, but joyful anticipation of what is yet to come.  Faith naturally springs from hope as its consequence in the present.  What is truly hoped for is trusted in.

One of the truest expressions of faith in God is prayer.  It acknowledges trust.  If I do not trust, I do not pray.  Prayer without trust, without faith, is just religious babble.  "And do not keep on babbling as the pagans do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him."  (Matthew 6:7-8)  How does God know this?  It is not so much because he his omniscient, but because he loves each person so deeply that he knows them so well.  This is the prayer of faith: knowing the God who knows me as a dearly loved child.

Such prayer also springs from hope.  If I do not hope, I do not pray.  Prayer without hope is just fatalism.  It takes the words "Your will be done" in the wrong way.  Instead of joyfully anticipating the work and will of God in this present age, hopeless prayer anticipates abandonment instead of deliverance, predictable outcome instead of joyful surprise, keeping the trinkets of this world rather than acquiring the treasures of God's kingdom, turning away quickly in disappointment rather than waiting patiently for the wonders of God.

Hopeless prayer is like a king's servant who was commanded, "Put this money to work," but on the return of the king says, "I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man.  You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow."  The conclusion of the king: "I will judge you by your own words.  To everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away."  (Luke 19:11-26)  Hopeless prayer receives little and even that little is lost.

So my prayers express my faith and my faith is the substance of what I hope for.  Jesus focuses my hope on the kingdom of God in his model prayer.  His kingdom is not a matter of external matters like food, drink, or mere religious practices, but of living with and in his Spirit who "intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will," in accordance with God's kingdom.  I think that the Lord's prayer is an expression of what I am to hope for.

The good news according to Jesus is this: "the kingdom of God is near."  This is not opposed to other expressions of hope, but stands in concert with them.  Another famous passage of the good news is 1 Corinthians 15:3-7, which can be summarized, "Christ died for our sins.  Christ raised.  Christ appeared."  The King is near as is his kingdom.  He redeems each person from his slavery to sin, defeats all sin and evil through his resurrection, and appears to each person to invite them into his kingdom.

Lord, I have often neglected the hope you have given.  I have wondered about where my faith goes in trials and temptations.  I see now that it goes where my hope lies.  I find myself like a lot of people: without hope.  I see that is also without God.  Please deepen my hope, so I can eagerly await what I do not see.  Amen.

Faith is opposed to sight.  Hope that is seen is no hope at all.  This means not that I need to live in complete ignorance.  Faith is not opposed to knowledge, nor is hope without knowledge, since it lives in those "who have the firstfruits of the Spirit."  No, faith and hope are opposed to sight because what is seen is temporary and passing away.  What is seen holds no hope since it will leave me empty.  It is the God who is unseen that I hope in and his kingdom that rules over all and yet remains holy and hidden in these days.

How Sheep, Snakes, and Doves Share Their Faith

 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.  (Matthew 10:16)

Jesus speaks these enigmatic words after he has been telling his disciples how to share the good news of the kingdom of God.  The warning is well taken and fairly obvious.  Sheep among wolves need to watchful and careful, but perhaps also vulnerable and dependent.  Jesus is not throwing me to the wolves, but pointing out that rather than being fierce and ravenous in my dealings with others, I should be dependent on God and self-sacrificing for others.

What is the wisdom of a snake?  Snakes don't chase things.  "The wisdom of the serpent is to wait until someone comes to them," says Dallas Willard.  The wisdom of the snake is in its timing.  Developing this sort of wisdom only comes with prayer, awareness, patience, and practice.  In reaching out to people with good news or even good deeds, timing is everything.  Sometimes I hear about that wisdom in terms like "divine appointments" or "a God thing."  I know I have to be careful not to try to manufacture such timing.  I end up being like Moses who tried to free his people by killing an Egyptian overseer rather than waiting on God's deliverance.  Win a battle, lose a war.

What is the innocence of a dove?  A dove is harmless.  It does not deserve indictment because it does not do anything.  (Although Dawn, my wife, does not think they are so harmless because their constant "cooing" drives her crazy. . . especially in the morning.)  When a dove comes, it comes with gentleness and harmlessness.  Sharing needs to be this way.  Instead of pushing, there is invitation.  Instead of accusing, their is sympathy and empathy.  Instead of demands, there are promises.

Because I fear people, I find that I reverse the confuse the roles of these creatures in sharing my faith in word or deed.  I find that I become as flighty and fearful as a dove.  Afraid of rejection or abuse, I run from opportunities to share and care.  I find that I am as venomous as a snake.  Afraid of rejection or abuse, I make my words sting so that I can safely say I shared, but they just didn't accept God's invitation.  They run and I feel I'm "off the hook."

Lord, what if I waited for people to come to me?  I sometimes feel it would never happen.  Forgive me for my inattention.  What if I did not make my words "bite?"  I sometimes feel I would never be listened to.  Forgive me for my lack of trust in you and your word.  Show me how to wait with anticipation and share without demand.  That is how you treat me so often, Father.  Thank you.  Amen.