A couple of weeks ago, I was visiting someone in the hospital, and the topic of sacrifice came up. The patient asked me to define the essence of sacrifice for her. Because I was distracted by the hustle and bustle of the hospital ward, I did not give her a direct answer, but I did give her an indirect answer. “Sacrifice means different things to different peoples and cultures,” I said, “but the essence of sacrifice is displayed for us most clearly on the cross of Christ.”
The patient did not ask me to elaborate, but if she had, I would have opened up for her the Epistle to the Hebrews, which teaches us that Christ offered a perfect sacrifice to God the Father and that we also are called to participate in that sacrifice. In this Magisreflection I would like to single out one dimension of our participation in Christ’s sacrifice. “Through Jesus, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Heb 13:15). The next verse immediately adds a caveat “do not neglect to do good and to share what you have,” lest we deceive ourselves with hollow worship. Now, it is true that we are all sinners, nevertheless, our worship is not hollow, because it is done “through Jesus,” the righteous one, God’s beloved Son with whom the Father is well pleased.
The point being made is that confessing the name of Jesus, and praising God for his goodness, without neglecting the love of our neighbor, is a sacrifice, and “God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind” (Heb 13:16). It is not always easy to carve out time for prayer, but because it pleases God, prayer is a sacrifice worth making.