Sacrifice, Car Rides, and the Cross

This is Passion Week, which literally means the week of suffering. This is something we often forget as Christians. That to follow Christ means following him to the cross. That’s the hard part of following Christ. That it involves sacrifice and doing the “right thing” which is often a very hard thing to do.

Late Sunday night I was driving Hudson home from some amazing friends of ours. And it was just Hudson and I. As we were driving home well past his bedtime Hudson wanted to talk. So he asked, “Where’s Mommy?” I said, “she was with your aunt”.  He then asked, “Where’s daddy” And I said, “I’m right here with you.”  And he asked me the favorite kid question, “why?” I answered “because that’s where mommy’s and daddy’s belong right with you.” And then I promised him, “that’s where we will always be, right with you,  mommy and daddy will love you no  matter what.”

But isn’t that exactly the point of Passion Week? Promises like that are easy to say but hard to live out. Promises like that require sacrifice, but it is those promises that matter and give life. It’s promises like that that led Jesus to the cross, by him promising to be with us all the way no matter what. He was so “with us” that he took our sin, shame, and death for us. His being with us required sacrifice.

That’s the hard part of doing the right thing: it always requires sacrifice.

If I am going to be true to my promise to Hudson it will require sacrifice. It’s easy to walk with him, support him, and care for him now. But keeping that promise will be more difficult as he gets older.

But the point for us during this Passion Week is that some things are worth sacrificing for. Some people are worth sacrificing for. In fact, God shows us that all people are worth sacrificing for. That’s the story of Easter. That sacrifices may not be easy, but they are worthwhile. And God’s made one for you, because you matter to him.

So if we are following him, how can you follow his example? Who can you sacrifice yourself for because they matter?

Because while sacrifice isn’t often easy to do, it is the right thing to do…