The Virtue of Sacrifice

Throughout history, sacrifice has been an integral part of religion. All peoples have recognized the personal need for sacrifice, whether from a realization of our own human limitation and corruption, or purely out of a desire to strengthen one's mind so as to live a more holy life, or both. The liturgies of various religions in history evidence this appreciation of sacrifice. This understanding was brought into fullness in Christianity, through the sacrifice of Jesus. He not only fulfilled the sacrifices of the law of the Jews, but He brought the very understanding of sacrifice into clarity and purity. But, as with many teachings and practices God ordains, His wisdom often seems like foolishness to men, or too difficult to live by. So, over time, the fear, sentimentality and confusion of human nature has gradually removed the element of sacrifice from Christianity, and from all religion.

Catholicism remains centered on sacrifice, though few of its members seem willing to admit it or follow it, but denominations of Christianity more and more dissimilar from Catholicism increasingly lack this sacrificial quality. The removal of celibacy, poverty and transubstantiation were the biggest steps in this process, and over time more things were taken away, until modern times when much of Christianity is little distinguishable from the debauchery and relativism so rampant in Western culture (and increasingly in Eastern culture).

Out of a desire for compassion and a good representation of God, it is easy to remove sacrifice from Christianity. Christians are often embarrassed of it, afraid to tell non-Christians that God asks them to "carry their cross and follow Me" (Luke 14:27). Or, they are simply unwilling to follow it themselves, believing a good God would only want to uplift and "empower" His followers, not ask sacrifice of them. But if we want a complete, true faith, we cannot ignore the centrality of sacrifice in the Bible and in Christian Tradition.

As faith seeks understanding, though, we must also ask: why is sacrifice so important to God? "These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at My word." (Isaiah 66:2 NIV) Above all, God desires us to be humble, contrite, "meek" (Matthew 5:5), compassionate, passive. Sacrifice is the highest method of gaining these virtues, and the highest expression of them. Sacrifice recognizes our frailty, our limitation, our propensity for sin, and thereby acknowledges our dependence on God and His supreme Divinity. This act of prayer and worship gives wisdom and is the origin and fabric of holiness. Through this act, we transform our human nature, which is normally fixated exclusively on material security and success, towards a focus on the spiritual. We fall in love with God as Father and King, from whom all good comes, praising Him for His glory. What is normally seen as good and evil becomes God's will and that which disagrees with God. Happiness is recognized as closeness to God and accordance with His will, and the certain hope of God's salvation is seen - all from sacrifice.

Without sacrifice, we remain within ourselves and within the material world. Without sacrifice, we even risk incorporating God into this selfishness and materialism, viewing Him as a machine to give us what we want and as a guardian who takes care of all consequences while we sin freely. God is Divine. He is our Lord; we are not His. And He is spiritual, above and beyond this world. Even the Resurrected Christ, fully man and God, perfected the material world and brought it into His sanctity. This was the purpose of Christ's Incarnation: to sanctify the world and bring it into His holiness, but how did He do this? How was life sanctified? Sacrifice. By offering it up to God, abandoning our obsession with it, life was raised to the holiness of God's standards. By sacrificing ourselves and lives, we raise them up in this way, "carrying our cross" as Christ did.

As sacrifice has been removed from religious life, it has also been removed and forgotten in daily life. Sacrifice is necessary for the increase of virtue in general, particularly for chastity, charity, mercy, prudence, modesty, virtues that have slowly been abandoned, replaced by lust, selfishness, greed and cruelty. This is not limited to modern times - since the Fall there has never been a time of perfect virtuosity. This weakness is apart of human nature, shared by all people. Only through sacrifice, through giving up our obsession with pleasure, comfort and possession, our selfishness, can we become the holy people God wishes us to be. Only then can we be truly happy and fulfilled.

I pray that a renewed appreciation of sacrifice and holiness can be learned, especially for Christians, the examples of holiness to all peoples. The uplifting effect of a rally-style liturgy is temporary and emotional. Only through sacrifice can we attain the true happiness of holiness with God.