The Prussian
Union
Back in
1817, King Frederick William III of Prussia became so frustrated that the
Lutherans and the Reformed churches could not come to an agreement on certain
points of Scripture that he decided to do something about it. And so in that year, 1817, the king put into
law what is called the “Prussian Union.”
This new government-mandated state church required that the differences
between the Lutherans and the Reformed had to be ignored and, in effect, the
teachings of Scripture would be watered down enough so that there was no longer
any division.
Many
people gave into this decree, compromising the true Word of God for the sake of
an outward unity. But a few faithful
Christians did not. A handful of
believers at that time who did not succumb to the pressures of the Prussian
Union became known as the “Old Lutherans.”
And because they were intent on keeping the Word of God in its truth and
purity at all costs, some of them sacrificed their freedom when they were
thrown in prison for refusing to agree to the king’s demand. Others of them sacrificed their friendships
and associations with those who held to the Prussian Union. And still others decided to move to Australia
and America in order to preserve the integrity of God’s Word in their
lives. Those who immigrated away from
Germany made the biggest sacrifices of all.
They sacrificed their extended families by leaving them behind. They sacrificed their jobs, their culture,
and their history. They were even
willing to put their own lives on the line by traveling across the Atlantic
Ocean in 1817 to a place they had never been before and hoping for a means of
income and a place to live that they didn’t yet know of. But keeping the Word of God was that
important to them. They knew that the Bible
says that we are not to compromise on any teaching of Scripture, that we are to
stay away from those who teach things contrary to his Word, and so those “Old
Lutherans” were willing to sacrifice even the basic necessities of this life in
order to follow that Word.
Abraham’s
Sacrifice
What
would you be willing to sacrifice to keep the words of God? I know that’s an unfair question: You haven’t
been put into that kind of situation and it’s hard to even give an answer about
what you might do unless you are actually there. But there are still plenty of different
situations in your life in which you have to sacrifice something in order to
keep follow God’s Word. For example: the
Lord tells you that you are to “diligently study the Scripture” (John 5:39). He tells you that you are supposed to show
unconditional love even to those who hate you.
He tells you that you are to be completely humble and forgiving
regardless of how badly you have been wronged.
What would you be willing to sacrifice to carry out these words of God? Would you be willing to sacrifice your time
just to keep a simple command of your Lord?
How about your reputation - would you be willing to sacrifice that? Your money?
Your personal time? Your
health? Your pride? Your friendships? Your happiness? In order to keep a single command of the Word
of your Lord would you be willing to sacrifice your own child?
I ask
this, of course, because we have before us today one of the most famous stories
in all of Scripture: The Testing of Abraham.
It is a story that almost all of us are familiar with, a story that we
have just read earlier this morning for our Old Testament lesson. It is a story of how Abraham was willing to
sacrifice his own son in order to keep the Word of God. And not just give his son up, of course, but
actually to take his son’s life! It was
that kind of “sacrifice!” The real kind of sacrifice! And Abraham was willing to follow through
with such an unthinkable act because that’s what his Lord commanded him to
do. “Abraham!”
God said to him. “Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and
go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of
the mountains I will tell you about.”
Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his
son Isaac.
There
was no doubt that Abraham loved his son.
He had been waiting for the birth of his son Isaac for decades after all! This was the only child he had had with his
wife Sarah; this child was supposed to carry on his name; this child was
supposed to produce descendants for Abraham that rivaled the grains of sand on
a seashore. His son Isaac was the most
precious thing to him on this earth. But
the Bible says that Abraham got up early
the very next morning and was willing to immediately sacrifice the only son
he had - the son he loved more than he loved himself - simply to keep the word
of the Lord.
A Similar
Sacrifice
Thankfully,
we’ll probably never be put into that kind of situation. It is highly unlikely that the Lord will test
us in that way, requiring us to physically sacrifice our child or the child of
another. But the Lord does expect the
same kind of love that Abraham displayed.
Listen to what Jesus says in the book of Matthew: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”
(10:37). The Lord demands the same
obedience and loyalty from you as he did from Abraham. He may never ask you to do what Abraham was
asked to do, but he certainly demands that you love him more than anything else
on this earth. He requires that you love
him with a love that is willing to sacrifice everything - even those you love
the most - to follow his Word, regardless of the sacrifices you must make to
keep it.
I was
driving home the other day after visiting someone and as I passed by a house
north-west of town there was a garbage can that was tipped over and the lid was
lying in the middle of the gravel road. And
I thought to myself that maybe I should stop and pick up the trashcan and put
the lid back on so that it doesn’t blow away or get run over by the another
vehicle. But then I convinced myself
that I was on a tight schedule and Seth was in the car with me and the wind
would probably just knock it over again anyway, and so I drove past without
stopping. I didn’t want to sacrifice the
little amount of time that it would have taken or the small amount of effort that
it would have required to help someone out in that simple way.
But that’s
the way our minds work, don’t they? We
know about those things that the Word of our Lord asks of us but sometimes we
simply just don’t want to sacrifice what it would take to carry those things
out. We know that we are supposed to
diligently study the Scriptures, but frankly that would require us to sacrifice
some precious time and a little bit of mental effort and we don’t exactly what
to give those things up some days! We
know that we are supposed to love and care for and bend over backwards to help
those around us - but that would require us to sacrifice some of our energy for
people who wouldn’t appreciate it anyway!
We know that we are supposed to have an attitude of humility and
forgiveness regardless of what a person has done to us, but that would require
us to sacrifice our pride and the “upper hand” we have over that person and our
selfish sense of victory. We just don’t
like to sacrifice things to carry out God’s Word. It’s easier to ignore God’s Word or pretend
we don’t know God’s Word or at least put off the commands of God’s Word until
there’s a time that is a little more convenient for us - maybe a time when we
don’t have to sacrifice so much to put those words of God into action… We aren’t anything like Abraham on most
days. The man who got up early the next
morning to keep the Lord’s command that would require him to sacrifice his own
son. Because no matter how much he loved
his son, he loved the Lord and his Word even more - despite what he had to
sacrifice.
The Father’s
Sacrifice of His Son
But
Abraham’s love, no matter how impressive it may be, is not the kind of love
that Scripture points to as our ultimate example… “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his
Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). So says the apostle John in his first
letter. The Father loved us so much that
he was willing to sacrifice his one and only Son. The Father was willing to sacrifice his
Son. Sound familiar? The Father actually sacrificed his Son for
us! Which means that, in a way, the
Father loved us more than he loved his Son, because he sacrificed him for
us! He gave up his Son to gain us! He disowned his Son to deliver us! He was willing to send the One he loved the
most to the grave so that he could save those who didn’t love him at all. That
is love. That is “sacrifice.” The
sacrifice of a Son is love. And not just
any son, but the Son of God. The Son who
has always been with the Father, the Son who is one with the Father, the Son who
is God with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
It was this Son whom the Father sacrificed for sinners. For sinners!
And the Father went through with this sacrifice because he said he
would. The words of God had been
spoken. And so no matter how painful it
was for the Lord to turn his back on the One he loved, he was not going to go
back on his Word. He was not going to
turn his back on us no matter what the cost.
During
these first five Sundays in this season of Lent, we are focusing on some Old
Testament stories that “hint” at Christ.
The story of Abraham is one of these stories. Now it’s not a prophecy about Christ; and
it’s not a foreshadow of Christ either.
Jesus is not mentioned in any way [with the exception of a reference in
v.18 after the body of the story] and the New Testament doesn’t quote this
story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac as referring to Christ either. But this famous event from the book of
Genesis is certainly similar to some of the events of Jesus’ life. Just as Abraham, Isaac’s father, was ready
and willing to sacrifice his son out of love for the Lord, so our heavenly
Father was ready and willing to sacrifice his Son out of love for us. And what a beautiful sacrifice it was: a
sacrifice of blood that washed us clean, a sacrifice of life that freed us from
death, a sacrifice of a Child to make us children of his own. It is the Father’s sacrifice of his Son that
secures for us eternity. And it is the
Father’s sacrifice of his Son that moves us to sacrifice everything for him on
this earth.
Our Sacrifices
through Faith
Lord
willing, we won’t ever be told by God himself to actually take the life of
someone we love in order to prove our love to him. Lord willing, we will never be put in a situation where our love for God is pitted
directly against the love we have for a family member. Lord willing, we won’t even find ourselves in
a situation like those Christians were back in 1817 during the Prussian Union -
Christians who were forced to sacrifice their country and their livelihoods and
their safety simply to keep the a command of the Lord. But we are given opportunities to sacrifice our
time and efforts, our wealth and wants every day for the Lord. We are put in situations where we are able to
give things up in order to keep God’s Word.
But is it worth it? Is it worth
sacrificing our time, our effort, our wealth, and our wants for the sake of the
Word of our God? Is it worth sacrificing
what we’d like to do for what God would like us to do? Is it worth sacrificing what we have and what
we are comfortable with to simply thank our God and praise our God and worship
our God? Is it worth it? It’s not worth it to gain salvation because
our God has already given that to us free of charge. And it’s not worth it to win God’s favor
because he already loves us more than we can imagine. But it is worth the sacrifice to show him our
genuine appreciation and our undying gratitude.
Is it worth it? Well, consider
this: the Father thought it was worth sacrificing his only Son for you. The
Father actually sacrificed his Son for you.
Amen.
“This is love: not
that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins.” - 1 John 4:10
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