Sacred Sacrifice—or Who Owns What?

Renounce all your possessions...or you cannot be my disciple. Hard words to hear this Sunday from our Lord and Savior. Does Jesus want us to be “poor” in possessions? Does He not want our talents and gifts to produce luxuries—or even essentials of living in the modern world? Does He want ME to give up my things? Why would God have created a world replete with so many pleasures, so many good things, if He does not want me to enjoy them in this life? How can I live without my Keurig? Let’s slow down and really consider what the Lord is saying and how it is meant to impact “my” life in the modern world.

Perhaps it is less about ownership and more about priorities and, yes, usage.

Here’s a simple question to ask ourselves about the things we hold on to in this life: Am I defined by the auto I drive, the club I hold membership in, the art-work with which I surround myself? Who am I?

First, the idea of “giving up” something is so contrary to the Western [and very modern] world. Sure, we sacrifice for our spouses and for our children—our families—but we have to look very closely at the word “sacrifice” and the way in which we go about it.

At the root of the word “sacrifice” is the word “sacred,” and so to sacrifice means to make something sacred for God. In asking us to give up our possessions so that we may follow Him and be His disciple, Christ is speaking less about “having things” and more about those things “having us,” that is—becoming defined by what we own, who we are, or where we live—the things that cause status in life—that make us—at least in the sense of modern society.

Christ is also speaking to the idea of “right relationships” — with things, with people, and most assuredly with God. And in establishing a right relation-ship with things, people or with God, one has to have a sense of priority. We have to consider all things as not being equal, but rather that certain things are paramount. We must begin this thought process with God, recognizing that He—the Creator of all things—is the most important thing in this life and in the next. Certainly our families and friends are important and it is in those relationships where we see and find God present and then through love and compassion minister to God by meeting the needs and concerns of others.

In viewing things this way we learn to truly sacrifice in the sense of making things—our children and spouses, our family, friends and communities— sacred to God. We come to understand Jesus’ meaning about sacrifice or giving up our possessions so that we can follow Him. If we fail to develop right relation-ships then things—even people—become “ours” as in ownership...and then that kind of possessing tends to manifest itself in the form of our identity—like the car or the jewelry or country club or artwork—which can define us.

It is in right relationship that we give to God that which is due Him, and we give to each other that which is also due. It is about love and respect, it is about compassion and hope. It is about priorities—and not so much about the emeralds or the gold—the possessions—but rather more about the possessing.