Sacrifice Powers Faith

𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝟏𝟔:𝟏-𝟏𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟎:𝟏𝐛-𝟑, 𝟓 “𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐣𝐨𝐲.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟓:𝟏𝟖-𝟐𝟏

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟗) 

We all know that faith doesn’t grow on trees. It grows when you act upon it. But just like a tree that springs forth from a seed, faith needs to be nurtured, watered, pruned, and cared for with TLC to help you fight the good fight and finish the race. (2Tim 4:7)

When Jesus told his disciples “𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝” (𝐯.𝟏𝟗) he was preparing them for their destination which is a place in the presence of God in heaven. But Jesus was also telling his disciples that to get to that eternal destination, they will face persecution not only because of their faith but because they chose to be different from the world they were in.

            Similarly, Jesus could be addressing these same words to us especially those who have decided to be a disciple of Christ because the world has become so perverted that it has come to a point that it hates what is good.

            And this culture of hate for something that is out of synch with the ways of the world is not new and we should not be surprised if people will sneer at us because we chose to differ from the ordinary practice of the Christian faith.

            In fact, this same situation has not changed since the early years of Christianity and we see this in a spiritual manuscript as early as 32 A.D. when a philosopher wrote: “Our time suffers from religious decay. The permanent vitality of religion is gone. People have become superstitious, credulous or indifferent to religion. The elite of society are agnostic or skeptical. The political leaders are hypocrites and corrupt. The youth are in open conflict with established society and with the authority of the past. Mankind is affected by the decay of the times.”

            This only shows that the problems that we as Christians face today have remained the same since time immemorial. We may not be able to change this situation in our lifetime, but it is good to start somewhere.

            Jesus knew what will befall his disciples which is why he never fell short in reminding his disciples of what they are up against and through the Scriptures, Jesus is also reminding us that we must “𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬. 𝐎𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬… 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝.” (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟎:𝟏𝟕-𝟏𝟖, 𝟐𝟐) In truth, the world hates people whose lives bring to light the perverse society we live in.

Some years back they only talked about aborting a child in the womb and some countries even legalized it and went as far as subsidizing the cost of abortion and Christians who raised their voices in protest were persecuted.

            Now, we see persons of the same gender being allowed to marry and there is a danger this could sweep even the largest Christian nation in the world especially now that our current government hasn’t shown any evidence of its religious beliefs and foundation.  

I wonder what kind of Bible Barack Obama has in his hands because nowhere in the Scriptures does it say man and man or woman and woman can be united and become one flesh. It was during Obama’s time that same-sex marriage flourished in the US.

            What Jesus said in Mark 10:6-8 in reference to Gen 2:24 was very explicit in that “𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡.” And nowhere was there any reference in the Scriptures that persons of the same gender can get married.

            There will come a point when we Christians will have to take a stand and there is a possibility we will be persecuted and we can only take comfort and consolation that the world rejected Christ first and we can expect the same treatment as what Christ suffered especially if our ways do not conform to the pattern of the world around us.

            Today the world we live in a world in which hedonism, individualism and relativism have become an acceptable norm such as what we have seen in the way public funds have been misappropriated to enrich our corrupt government officials.

And we Christians merely stand on the sidelines or sit idly by while we witness the moral fiber of the family and society break into loose strands of incompatible behavioral patterns.

            But do we have any choice? I don’t think we have because as John the Evangelist wrote in this Gospel passage today, we are either of this world or of Christ and there is nothing in-between. We are either in and for Christ or against him. It is a choice between the kingdom of light or the kingdom of darkness.

            If we want to live in the light of God's truth, we must draw on the power of the Holy Spirit to help us distinguish good from evil. If we truly love God as we confess with our lips during our prayer meetings then we will submit to his truth and Will for our lives.

            We cannot live in two worlds as we cannot take what the world gives and still be in Christ because the world will always be in opposition to God. Christians are called to be different, and this is a condition that is fraught with danger but none of us can ever live a truly Christian life unless we are willing to take the risk.

            In his epistle, John warned: “𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 (𝟏 𝐉𝐧 𝟐:𝟏𝟓). Thus, we Christian disciples need to check where our faith and loyalty lie. Are we to remain in the world or are we going to follow Christ?

            The choice is easy to make. What the world offers will not last and that’s a fact. What Jesus is offering us is something that is engraved in blood. A priest in his homily once said that: “you can only trust the man who died for you.” Indeed, “𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝.” (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟓:𝟏𝟑)

But we need to persevere and endure because these sacrifices we make that we offer to Christ our Lord are what will empower us to persevere in our faith and finish a life of service and submission during our spiritual journey. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘔𝘢𝘺 9, 2026)