Sacrifice and Consequence

 There’s a line at the end of the Christmas movie “Spirited” that goes something like:

“What is sacrifice without consequence?”

This is an incredibly important question, and not one I would have expected in a comedy.

I have always understood that we, as humans, learn from our suffering, and in that sense, I have learned a great deal.  There are others who have learned far more than I.

We go through life with the understanding that our pain, grief, loss, and wounds will make us stronger.  And, hopefully, better.

There have been many times in the midst of my own loss, where I would plead with God to “Please teach someone else” (Take this cup from me).  Not even thinking about the fact that I was asking to let someone else suffer so I wouldn’t have to, and then realizing in that moment, that this is exactly what God did.  

Before Christ was born, He was already on the road to sacrifice. He came to us because God made a Promise.

Promise always requires Sacrifice, and Sacrifice always has Consequence.

The Consequence fulfills the Promise.

His Sacrifice had to happen His way and in His time in order for it to be effective.

When the Wise Men came in search of Jesus, Herod asked them to tell him when they found this new King.  Herod would have gladly sacrificed Him for his own gain, to no one else’s benefit.  Indeed, he tried by killing many other children in the hope of containing the threat to his power.

Humans will be humans after all.

But humans cannot fulfill God’s Promise, nor can we shoulder the Consequence.

I have to make a conscious effort to see Jesus as just a baby.  To imagine Him with messy diapers, saying His first words, or taking His first steps.  It is difficult to get out of the retrospective viewpoint of His entire life, and see Him only in that moment, as His earthly family did, with no knowledge of what the future held.

To behold Him with Joy.

And yet the Joy of His birth was met with hate, and still is in many ways to this.  There are many who claim to follow Him, yet in the same breath say He is not enough.

Who are you little man to question the thoughts of God?

How does hate have greater influence on you when you claim to serve the Prince of Peace?

The angels appeared to the shepherds with “good news of great joy”, yet we wallow in our suffering instead of seeing each other with joyful eyes.

That’s how we got to where we are today.

He made the sacrifice so the consequence would allow us to revel in the Joy of the life He gave us.

There is suffering in the world, in my life and yours, but there is also the opportunity for Joy.  I learn from both suffering and Joy, yet I remember the lessons of my pain more than those of my Joy.  In many ways I suppose I have at times even thought of suffering as an honor, but the point of His suffering and Sacrifice was to give me the chance to see the Joy as the Consequence rather than simply a life of pain.

Christmas is upon us, and we will celebrate that day with Joy, but don’t let it end there.

Please continue to do so on every day after.

And so, as I consider this Child, I will try to live the lessons learned from the Joy He was born to give me.

Merry Christmas.

©Dan Bode 2024