Sacrifice is not a word we use much these days, is it? When was the last time you used it or thought about it in terms of your own life? When was the last time you sacrificed anything for anybody?

Come to think about it, there’s only one sport as far as I know where the term is actually used. Do you know which sport that is? You can almost hear a sportscaster announcing it, “And there it goes, a long fly ball to left. It’s an easy out, but the man on third tags up and trots home. A sacrifice fly! ” 

What a great idea — You’re out!! But you helped someone else score a run. Baseball is one of the few sports where you lose, but the team still gains.

Do you remember the way comedian George Carlin spells it out in his routine about the contrast between the hardness of football and the softness of baseball? He says: In football you Tackle! In baseball, you “catch flies…” In football you Punt!  In baseball you “bunt…” Football is played on a Gridiron! Baseball is played on a “field…” In football you Score!  In baseball you “go home…” In football you Kill!  In baseball you “sacrifice…”

Baseball may be the only sport where you actually can hear this word. It’s one of the few places anywhere that you hear it in a self-centered, take-care-of-yourself, don’t-worry-about-anybody-else society. In contrast to football, sacrifice may sound like a sign of weakness but I hardly think of any of the major league players are weak. Baseball’s one thing…..life is quite another.

Who really denies themselves and takes up crosses anymore? Actual sacrifice can lead to bitterness, especially when you thought you were trusting God’s plan for your life and suddenly you realize that you have to sacrifice all your greatest hopes and dreams as burnt offerings on the high altar of the providence of God.

Thanks to William J. Carl III for these great thoughts.

Five years ago during the Covid pandemic, we witnessed the countless sacrifices of doctors, nurses and health professionals who risked their health and their lives, while they got little sleep to keep us safe and alive.

When people ask me what sacrifices I’ve made, I always answer: “I’ve made no sacrifices, I’ve made choices!”

What sacrifices….What choices….Are YOU making for others this Lent?

GOD DOESN’T LOVE A FUTURE VERSION OF YOU. GOD LOVES YOU AS YOU ARE TODAY!

You know someone who would profit from today’s Message. Please share it with them.