Sacrifice: Old and New
Leviticus 1-7; Romans 12:1-2

Toward the end of our Communion Liturgy we say the Prayer of Oblation on page 102. In that prayer we make a promise: “And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee…” This line is taken from Romans 12:1, our epistle lesson for today. What is this idea of sacrifice? What did it mean in the Old Testament? What does it mean in Romans 12:1, and for us today?

Sacrifice was the normal mode of worship in ancient times, and it wasn't restricted to the slaughter of bulls and goats. A variety of sacrifices made up the religion and thinking of that time. It was common to pour out wine onto the ground to pamper the gods. Meat could be lodged up in the branches of a tree. Gift-offerings could include anything from figs, honey and flour to statuettes and jewelry. A votive offering was a familiar observance. For example, a father with a sick child would make a vow to a god or goddess to provide a gift or a sacrifice in the future if the god would heal his child. A communion-sacrifice was another practice. A priest would declare a bull the incarnation of a particular god and the worshippers would then kill it and eat it in the belief that they were receiving a little of the god's character and power.

During the first centuries, the Roman Emperors required every person to throw a pinch of incense onto the glowing coals of an altar as a gesture of loyalty to the gods of the empire. The early Christians were persecuted and martyred for refusing to comply. The sacrifices that horrify us are the human ones. Devotees of Moloch would roast their own babies. The Aztecs ripped out and lifted up in the air beating hearts to their sun god. There was no single concept of sacrifice in the ancient world. For the most part, the gods were thought of in very human terms. The gods must be fed and humored. They needed to be bribed. A sacrifice was the means for humoring and bribing the gods.

Why was sacrifice the heart of Israel's worship? Was it an attempt to humor and bribe the Lord? No. Sin was the reason for the sacrificial system. A sacrifice was the remedy God had established for cleansing persons made unclean through sins. It was the ritual for sanctifying sinners, undoing the effects of human infirmity, and avoiding God's wrath for sin. For those who possess an inadequate view of sin this may be a hard answer to accept. St. Anselm answered his imaginary friend Boso with, “You have not yet considered how great your sin is.” Those who take sin seriously will more readily understand why the Mosaic economy required something as drastic and costly as the shedding of blood for the remission of sins.

There are five sacrifices mentioned at the beginning of Leviticus. All of them speak in some way of sin, atonement, and restored communion with God. Besides the five sacrifices that individuals could offer when necessary, the priests carried out the daily sacrifices at the Temple. Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles were the big annual affairs.

The offerings explained in Leviticus 1-5 describe the burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, and trespass offerings. These sacrifices differ from each other yet there is much overlap too. If you sinned you needed to get that sin taken care of, especially if your sin was a grave one. The burnt offering was the commonest of all the Old Testament sacrifices. Its main function was to atone for man's sin by propitiating God's wrath. How could God's wrath against sin be propitiated? You had to lay your hands on the head of the sheep or bullock and confess your sins, thus transferring your sin to the victim. For the Old Testament believer there was a sense of urgency to this. The Bible records a number of incidents where the enormity of the sin led to instant judgment, so that it was impossible to offer a sacrifice quickly enough to avert disaster (Ex. 32:25-35; Lev. 10; Num. 25).

Several passages from Scripture indicate to us the substitutionary nature of the Old Testament sacrifices. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” In other words, uncleanness caused by sin had to be atoned for, and that could only be accomplished by blood sacrifice. Another indication that the death of the animal in some way substituted for the death of the guilty person is provided by the verb kipper , “to make atonement.” The Hebrew word kipper is the same one we see in the Jewish festival called “Yom Kippur,” Day of Atonement. Kipper can be translated, “to pay a ransom (for one's life).” That is what the burnt sacrifice did. It made atonement for the worshipper. Through the victim's death and the subsequent rituals, men and women were ransomed from the death that their sin and uncleanness had merited.

Even in the Old Testament we see that these rituals were only temporary. The prophet Isaiah hinted that a future Suffering Servant, indeed the Messiah, would one day replace the animal sacrifices and provide a full and perfect substitutionary atonement. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” This prophecy foretells how Christ would fulfill the Old Covenant sacrificial system. Jesus did it on the Cross. As St. John saith: “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:1-2).

But let's return to the sacrifices of the Temple. Once the worshipper brought the animal to the north side of the tabernacle or temple, he had to kill it himself and make sure all the blood drained into a basin. The priest, after saying a short prayer, then splashed the blood on the side of the altar. Next, the worshipper chopped up the animal and the priest burned it bit by bit on top of the altar. The odors ascended to God as a “sweet savor.” The sins of the worshipper were forgiven. He now stood reconciled to the Holy Almighty and communion was restored.

Gordon Wenham makes this comment, “Using a little imagination every reader of the Old Testament soon realizes that these ancient sacrifices were very moving occasions. They make modern church services seem tame and dull by comparison. The ancient worshipper did not just listen to the minister and sing a few hymns. He was actively involved in the worship. He had to choose an unblemished animal from his own flock, bring it to the sanctuary, kill it and dismember it with his own hands, then watch it go up in smoke before his very eyes. He was convinced that something very significant was achieved through these acts and knew that his relationship with God was profoundly affected by this sacrifice.” [Close quote. The Book of Leviticus , p. 55.]

Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Let's notice the obvious first of all. This is figurative and spiritual language. The apostle does not want us to get on an altar and burn ourselves alive. The sacrificial system carried out at the Temple has been done away. Our sacrifices are now spiritual, they are moral; they are based on selflessness and service. They are sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. Judaism was forced to abandon their sacrificial system when the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70. Christianity did it before that. They saw that the Cross of Christ had fulfilled and abrogated the entire blood sacrifice economy. The Church regarded the worship of the Temple in Jerusalem as temporary. The entire gamut of sacrifices were seen as a system of shadows and types that gave way to the True Temple, Christ's own flesh and blood. Believers join this temple as living stones filled by the Holy Spirit. Stephen was martyred for espousing this view (Acts 7).

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice.” Notice next that we are to offer our whole body as sacrifices to God. This corresponds to the burnt offering, the one that is entirely burned. It also corresponds to the example of our Lord. He gave Himself up to God entirely. He held back nothing, not His body, not His soul, not the faculties of His mind, nor the emotions of His heart, not even the rending asunder of body and soul in death. In all things, at all times, in every way, He gave Himself to God, and accomplished the will of His Father. Peter calls you and me to rejoice as we partake of Christ's sufferings. For many believers in Sudan, North Korea, and Nigeria presenting their bodies a living sacrifice means martyrdom. Some day it is possible that the Lord will ask us to present our bodies to Him in martyrdom. Praise God we live in a free country, and this is unlikely. Still we are called to make our sacrifices of praise, worship and thanksgiving offered in imitation of Christ's total self-offering. Our sacrifice is now good deeds, repentance, fasting, prayer, hymns of praise, and the work of the liturgy.

Everything is to be consecrated to God – our work, our possessions, our homes, our habits, our leisure, our thinking and desires. Don't expect abundant life if you are only half, or three quarters consecrated. God demands your all. And let's not see sacrifice as a grim picture. Hebrews 12:2 encourages us to look to “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Sacrificial living for the cause of Christ's kingdom is a joy. How is that so, you ask?

We understand the joy that a mother feels in selfless service to her family. The joy of sacrifice has been experienced on short-term mission trips. Team members travel to a distant and impoverished region and work harder than they ever have in their lives. And do they regret it? No! they experience the highest and holiest exhilaration in service for others. I remember hearing about a group of Christian young people who crossed the border into Berlin of East Germany. Sharing one's faith was a criminal activity at that time. The young people began preaching the Gospel and singing hymns. Crowds of East German young people began to gather around, listen and join in. That was too much for the police. They closed in, clubbed the Americans, and dragged them away across the border. What was the reaction of the believers? The holy giggles took hold of them. They started laughing so hard they couldn't stop. It was sheer joy. The Early Church saw this element of joy even in martyrdom. St. Ignatius was an early bishop of Antioch, and around A.D. 110 he traveled to Rome to face martyrdom. On his journey he wrote seven letters to churches that he was passing. He spoke of his approaching death as a sacrifice of God, and wanting to follow the example of the passion of Christ.

There is a qualification we should make. We need to remember that our sacrifice is pleasing to God only through the merits of Christ's sacrifice. The notion that we can gain merit before God through our own works is anathema to the gospel. The Prayer Book says it well. We pray, “And although we are unworthy, through our manifold sins, to offer unto thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden duty and service; not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Once Jesus has justified us by faith alone, through grace alone, on account of Christ alone, and sent us His Holy Spirit, we can come near to God and please Him by the service and sacrifices we perform.

In the Eucharist especially we offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. We offer thanksgiving for our redemption in Christ, thanksgiving for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life. The person who takes everything for granted, who feels totally self-reliant, is neither attractive nor honest. We are hard-wired as worshipping creatures to express our thanks to something beyond ourselves, and the Eucharist is the appropriate moment to thank God for His love and mercy in sending Christ to die on our behalf and grant us eternal life in Heaven. Come now to the Lord's Table. Offer Him your sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.

Let us pray.

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