"Died he for me, who caused his pain?

For me, who him to death pursued?

Amazing love! how can it be

That Thou, my God shouldst die for me." (Charles Wesley)

Jesus taught us in the parable of the Good Samaritan that love for others meant showing mercy to those in need, by sacrificing our time and money to help them. In his response to the rich young ruler he told him to sell all that he had and give to the poor, and he would have treasure in heaven. (Luke 18:22) He commended Zacchaeus for showing that he was changing his life by giving half of his ill-gotten gains to the poor. (Luke 19:8) He saw a poor widow putting into the temple collection two very small copper coins and said that she had put in more than all the others. "All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." (Luke 21:1-4)

Jesus taught his disciples that following him requires taking up his cross, and losing our life for his sake. He warned them that they would be handed over to be persecuted and put to death. (Matthew 16:24,25; 24:9) In the first centuries many Christian believers were martyred because they were faithful to Christ as Lord and refused to worship the spirit of Caesar as God. Martyrs were revered in the churches. Sanctuaries were named after them. Christians called their children after them. Those who had sacrificed the most in the service of Christ were venerated.

Yet here St. Paul is warning against sacrifice that is loveless. How can sacrifice, which is at the heart of the Gospel be thought loveless and worthless?

Sacrifice is worthless when it is motivated by the desire for selfish gain. Jesus told us that "when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:2-4)

We don't give to gain brownie points with God, to gain advantage in salvation, to offset our sins by bribing God, or polishing our reputations in order to impress others. We give in response to need and in grateful response to God's mercy to us. We give because we love others and wish to help them. We give because we love God and wish to be his partners in caring for the deserving poor. God "upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry" (Psalm 147:7) through his people. We give because the King, who is the Son of Man, is present in his people, and we will be judged by our response to him in his human suffering. "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came and visited me." (Matthew 25:35,36)

We give out of the love that God has poured into our hearts by his Spirit (Romans 5:5). We give in response to what God has given us, not because of what we can gain from it. Gratitude and our responsibility for others should be our motivation. We are stewards of all that God has given us. When we give out of gratitude, rather than gain, our gifts become a "fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God." (Philippians 4:18)

St. Paul also warns against giving one's own life without love as gaining nothing. In so doing he condemns the glorification of martyrdom and the deliberate taking of one's own life. Christians were not to court martyrdom. The current epidemic of suicide bombers is fuelled by the belief that such martyrdom will gain a victory for God over unbelievers, and reward the martyr with all of heaven's joys. This is loveless suicide that is contrary to God's revelation. There is a huge distinction between the willing surrender of one's life when it is needed (such as in the performance of one's duty in the defense of one's country, or community, or family, in ministering to the infectious sick, or in witnessing to one's faith in time of persecution), and in the deliberate taking of it out of revenge to gain fame. True sacrifice is motivated by love, by mercy, not by anger, and the desire to punish other people.

Dr. Theodore Dalrymple, writing about the British Muslim suicide bombers of 7/7 last year, said that "hatred is the underlying emotion. A man in prison who told me that he wanted to be a suicide bomber was more hate-filled than any man I have ever met. The offspring of a broken marriage between a Muslim man and a female convert, he had followed the trajectory of many young men in his area: sex and drugs and rock and roll, untainted by anything resembling higher culture. Violent and aggressive by nature, intolerant of the slightest frustration to his will and frequently suicidal, he had experienced taunting during his childhood because of his mixed parentage. After a vicious rape for which he went to prison, he converted to a Salafist form of Islam and became convinced that any system of justice that could take the word of a mere woman over his own was irredeemably corrupt.

I noticed one day that his mood had greatly improved; he was communicative and almost jovial, which he had never been before. I asked him what had changed his life for the better. He had made his decision, he said. Everything was resolved. He was not going to kill himself in an isolated way, as he had previously intended. Suicide was a mortal sin, according to the tenets of the Islamic faith. No, when he got out of prison he would not kill himself; he would make himself a martyr, and be rewarded eternally, by making himself into a bomb and taking as many of his enemies with him as he could.

Enemies, I asked; what enemies? How could he know that the people he killed at random would be enemies? They were enemies, he said, because they lived happily in our rotten and unjust society. Therefore, by definition, they were enemies. Surveys indicate that between 6 and 13 percent of British Muslims - that is, between 98,000 and 208,000 people - are sympathetic toward Islamic terrorists and their efforts. (City Journal, The Manhattan Institute)

Suicide was practiced by the Romans in the first century as an honorable way to end one's life. Christian teaching opposed the direct and deliberate taking of one's own life for any self-regarding motive. We are not the author of our own lives. We are not owners of our bodies. They are entrusted to us by God, to be used in his service and in the service of others. It is not for us to decide for how long they shall be used. Directly and deliberately to destroy one's own life is therefore a sin against God, our creator and redeemer, a rejection of his love and a denial of his sovereignty. It is an offense against the proper love of one's own person made in God's image to share his glory, and an act of despair. It is an offence against humanity in that it deprives one's family and society of a member prematurely. It is to lose hope in God's love, and to that extent to reject God. It also places a burden of guilt on relatives and friends, who may see it as a rejection of themselves and of their inadequate attempts to help. That is why it is regarded as loveless.

On April 19, 1993, the FBI stormed the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. In the fiery conflagration that followed 86 people died, including 17 children. David Koresh led a cult that believed they were living in the days of the Book of Revelation, and invited the government to attack them so as to fulfill prophecy. He developed a martyr complex. He saw himself as a Messiah figure destined to die and rise again, and return to rule.

While such tragically misguided figures continually recur in history they are exceptional compared to those who regularly burn themselves out for a cause at the expense of their loved ones. Clergy and missionaries can see themselves as martyrs to the Gospel or the Church, sacrificing themselves, and their families in the attempt to play God in the lives of others. Other professionals, business entrepreneurs, politicians, and military leaders can do the same. They devote themselves to a worthy cause, or to the bottom line, or to the public, and neglect their relationships, their marriages and their families. Lauren Weisberger's novel, The Devil Wears Prada, now a movie starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, explores this theme.

Dr. Robert Pierce, founder of World Vision, sacrificed his own health and that of his marriage and children, in his devotion to the needy of the world. His motto was, "Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God." But, according to his daughter, he did not heed the admonition of St. Paul, "If anyone does not provide for his own relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." We can be successful at almost any venture if we are willing to sacrifice ourselves for it, but if it is at the expense of loving those closest to us, we gain nothing.

St. Paul cautions us to examine our motivations when we feel called to sacrifice. Is it out of gratitude to the love of God? Is it going to enable us to love others more? Is it going to show our love for those nearest and dearest to us? Howard Guinness wrote a Christian classic, first published in 1936, entitled, Sacrifice. It influenced generations of Christians to a deep and sacrificial walk with God. He commends the way of the Cross, which is the way of sacrifice, "but with such sacrifice come peace and joy everlasting. For Jesus said, 'Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it,' and 'if a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies.... it bears much fruit.'" Of such sacrifice God is well pleased.

---The Rev. Ted Schroeder is pastor of Amelia Plantation Chapel, Amelia Island, Florida. He is a retired Episcopal priest.