“Repaying the Sacrifice” (Maundy Thursday)

Scripture: Psalm 116:1-14

I sometimes wonder at the understanding that the world has brought to the word “friend”. Today’s replacement term “BFF”, (Best Friend Forever) has come to imply a friendship that can outlast anything that the world can throw at it. Unfortunately, BFF will seldom survive the extreme tests of life– if it could, there would be no need for the function to “unfriend” your BFF! It is intended to be even greater than the phrase from yesterday, and yet, it generally means far less.

Even when I was growing up (which was more than a couple years ago!), the commitment to “Best Friend” was still tentative, at best. A lie, a new friendship that struck one of the friends in a wrong way, an unexpected move out of town, a hurtful comment – any number of things could damage the “Best Friend” bond irreparably. And simply adding the word “forever” makes no difference whatsoever!

The military seldom uses the word “friend” – they use the term “buddy”. A buddy is someone you serve with, regardless of any differences that may exist between you. The word means that your lives are inexplicably intertwined, and that your buddy’s life means more to you than even your own. It’s a personal commitment that is greater than anything the world will ever know.

No one uses that word, outside of the military context anymore – most folks can’t commit to that level of relationship, and quite honestly, most adults, and even more of the kids today, don’t even understand what it means to obligate yourself to such an extreme. But Christians around the globe are showing what “buddy” means every day.

Read Psalm 116:1-7

One of the interesting aspects of the Psalms is that in every one, even those that proclaim a deep and overwhelming lament, there is at least one verse that gives glory to God. Take Psalm 38, for instance – the writer, probably King David – is crying out in the pain of life. It seems as though everyone is against him, that everyone is trying to destroy him, and in the opening verses, he implies that he must have done something to anger the Lord, and that the calamities that are falling on him must be the result of some great sin that he has committed. But in the very last verse, we read that he pleas for God’s intervention as his “Lord and Savior”.

But our Psalm for this evening is different – this unknown writer has nothing but praise for his God. He says that his God has been with him through some terrible times, but readily acknowledges that the Lord has been with him through it all – that he has always been ready to hear his cries for help, ready to respond to his needs, ready to save him from whatever it is that afflicts him. And not only does he recognize the fact that God has always been with him, he praises the Lord for his righteous, gracious, compassionate, caring nature, and knows that he can set worry aside because his trust in the God who is with him.

Read Psalm 116:8-11

Death” threatens him, but God saves him. And not only is he spared the sentence of death, his Lord even strengthens his life! He “walks” with God and never stumbles; he lives “in the land of the living” and never fears death; he even rejects all assistance that might come from the world because he knows that it will never be sufficient or true. Even with the extreme affliction that he is experiencing, he never struggles with the burden, never believes that God has brought the punishment, and he never surrenders himself to the world in an attempt to lessen the pain.

Psalm 121 proclaims that our “help comes from the Lord” – not from the world, not from our BFF’s, not from anything in all of creation – it only comes from our Almighty God.

Read Psalm 116:12-14

So how do you repay your “buddy” for all that he has done for you? Things that may have cost him dearly? Things that may have induced others to turn away from him? The answer is simple – never turn away from your commitment to be his buddy! That is exactly what the Psalmist is doing – he is telling the world just how important this person – his God – is for his life.
There is no reluctance, no concern, no hesitation, no caveats, and he says that he will tell every single person who he can possibly reach about this friend who is infinitely better than anyone else he has ever known.

How far might this pledge take us? When the “cup of salvation” is raised in honor of the one who has saved us, it is, in essence, saying that we will “pay the gift forward”. Unfortunately, this isn’t a concept that is universally embraced by humanity. Most people want to be repaid for the favors and gifts that they convey to others. “I invited you to my party – when are you going to invite me to yours?” I gave you a loan when you needed – now I need one from you.” You get the drift.

But in paying the gift forward, you don’t necessarily invite your friend to your party – you invite an outsider, a stranger, a loner. Instead of repaying your friend with a loan, be ready to make a load - or better yet, a gift – to someone else – friend or not(! - who is in need.

So what does this have to do with our Christian faith? Jesus has done us a great favor – one that we will never be able to repay! The Lord’s greatest desire is that we will pay the gift of sacrifice forward. This doesn’t mean making some token gesture, some simple gift, but to give all that you have, to set the attacks of the world behind, to ignore the threats and fears and certainties in favor of showing others that you have an intimate and infinite trust in God. It’s about saying “This is something that I am totally incapable of doing, but if I follow, if I surrender, if I trust, the Lord will do it through me.”

Repaying the Lord’s gift of salvation can never be something that we do for him – but it is something that we can do on his behalf. He gave his life that we might live, and now he lives in eternity and invites us to live with him. We can never grant him life, but we can show others the way to a life in him, regardless of what that might inspire the world to do against us.

We can repay the Lord through the gift of our prayers, through the commitment of our time, through the offering of our many blessings in service, and most importantly, through our witness to his grace and glory and salvation.

That’s all that our “Heavenly Buddy” asks of us – no more and no less. Will you?