CONNECTING POINT: Sacrificial Love

Jesus Christ exemplified the greatest degree of love through his sacrificial death on the cross and subsequent resurrection of the dead, something many of us recently celebrated. We must refrain from letting the typical holiday celebration lose significance, particularly Good Friday and Easter. What Jesus did for any of us who call on His name to be saved through repentance and faith is for every day, not just the last day in April.

In Luke Chapter 6, we find Jesus challenging any of His followers to love their enemy. If we are honest, doing so is somewhat perplexing. For most, skipping over this teaching of Jesus is quite tempting. However, if we genuinely strive to follow Jesus, we must be all in.

What lengths are you willing to go to practice love? To truly love means we must face the truth: loving others may, at times, be frustrating and absent of sheer enjoyment. You won’t always “feel” love. To truly love means we must give without expectation. Jesus, indeed, calls us to love unconditionally.

Allow me to share with you an incredible true story of love as written by Sam Millen: In May of 1569, Dirk Willems, an Anabaptist in Holland, was imprisoned in the castle of Asperen, his hometown. He made a long rope by tying rags together and let himself down the castle wall and onto the frozen moat early one morning. When a guard noticed the escape, he pursued Dirk.

The moat led to a larger frozen pond called the Hondegat (Dog Hole), which was about 30 feet deep in places. Because Dirk was on prison rations, he was quite a bit lighter than the guard. When the guard fell through the melting ice, it was evident that he was going to drown.

As Dirk heard the guard’s cries for help, he had to make a quick decision. Should he continue running or turn around and save his enemy? I’m sure none of us would have faulted him if he had kept going. Remarkably, Dirk chose to turn back and help his pursuer.

Once the guard was out of the water, he promptly rearrested Dirk, and this time Dirk was taken to a cell in the church tower, from which there was no escape.

Dirk was burned at the stake four days later. Apparently, the wind was blowing the smoke away, and since Dirk didn’t die more quickly from smoke inhalation, his death was excruciatingly painful. His screams were heard for miles.

Most of us would have gladly excused Dirk from turning back to his enemy, that man lived out sacrificial love. What you may not know and are asking, “Why was Dirk imprisoned in the first place?” He wasn’t a thief or murderer. As a young man, he was water baptized, thus denouncing his infant baptism as a means of salvation. The state church of Holland frowned upon individuals doing so; they were legalists, and anyone associated with such teachings were “heretics.” Dirk began to teach others directly from the Bible, and water baptize those who wished to profess their faith in Jesus Christ. So, the church

retaliated and imprisoned these people; many were beaten, and others like Dirk, gave their lives for the cause of Christ.

This is the kind of love that Jesus points us toward; doing so isn’t for the faint of heart. I ask you, who is your enemy, and how will you respond to adversity?