Editorial August 10, 1918 Issue

"Sacrifice and service"

Annie M. Knott

People in general entertain rather gloomy views of sacrifice, and this in itself implies an incorrect sense of its meaning. St. Paul has this to say in the second chapter of his epistle to the Philippians: "Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me." Material belief has practically made the words sacrifice and suffering mean the same thing, and so it has come about that the thing which has been feared by mortals has been continually experienced. Paul's words make it very clear that his ideal of sacrifice and service brought to him the joy which means life in its fullness, with an ever enlarging outlook upon man's infinite possibilities; and so it is surely well worth our while to see more clearly what God has for us, and what we are called upon to give up.

Christian Science uncovers in its healing ministry the mistaken belief held by so many that their sufferings are the result of divine appointment, and that they must in consequence be submissively borne. Even so we find that mortals in general do their utmost to defeat this supposedly divine purpose when they resort to all the material means and measures within their reach. They usually fail to find anything but added suffering. The belief that human suffering is in any wise of divine appointment has been held throughout the centuries, as we find in the prophet's words respecting the ideal man. In the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah is this statement: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."

In the eleventh chapter of John's gospel we find an echo of the thought presented by Isaiah when the priests and rulers were gathered together to see how they could best put a stop to the marvelous healing work being done by Christ Jesus, this conference being held immediately after the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The high priest here declared it to be expedient "that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." Respecting this unjust decree of mortal mind which claimed to declare the will of God, Mrs. Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 123), "The at-one-ment with Christ has appeared—not through vicarious suffering, whereby the just obtain a pardon for the unjust,—but through the eternal law of justice; wherein sinners for their own sins, repent, forsake sin, love God, and keep His commandments, thence to receive the reward of righteousness: salvation from sin, not through the death of a man, but through a divine Life, which is our Redeemer."

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