Meaningful sacrifice springs from love
The assignment got old quickly.
Every morning, without fail, my fourth-grade teacher at Northwest Christian, Mr. Bissell, would make my class read 1 Corinthians 13 out loud until the verse was cemented into my adolescent brain.
You know the verse. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is this. Love is that. It doesn’t envy, boast, or keep records of wrongs – like when my classmate Matt would steal my juice box every afternoon at recess.
Just like Mr. Bissell’s 1 Corinthians assignment, this occurred every day without fail. That is, until one day – one glorious day – when Heather, my best friend, stood up to Matt.
She stopped him from taking my box of juice and willingly gave him her own as a sacrifice. This act of unselfishness meant a lot to fourth-grade me.
Fast-forward to May 20, 2007. I was vacationing in Philadelphia, visiting Heather, who is still my best friend nearly 10 years after fourth grade.
My mother called me from her hometown of Moscow, Idaho, a quiet, safe place in the country.
I was happy to hear from my mother but heartbroken to hear what she had to tell me.
“A man went on a shooting rampage and killed Officer Lee Newbill, then killed himself,” she informed me. “This is the first time our small town has been all over the national news.”
Newbill was the first officer killed in the line of duty in the department’s history. I was shocked.
When I returned home, I watched his memorial service online. Everyone who spoke at the service did so from their heart.
Near the end, Chaplain Randy Clark gave a sermon. He started with Romans 13.
“This verse tells us that every person must be loyally subject to the governing civil authorities, but there is no authority except from God,” Clark said.
“I chose this passage for two reasons,” he continued. “First for the officers. Your appointment does not just come from the civil government authorities to which you made an oath. It comes from God, our Ultimate Authority.
“Secondly, I speak to the population. You must understand that the law enforcement is here, ordained by God, to protect you. Law enforcement officers are the shepherds who keep the wolves away from you, the sheep.”
This was a very moving sermon for every listener, I’m sure. But it was not until the end of his message that I perked up.
Clark looked down at his Bible for a moment, then back up at the audience. Then he mentioned it: 1 Corinthians 13.
He began to read the passage, and I felt myself saying every word along with him.
I remembered fourth grade. I remembered how frustrated I was with Mr. Bissell for making me recite that verse, yet I was now thankful for his persistence.
I remembered Matt, Heather and the juice box incident.
“It is for love that these police officers, men and women, put their lives on the line,” Clark said. “It’s about love.”
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
I had heard those words so many times I thought they had lost all meaning.
Heather loved me enough to give up her juice box. Officer Newbill loved the Moscow citizens enough to take those gunshots himself when they could have killed an innocent person.
There have been many acts of love throughout history, and our Lord demonstrated the greatest of these. Christ died for us so that we may have eternal life.
He made the ultimate sacrifice and asks us to love others as he has loved us, even if that means laying down your life in the line of duty – or simply getting your friend back her juice box.