Q & R: Sacrifice for our Sins?
August 29, 2019
|In Uncategorized
Here’s the Q:
On July 10, Richard Rohr’s daily meditation featured and excerpt from your book The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World’s Largest Religion Is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian. I was intrigued by the information regarding Hosea, Isaiah, David and Jesus’ stance that God does not desire sacrifice. The scriptures quoted are not new to me, but within the context of the excerpt the paradox struck me of sacrifice being displeasing to God yet, according to many and the denomination that I have grown up with and still attend, Jesus was God’s sacrificial lamb to save us from our sin. How would you speak/reconcile this?If you have addressed this further in the book or in any other material, please provide that information.I have been wrestling with this area for some time now as my faith journey deepens. To accept Jesus as coming to this world to die for our sins seems like a very ego based response from us. There has to be more to the story. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Here’s the R:
Thanks for this question. It’s important!
I’ve written about this in some detail in a few of my books:
I think you’d find any of them helpful, but Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road? would most directly address this question.
You might also find a little E-book I wrote helpful:
So much of Western Christianity has been framed around the problem of how we can be saved from the wrath of God. I think that approach mis-frames both our human predicament and the overall message of the Bible, and especially the life and teaching of Jesus. A better way to frame Jesus and his way would be around different questions entirely: How can we human beings be liberated from our self-destructive ways? How can people everywhere join God in the healing of the world? What is the way of life that will lead to life and peace rather than violence and death?
One of my mentors taught that what you focus on determines what you miss. I think the old framing causes us to focus on a small part of the picture, and as a result, we miss the bigger, better picture. I hope that helps!
