God Delights in Our Surrender

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, December 22nd, 2024:
The Fourth Sunday of Advent

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Hebrews
10:5-10

Brothers and sisters: When Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God.’”

When Christ said, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the Law), then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.

And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

The Scriptures are full of examples of rituals and sacrifices commanded by God. Burnt offerings, ritual fasting, lighting of incense – these are practical manifestations that were built into the rhythms of worship. They were an accounting of the cost of sin and an expression of the desire to be released from that bondage, a sort of holy accounting where there’s a check and balance for our human weakness.

But through the coming of Christ, God revealed His plan for our salvation. Our sacrifices were never going to balance our spiritual books. Our sin, both individual and communal, was always going to be more than we could overcome. The distance between us and God would remain too great, even with a lifetime of perfect deeds and religious acts of service. 

The reasons for that are two-fold. First, the only things that can help us truly avoid sin (even sin in our hearts) is the teaching and transformation we experience through the grace we receive in the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, we will default back to our fallen human nature. No amount of human effort can truly change our own hearts. Our acts of worship and sin offerings couldn’t outmatch our sin.

That grace, freely given even when we are at our worst, is not something we can earn. Grace isn’t the reward after a week of stickers on our spiritual chore chart. 

Secondly, those acts of penance without a transformed heart are just that – an act. Like a child playing with a toy kitchen, we’re not producing real results, even if they briefly appease our guilt. The only sacrifice that can atone for the sin of all humanity is the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the Cross. Only God Himself could pay a sufficient price for the magnitude of our sin. Only God Himself could offer it, give it, and receive it.

So then why do we still make these sacrifices, knowing God doesn’t delight in all these rituals and attempts? It’s not because of the act itself, but because of what it represents. When we make our own small sacrifices – be they fasting, generous giving, lighting a candle at Mass, and so on – these acts represent our desire first and foremost to surrender to God. We celebrate God’s goodness and seek in all things to unite ourselves to Christ in His sacrifice.

God delights in our attempts to serve Him, even when the world sees us as foolish. God delights in our hearts striving for Him. God delights in our total surrender.

Sweet Saviour, I thank You and I praise You for the saving work of Your Cross. Through Your life, death, and resurrection, You gave Yourself as a true sacrifice for my sin. Let me always be mindful of this great gift and form in me a heart that desires to surrender every part of my life to You. Amen.



Stéphanie Potter​

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