Give, and it will be given to you. A good portion—packed down, firmly shaken, and overflowing—will fall into your lap. The portion you give will determine the portion you receive in return.” (Luke 6:38)
In our young adult study on Thursdays, we are slowly making our way through the Gospel of Luke. Tonight, we dig through chapter six. Here most of the narrative is teaching directly from Jesus. In a red-letter Bible, most of the words are red.
Much of Jesus’ teaching centers on laying the groundwork for the disciples to understand what he means by the idea of the “kingdom of God.” A particular idea that jumped out to me as I read through the chapter is found in verse 38 (see above). I think why this idea grabbed my attention is because of how often this idea is misunderstood.
Too often I believe Jesus’ words here are interpreted out of context to mean that our motivation for being generous should be tied to us being blessed when we give. Instead, what Jesus is teaching is that in the “kingdom of God” generosity is the assumption, it is where we start the conversation, especially when it comes to our enemies.
I love how NT Wright expands this idea of a kingdom mindset; “Think of the best thing you can do for the worst person and go ahead and do it. Think of what you’d really like someone to do for you and do it for them. Think of the people to whom you are tempted to be nasty, and lavish generosity on them instead.” This is not how the world works, but it should be the way of the Christ follower.
The hardest part of this teaching by Jesus is that it doesn’t read like a list of dos and don’ts, it isn’t a rule book. Jesus instead is describing a way of being or a way of life. It would be easier in some ways if it was just a rule book. Too often it seems like Christians are caught up in keeping a checklist of sorts, continually weighing if on the whole they are better than everyone else.
Too often I feel like people are motivated primarily by what they will get if they give; Don’t hear me only speaking of money either. It seems people often assume by God’s cosmic accounting that when our checklist has more good things than others, we somehow will be more blessed.
Instead, taken in its context this promise of receiving when we give is tied directly to the practice of loving our enemies.
In verse 38, when I hear Jesus describe this portion we will receive, I picture a heaping measuring cup of brown sugar. When cooking and measuring brown sugar for a recipe we often see the instruction to “pack” the sugar. So, I conclude that when we love our enemies, and as in verse 37, “Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Then and only then will we receive a heaping packed cup of brown sugar-like blessings from God.
Loving our enemies is a God sized task. It is not something that comes naturally to us humans. When we can love our enemies, it is direct evidence of God’s working in our lives. It is evidence of the image of God being restored in us.
Who is your enemy today? Who a person who in your mind seems to be against you? I join you in bringing that person or persons to God in prayer today. Another way of framing this is, if we want God to be merciful with us, we need merciful with others. One author puts it this way, “We can’t receive from God what we are unwilling to extend to others.”
I invite you to pray with me:
God your promise of receiving is tied to our willingness to give. Not so much in giving money, but in giving mercy and giving forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Lord forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Generosity is the way of the Kingdom of God. Help us to be generous with our resources, generous with our time, our talent, and our treasure. God, we know that when we are generous with others, you will be generous with us. However, we do not give to get, but we give to become more like you. Help us to be more like you. We pray this in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirt. Amen.
~Pastor Shawn