Good Morning Friends,
The Bible has a lot to say about money and illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered people who lacked the trust and belief to live life in response to the eternity of existence. Of the 29 parables Christ told, 16 of them deal with a person and their money. There is much to learn about this topic including that God desires us to give and moreover to give generously and with joy and even sacrificially. But there is a deeper message here that is not about money at all. It is about being a joyous giver. But the how of getting there is a mystery. One cannot mimic a behavior of given and it automatically be joyous. And that prompts today’s question that I hope helps reveal a deeper answer about the nature of our hearts. So, Do You Base Your Life On Jesus’ Love, Generosity And Faith?
Scripture: The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written, “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
2 Corinthians 9:6-10 (NRSV)
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
John 12:24-26 (NRSV)
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
Luke 6:37-38 (NRSV)
Message: What we do for the Lord is to flow out of our love. It is to be an extension of our worship, for giving is rooted in God’s love. Really God does not need our money, but God does invite us to give as a witness to our love. Of course, one can give without loving, but that misses the point of it all. Friends, one cannot love without giving. In the tension of today’s scripture, we must face the reality that all that we have has been given by God. We are to have an epiphany about the scripture that asks us to hate our lives and still desire to be a joyous giver. The amazing thing is that in this eye of the storm, love prompts us to give and the giving releases God’s blessings of joy and our engagement in the Kingdom to come. Intertwined with this blessing is the image of a wheat seed that dies so that it might bear much fruit. Sure, this is rather a sobering thought about love and hate in conflict. But the beautiful and frightening resolution to this dilemma is found in the cross of Christ. You see, here at the foot of the cross we are called to both self-denial and self-affirmation. Friends, the whole idea of giving is to reflect that moment of salvation and the center of all history that moves forward the Kingdom of God for the glory of God. Here we must gratefully and positively affirm life but also realize that part of our created humanness has been tainted and twisted. Thankfully Christ came to redeem it, not to destroy it. Still, whatever we are by the Fall we must deny. It like the seed must die and when it does, we can discover the abundance of fruit in following Jesus’s gracious life that keeps on giving. Then we can give with the purpose that witnesses the love of Christ on the cross.
And So, the key thought and truth for us to discover is that our death does not stop God from being God. We do so want to limit God, but the thing is that scripture makes it clear that God continues to be in relationship with us after we die and believing that makes our life healthier. And some may say it is a placebo effect but the thing is that it is real now and God has given this idea to us so we might be more resilient now. This believing in and having faith around the idea that love is connected to eternal life is the essence of the Resurrection, just as the essence of the Church is believing in a community of love that goes on as well. Here belief makes us more effective in being part of a community but also healthier as individuals. The Sadducees were seemingly incapable of garnering a fresh insight from scripture. They are trapped by their own unbelief and yes that made them sad and less effective. And their reality must make us reflect on our lives in relationship to the authority of God as well. If we too are noisy gongs, if we too lack love, do we not foolishly restrict the influence of the divine in our lives. We do seem hell bent on reducing to familiar terms what we do not and by the very nature of things, cannot know very much about. Speculation about immortality is a bit of a waste. We would be better off believing in it and hoping for it with the surprise of an unwrapped gift given when the time is right. But make no mistake here, believing in the power of God as to our resurrection is important in how we live now and give now too. If we base our life on Jesus, we will be more generous, more faithful, more loving and ultimately more joyous.
Pray we realize that all seed eventually belongs to God. Pray we sow the seeds of faith by giving to the Lord. Pray the Word of God be like a seed in our Spirit that sprouts and grows into a big tree. Pray that we each nurture the seeds of love and goodness planted in our lives. Pray these seeds are strengthened by the Word so that Christ’s faith in us takes root, thrives, and grows strong. Pray that in God’s time, by Jesus’ grace and for Jesus’ glory we develop deep roots of a relationship with God the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray we hear the message of patience and hope. Pray we rejoice in the promise of the harvest. Pray we sow seeds of hope. Pray we realize that knowing the fullness of God in heaven will be more than enough. Pray we realize that there is an abundance of life with Christ. Pray we take our ordinary life and place it before God as an offering. Pray we realize that God gives us the ability to produce wealth that matters. Pray our lives and giving reflects our death to sin and life to God. Pray our lives portray the taking up of crosses for God’s glory. Pray we carry in our bodies the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus so that the life everlasting may be revealed in us. Pray we learn to love with a joyous generosity.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 