LUKE
6:38
"Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good
measure--pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard
of measure it will be measured to you in return" (NASB).
INTRODUCTION
Two traveling angels stopped to spend
the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to
let the angels stay in the mansion’s guestroom. Instead, the angels were given
a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor,
the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel
asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”
The next night the angels came to rest
at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After
sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed
where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next
morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow,
whose milk has been their sole income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel
was infuriated and asked the older angel, “how could you have let this
happened?” The first man had everything, yet you helped him, she accused. The
second family had little, but was willing to share everything, and you let the
cow die. “Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied.
“When we stayed in the basement of the
mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the
owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his fortune, I sealed
that wall so he wouldn’t find it.” Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s
bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. “Things
aren’t always what they seem.”
Sometimes that is exactly what happens
when things don’t turn out the way they should. If you have faith you have to
trust that every outcome is to your advantage. You might not know it until sometime
later.
I.
BELIEVERS ARE OPENHEARTED V. 38a
I cannot do justice to this passage
without first of all, telling you the context from which I am pulling out this
verse for our consideration.
This passage comes in the context of Jesus’
teaching of the Beatitudes. Definition of Beatitude: Beatitude is a state of
utmost bliss. I can hear someone saying what is bliss? Bliss is supreme
happiness or joy. In other words, Jesus is saying if you want to experience
supreme but not superficial happiness or joy, and then practice the beatitudes.
The beatitudes are found only in Luke 6 and Matthew 5:1-12. The beatitudes of
Jesus run counter to the world’s definition of bliss or happiness.
In verse 37 Jesus
has just finished teaching about the evil of a judgmental or critical and
unforgiving spirit. By the way, the Bible commands us to have moral evaluation
of people. We are not to be naïve and close our ears, minds and eyes to moral
and ethical evil.
·
The Essence of
the Beatitudes:
In
the beatitudes Jesus was teaching about the requirements or demands of kingdom
living. Someone has said that the Sermon on the Mount is the “Magna Carter” of
the Christian life. Max Lucado calls the “Beatitudes,” “The Applause of
Heaven.”
When
the world ridicules and calls you a fool for suffering unjustly for Christ’s
sake, the heavens, the saints in heaven, and God’s angelic hosts applaud you.
The problem that many Christians have is how to make a balance between their
worldview and biblical worldview. In other words, the way Christ teaches us to
live our lives as Christians is entirely different from the way we have been
taught in our various cultures. I am not saying that we have to discard our
culture. There is no culture or worldview that is perfect, except the biblical
worldview.
Now
let’s dig into the text before us. Jesus commands you and me to “give.”
The word “give” is an imperative or
command. It is a present continuous imperative. You don’t just give one day and
quit. Giving must become part and parcel of your life. You and I are to obey
the commands of Christ. Jesus said that the only way we know that we love Him
is when we are obedient to Him.
The Christian life is a
giving life. Jesus has given His life on the cross for our sakes. Jesus has
given us the Holy Spirit to assist us to live the Christian life victoriously.
He has also given us eternal life. We will spend eternity with Him in heaven.
The Christian life is the exchanged life. When you give your life to Jesus, you
exchange your sinful life for His sinless life. This is the question: If this
is true and it is; why do many Christians find giving so hard to do?
Humans
by nature are selfish, for example, watch siblings. Giving doesn’t come
naturally. Parents must consistently teach our children to learn to give to
others. Some of you are teaching your children how to give to the Lord’s work,
and that is a good beginning. Selfishness is in the human blood. It is only the
love of Christ that can remove it.
ORIGINATION OF
SELFISHNESS:
It began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and
Eve decided to have it all to
themselves.
Selfishness also breeds or engenders greed. It was selfishness and greed that
caused the first couple to fall into Satan’s temptation. As humans giving does
not come natural. We need to be taught to give. And nobody is more qualified to
teach giving than Jesus Himself.
In teaching us to give, Jesus is
teaching you and me who are Christians that we are the forgiven. And the
forgiven are to be openhearted, and open-heartedness has consequences. Jesus
did not specify what we are to give. However, in other passages Jesus speaks
specifically of giving of money and treasures (Luke 6:27-30). In verse 38, Jesus leaves the giving
hanging in the air. The giving in this context is very broad. Therefore, you
cannot excuse yourself and say, Jesus is not talking to me.
II.
BLESSING FOR THE OPENHEARTED V. 38b
Jesus commands us to keep on giving
and reminds us that when we give people respond in kind. Jesus says, “Give, and
it will be given to you.” There is reciprocity in giving to God or others
(Proverbs 22:9). There is a reward for being generous to the poor. The generous
person has a benevolent disposition, keen social conscience, and concern for
the poor.
This
is a person whose life is opposite to “those who are stingy and covetous.” The
irony is that because the generous person is not the prisoner of his/her
selfish desires, he/she achieves the highest degree of fulfillment.
Some people here in the United States and in Africa are prisoners of
their wealth. They keep their wealth to themselves and they wonder why they are
miserable.
Nobody
who is generous loses. You cannot give to God and lose. If this statement is
true and it is, why do some Christians refuse to tithe and give offerings to
God’s work? Let us bring it home: How many of us can sincerely and honestly say
that we give accurate tithe of our income?
When
you receive your tax returns from the IRS does it occur to you to give a tithe
of it to God? The fact that many of us don’t give generously to God is a
reflection that we don’t trust Jesus Christ to meet our needs. Moreover, we are
robbing God. To rob God means to take something that belongs to God by force.
The
spread of Islam versus the stinginess of Christians. Christians give only about
2% of their income to local and worldwide missions. Spending on vacation and
pleasure. At the same time they are complaining that their neighborhoods are
becoming Muslims and Hindus. It takes money to send out Missionaries to other
nations but you are not getting involved by giving money to help spread the
word and work of Christ.
Inconsistency of our love and trust in Jesus while at the same time
doubting His word. Even to His accusers Jesus said, "If you don’t believe
in Me believe in My teaching and the miracles you see" (JOHN 10:38).
·
Here is
the caution:
Jesus
is not teaching prosperity gospel. This is the favorite passage for the
proponents of prosperity gospel. Prosperity gospel is counter-productive. You
know why? It blinds Christians from helping those who have legitimate needs.
Why? Because if you have the potential of becoming a millionaire and you are
not tapping into that source, why should I help you? Another danger is that it
promotes and deifies materialism and greed. Read the Book of Jeremiah. Can you
tell me that those who preach and teach prosperity gospel are more spiritual
than Mother Theresa who left everything to serve the poor in Calcutta, India?
Can
you imagine going to a church where material prosperity is preached Sunday by
Sunday as God’s way for every believer? Meanwhile, you are struggling to make
ends meet. You will be filled with false guilt and blame yourself. Some will
even think that you are living in sin. Jesus never taught that every Christian
would be rich financially. Rather He teaches that the poor among us is God’s
mission for us (John 12:8). We will continue to have poor people in the world
till Jesus returns. The other side of the matter is also true. Jesus does not
encourage laziness or idleness. Nevertheless, Jesus knew that there will always
be poor people among us, and these are our mission field to cultivate. We are
to help the poor intentionally and purposefully.
III. BOUNTIFUL RETURN TO THE OPENHEARTED V.
38c
When
God opens your heart to Himself and His word, He also opens your hand or
wallet. Jesus is saying that you and I cannot out-give God. Not only will God
give back what you give to Him; He will give beyond measure to you. The terms,
“good measure,” “pressed down,” “shaken together,” “running over” are all
metaphors. The metaphor is symbolic language for measuring out grain in such a
way that full volume is given. Your “lap” is really your “bosom,” and it refers
to a fold in the Jewish outer garment made as it hung over the girdle. It was
used as a kind of pocket (Ruth 3:15).
Israel
as an agricultural country. What are the basic needs of many people throughout
the world? Food, clothing, drink, and shelter (Matthew 6:25-34). Jesus says that there is a principle
of reciprocity in the affairs of life.
A
man came to his pastor for counseling. He felt convicted that he had not been
faithful in giving God a portion of the generous thousand-dollar weekly salary
he was making. The man explained, “I had no problem thanking God and giving him
a liberal offering when I was making just two hundred and fifty dollars a week.
Please pray for me.”
The
pastor then prayed, much to the man’s dismay, “Father, please bring this man
back to a two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar salary so that he can get back into your
will.”
Those
who think that the passage doesn’t apply to them: Those who aren’t rich, those
who are content with their giving. God has gifted us in many ways: Gift of
music; gift of helps; gift of organization; even the children and the youth
need to learn how to give of yourselves to service. All of us who are
Christians are the recipients of God’s grace, but have concluded that telling
others about the love of Christ is the pastor’s job.
The gift of exhortation (example of
Barnabas). Some pastors have created a co-dependency syndrome in their
churches. Such churches are not healthy.
The
Lord did not save you to be a bench warmer. He saved you to serve Him and
others. Every Christian is a minister. Paul said to Timothy, “What I have
taught you before many witnesses, teach the same to others also" (2 Tim.
2:2). The pastor’s primary responsibility is to equip the church to serve
(Ephesians 4:11-16).
If
you are willing to use whatever gift or talent the Lord has given to you to
serve Him and others, He will bless you beyond measure (Proverbs 11:24-25). In
God’s economy generosity often determines prosperity. You must give in order to
gain. There are rewards for being generous to God and others. When you are
being generous to others, you are providing for yourself. How do you use your
time, talent, and treasure?
