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CornucopiaMonday, February 18, 2008
Luke 6:36-38 "Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.
"For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
These are magnificent promises from God tied to reasonable requests for generosity between us men and women. I think about the manna on the ground in the morning, day after day and year after year while the Israelites wandered around the wilderness with nothing else to eat. How long before they took it for granted? How long before their taste buds cried out for salt and sweet and crunch and ... anything but manna! How do I maintain my posture toward God's magnificence? I am so Entitled and Selfish. I forget who I am and what I deserve quicker than lightning strikes the clouds in a thunderstorm. Yesterday my mother and I went to church together, and with the congregation prayed for four families of four young people killed when their pickup truck struck a large tree on Friday night. While we drank coffee during Sunday School, I am sure those mothers were tasting tears that just won't stop flowing. Do I know God more intimately when he fills my lap with all I need, or when I'm desperate and out of control and lost? That's probably not the right question ... I don't think God asks it. Portia begged Shylock for mercy measured as God measures it: "The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed, it blesseth him that gives, and him that takes ... (Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice)". God doesn't test me; he is merciful and never stops giving. My job is to accept his gifts and give them away again, no matter what, every day. Lord, open my hands, my heart and my life to your mercy. |
Before I give, God will give to me. God's measure is boundless; his giving never stops. He gives first, and from that endless bounty I respond.