Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:6-13; Luke 11:39-46
As the days draw ever closer to our annual day of Thanksgiving,
our reasons for being thankful in the Lord should also be growing in purpose,
in passion, and in commitment. And even
as the mess that the world is in grows beyond all measure, the blessings that will
come to the Lord’s people will grow in even greater ways. Have you been considering what you might
include in your thanksgiving list - those blessings that God has provided, and
continues to provide for you each and every single day?
The truth of the matter is as proclaimed in the
Nicene Creed – that the Lord is creator of all things – those that are
seen, as well as those that are unseen!
I am also certain that those discoveries and inventions that have
generally been attributed to the wisdom and ingenuity of human beings, are also
the work of the hands of God! He guides,
inspires, and directs our works, and even though the labor saving, entertaining
and even more important devices that we use each and every day were built by
human hands, they still should be offered up to the credit of God’s
desires.
Unfortunately, all too often, the God given gifts
that we have in this lifetime are seldom used to praise and glorify the
Creator! And even worse, they are, many
times, used to advance personal agendas of wickedness and self-importance. So let’s take some time to see what scripture
has to say about this state of affairs.
Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-9
Believers in Jerusalem were
going through a difficult time, and churches throughout the region were
collecting offerings to send to those faithful, to help them in their hour of
need. Paul, in the 8th
chapter of 2 Corinthians (8:13-15), tells believers in Corinth that they
aren’t being asked to give more than they have, but to give as much as they
can. And that they will be helping
others, so that when, and if, Corinth finds itself in need, that others can
help them. He refers to this exchange of
aid as true “Equity”. (Matthew 7:12)
In this passage for today, He
makes the comparison to planting and harvesting, that we receive in direct
comparison to what we give. As the Lord
blesses us, we are to give a portion of our blessing to bring blessings to
others. It should never be by way of
obligation, or pressure, or self-worth, but out of a desire to give as God has already
given to us. It’s all about our attitude
in the giving, and the apostle reminds us that “God loves a cheerful giver.” The prophet Micah has also reminded us that
the things we do are nowhere near as important as is the attitude that inspires
us to do them in the first place! (Micah 6:8)
Even in the Psalms we read
that when we live in the way that the Lord would have us live, we will give
generously and intentionally. Psalm112:6-10, for example, tells us “They have freely scattered their
gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever” This is inspiration to serve as the Lord has
served us.
In other words, “God (truly
does) love a cheerful giver”!
Read 2 Corinthians 9:10-13
As we read this passage, we
need to carefully understand that the author isn’t only speaking about
providing food to other believers. In Matthew5:15-17; 46-48, Jesus tells us that the light that shines through our
righteous acts is intended to bless all who experience it, and that the love we
show should benefit everyone, and not just those who love us in return. And the Lord would have us know that to live
and love in this way will be our reflection of how God would have us reach out
to all people of this world.
Paul wants us to know that
our “God of Abundance” will bless our giving out of the abundance that He has
already given. But if we only give out
of our poverty, out of our lacking, there will never be sufficient
glory shown toward the One who has given us everything in the first
place! And when we give generously out
of all that we have received, our example of living the Godly life, will never
go unnoticed – not by those who have benefitted from our generosity, and definitely
not by our great and generous Lord.
One further point – how should
we respond to God’s blessing of enabling and allowing us to live in a way that
brings divine blessings into the lives of others? Thankful lives bring others to an awareness
of thanksgiving for their own lives. But
we must never take credit for being so able, for ability is also a gift from
our Almighty, Gracious, and Generous Lord.
Read Luke 11:39-42
This passage follows an event
in which Jesus had been invited to join a Pharisee in a meal at his home. But the Lord had failed to wash His hands
before joining in the feast, and the law-abiding Pharisee was appalled and
expressed his sense of personal insult.
Jesus tells him that he, and other legalistic men like him, are always
far more concerned about exterior cleanliness than they are about their
spiritual well-being. Pharisees had
always seen their adherence to the Law of Moses as proof that they were, in all
regards, righteous and worthy of being representatives of their Jehovah
God. But Jesus turns the tables on him
with the accusation that, in reality, he is actually filled with greed and
wickedness.
The point is that God has created
us to be whole and complete people, and when we choose to live in ways that deny
the Lord’s perfect creativity, we no longer reflect the reality that brought us
into being in the first place! And the
only hope for us is to get rid of all that condemns us on the inside, and to
let the Lord rebuild us from the inside out.
Our actions should always be a reflection of where and how our heart and
spirit lives. If it is ungodly ways that
reside within us, then the discharge of those ways is our only hope of
restoring the relationship that we have broken through our unworthy heart.
Our giving, our outward
sacrifice, is only the visible portion of our generous acknowledgment of God’s
grace and goodness. For without a
heart-felt desire to give God thanks for the ability to love others as we were
first loved (1 John 4:19-20), it is only a half-hearted effort at best.
Read Luke 11:43-46
An external appearance of the
pious life is no life at all. The
analogy that Jesus is offering regarding the unmarked grave, is a reference to
the Hebrew practice of whitewashing their family tombs to make them more
attractive and noticeable. The Lord is
telling the scribes and Pharisees that the life that they were living was no
better than an unwashed tomb – that they were actually filled with death, and
that true life had become elusive for them.
And
as for the legalism that they were imposing on everyday Jews and their
families, this was one more example of their lack of generous love for
others! A legalistic faith is hollow
faith, a self-centered faith, a worthless faith, and it gives absolutely no
glory, and no thanksgiving to the only One who actually deserves our praise.
So
the question for our own lives is this – does our inner person, does our
heart’s passion, give credence to the thought that the ways of God hold
importance in our life? Or are we living
a lie by pretending to be faithful, in an attempt to give others the impression
that our desires and passion are truly a reflection of our gratitude for all
that the Lord has, and is, and continues to do for us?
May
our lives always be a true reflection of who our Lord is for us, in this life
and in that which is beyond all we know.
