Hold on Tight

This past Sunday we talked about Genesis 12 and Abram's trust that he had in God.

One thing that I have observed about God is that he is a responsive God. Are you familiar with responsive websites? That's what I think about. Ever taken your smart phone or tablet and gone to a website where it doesn't seem to fit your screen? You have to scroll this way and that. You have to scale and re-scale to make sure you see everything and can actually use the website. This is a website that is not made to be responsive. When you get to a responsive website (which is all the rage right now), the information and the theme of the website is made to fit whatever size browser or screen you are on. That is responsive.

God makes it so we can respond to his action. He is the maker of our spiritual website. He makes it responsive. We point and click and act and God enables us to respond. He scrolls with us and he pans where we are. He zooms in on our life to give us perspective and then zooms back out to help us see his work. God initiates. We respond. That is the nature of our God.

God reached out to Abram. Abram responded by choosing to leave his father and extended family. He left so much. In fact, he left more than he took with him. And he did it because he was responding to God telling him to go. He trusted God.

And that is how our God is. He builds trust by giving us opportunity to respond to what he is doing. Without God's action in reaching out, Abram had no response. There was simply nothing to respond to. However, God did reach out and when Abram responded, trust was made, created, built and stored. That is what I mean by saying that God puts trust in our way. In many ways, God creates the trust in us, faith if you will, by creating an opportunity for us to trust in him.

Faith and trust cannot exist if God does not act to cause them or grow them. God does the action. Our job is to respond to that action.

Our God is a god that over promises and over delivers. Have you heard that phrase before? Probably not in that order. Usually it is used to say something about good customer service. Something like, X company underpromised and then over delivered. They went above and beyond what they had said. However, have you noticed that God normally over promises? He promises to do amazing things, things that we simply can't even imagine. And we are wow-ed by God's promises, to the extent that we can't believe that he would even do those things? Why is that? But then, it comes. God does even more than he promised. He does something that goes far beyond what you could expect. He over delivers on promises that were over promised! That is our God!! And only he can do that!

That is what Abram experienced. Read the passage and follow Abram through the story of God. You will see it. It is truly amazing.

This is no different for us. God has a story with each of us. This is a story where God wants us to grow in and through all things. A plan for our lives that will astonish us. He wants the very best for us. And we need to be prepared, seek him and then . . . Hold. On. Tight.

Grace and Judgment

I was reading the passage "interlude" between this week's passage and next week's. And I thought I would share something that was impressed upon me.
Here is the passage:
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 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.”
This is a remarkable passage! And many times it is taken out of context to proof text or prove someone's point out of context.
Unfortunately, many translations don't help with this! Many of them, in an attempt to set apart the sections of text, called pericopes, cause a misinterpretation. The previous section, Luke 6:27-36, is talking about mercy, or as Nazarenes like to sometimes switch it over to Grace. This pericope is all about grace!!
And so we find that verse 37 continues that line of thought. It is all about grace! So when it says do not judge, it is all about grace. When it says do not condemn, it is all about grace! These two lines are called parallel verses. They act to clarify each other. This is to illustrate the definition of judge and to help understand what judge and condemn are and what they are not about!
So do not be confused! This pericope is all about expounding the idea of mercy. It is NOT about having a moral relativistic attitude! We are to use discernment. We are to, as one scholar put it, "have an ethical evaluation."
The explanation goes even further, as the concept of the full measure is given. This is not a measure that is short or less than expected. It is a fair measure. It is completely full. Pressed down, shaken together and running over. That's a full measure!
And that is what we are to give in material needs and also in mercy. And that is also what will be given to us in equal reciprocity.
Pretty powerful stuff! Mercy is to be dispensed in ways and means of the wallet and the heart. Freely. Completely. But it is not about the giving to receive. It is about giving to give. Receiving will come in full measure, and the giving cannot be dependent on the receiving.

Have a good week!

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