God’s grace is more than we can comprehend. I have attempted to shed a little light on just one magnificent expression of His grace. It was challenging to begin the process in an engaging manner. I want to wrap it up with God’s challenge to us and my confession to you.
The Challenge of God’s Scale-Tipping Promise
The challenge is not directly stated but it is plainly present. Notice the words of Luke 6:38:
For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you
Do you see the challenge? God doesn’t begin to tilt the scales in your favor until you have acted. In other words, His promise of grace begins with a Divine imperative:
You go first!
That is absolutely necessary. The earlier verses in Luke 6 (and the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7) command us to give. We are to be generous to others around us. Our generosity is meant to represent the heart and intention of our Father. Our obedience to that command is a matter of faith. Remember Hebrews 11:6 –
Without faith it is impossible to please Him
What most of us really want is for God to go first. We think the process should begin with Him giving to us. After that we think it would be easy to imitate His generosity. But it isn’t about the amounts we do or don’t give. It’s about the obedience of our hearts. Jesus recognized the hypocritical giving of the Pharisees and contrasted it with the poor widow who gave her pennies. Jesus said she gave more than all of them! Think about it.
My Confession
Not long after I did a faith-walk into full-time mission ministry, I got a call from a friend. He knew I had left many years of local church ministry. He also knew the work I was undertaking was a faith ministry (translation: no guarantees for income, support, etc.). Our history is one of humor. His question when I answered the phone was:
So how does it feel to be a professional fund raiser?
Not a lot of grace in that question, is there? We both laughed because I knew he was aware of the challenges in a ministry like this. But I’ve never considered myself very good at fund raising. And the content of this series of posts says I am not a fund raiser.
My work is similar to the church Paul mentioned in II Corinthians 8. A poor church begged to particiapte in an offering to help other believers. Like the widow Jesus cited, this church gave out of its poverty. Please read that chapter again and realize that this church begged to give sacrificially. They understood what I have tried to explain.
Everywhere I go I ask people to believe God’s promises of grace and abundance. Their perception of the opportunities I put before them is often this: He’s just fund raising. My perception is, Let me challenge you to receive from God more than you can ask or imagine. I ask people to: Go First, take the plunge, and believe that God means what He says.
If we really believed our Father wants to constantly tip the scales in our favor, it would drastically change the scene everywhere I go. Instead of challenging people to – trust Me, try Me, and prove Me – I would see them doing the same thing as the church in II Corinthians 8: begging to participate in what God is doing. Actions really do speak louder than words!
I challenge you (beg you?) to offer a prayer like this: Lord, I trust you. I’ll go first. Demonstrate your abundant grace through me.
Soli Deo Gloria!
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