A Good Measure
Luke 6: 27-38
Rev. Dr. Leslie Taylor, preaching
When it was time for the offering in my home church, the entire congregation would recite this verse with Rev. Hood: "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." At the time, I did not understand the context of what we were saying or why it was so important. I now understand a little better. It's about more than the offering- it is about a radical way of living and acting in the midst of a harsh reality.
When read in context, we see that Jesus is telling us to love as God loves — to treat one another the way we would want to be treated and to behave in ways that take the higher ground. Jesus guides us to do something radical, to love those who hate you, to comfort those who cause you pain, to pray for those who have mistreated you. These are difficult words to live by, but they are the way of resistance. This model of behavior, while commendable, also has self-serving ends: we get to live in the world we create. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." The law of love is distinctly anti-retaliatory. If everyone returns evil for evil, what room does good have to grow, flourish, and spread? When we follow Christ's guidance, we will be resisting hate, curses, abuse, theft, and judgment by responding to those things with love, mercy, nonviolence, generosity, and forgiveness.
Kindness is compassion embodied and the emotion of love translated in acts that prioritizes the other as well as the self. The challenge of Jesus remains clear: to create the world in which God desires we live. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that". This is not passive love. This is what it might mean to give in good measure.
What might it be like if the measure of life and interactions we give are the measure we get back?
Based on Luke 6:27-38
Music this week:
Every Move I Make
Here I Am to Worship
I Could Sing of Your Love, Forever
Live in Charity
Help Us Accept Each Other
When I Think About the Lord