Luke 6:37-38
37 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.[c]”
It has been said many times by many people at First Church, and it will be repeated again. The flow of the power and gift of God’s grace that moves in and through us is like a refreshing river.
God’s grace covers and enables us to enter in the sanctification process of becoming more like Jesus. But grace also flows from God’s heart through us to accomplish His will in each of our lives. It moves us as a river would move us from where we are to where we are called to be.
If you have ever canoed or kayaked a river the worst direction you could go (unless you want a work out) is to try to paddle upstream. The most pleasant, refreshing direction you can go is down stream, gently paddling with the current when necessary, but allowing the pull of the river to move you much further and efficiently then you could ever move yourself. The same is with grace, when we position ourselves to yield with its flow through our lives we are best positioned to go where God wants to take us and are ready for what He wants to do through us. Of course, we still have the responsibility to take hold of our proverbial paddles and engage the waters of life when necessary, but overall we are at our best when we are submitted to the flow of God’s grace moving in, around and through us. This year Jesus is graciously taking each of us into what and where He has called us to be. We cannot fool ourselves. We can only move with Him through His Grace, because through His Grace we enter into His power. In His power we accomplish more than we ever could do in our own strength. Although it requires faith and trust to jump into the river of faith which can be frightening at times. There is no better place to be than where God has called us.
Jesus makes an incredible statement in the passage above. God wants to give us and do in us more than we expect or even know how to ask for. He wants to overflow with blessing into our lives in such a way that the blessing becomes a bit messy and overwhelming. He wants to challenge what we expect. He wants to bless us in a manner that would interrupt the traditional ways we would receive and carry the blessing we are used to and expect. In order for us to step into that, we have to yield to the flow of grace in our lives. We have to stop trying to “paddle up stream”, quit the striving and allow the current of Grace to move freely through our lives.
What does that look like practically? What does that mean to let the current of grace flow through us? Well again in the text above, Jesus gives us some key points to help posture ourselves to move and flow in His grace.
When we refuse to live in judgment, when we are quick to forgive, when we live generously with our resources, we allow grace to flow freely through us. We make space for grace to overflow through our lives into the world around us. We create room in our lives for God to bless and enhance what we are used to, in ways we could never have dreamt of otherwise.
On the contrary.
When we live in judgment of others, when we hold on to bitterness and unforgiveness, when we take on the poverty mentality about what we have been given, it’s like we are paddling upstream. We make our faith walk about what we expect and where we want to go. The mechanism of control causes us to enter into striving as we are working against the flow of grace in our lives. This eventually leads to exhaustion and disappointment as we discover our very lives depended on the Grace of God moving freely in and through us.
Seems simple right? Like the old saying goes, let go and let God. Unfortunately, it’s often easier said than done. In our fallen nature we are helplessly addicted to fighting for ourselves. We love control and we fear the unknown variables that present themselves when we decide to put our faith in Jesus. In order to flow with Grace, we have to make a daily decision to submit to God's leadership. We have to actively choose and will ourselves to forgive and live generously as Jesus commands on a day to day basis until it becomes a natural rhythm of our lives. We have to allow Holy Spirit to convict us and to release healing grace in us that propels us further into the sanctification process of becoming more like Him. That choice is hard to make in the short term but produces a lifetime of blessings. Just as striving and paddling upstream seems reasonable and appealing in the short term but produces a lifetime of disappointment and heart aches. As we move into 2025, I am asking Holy Spirit to help me better submit to grace. I am asking Him to further deliver me from my desire to be in control and paddle upstream. I am believing in the overflow blessing of our lives that is provided when we are submitted to grace. I’m saying yes to the flow of the river of grace moving me forward into God’s call for my life and for yours.
Love,
Pastor John
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