Fair

"If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount...Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you." Luke 6:32-34, 38.

A friend told me that back in this part of history when you went market to get grain you requested it in measure. You held your tunic out (your garment) and the seller heaped the grain into it and you took it home for your family. The interesting thing is that apparently there were many ways to cheat someone of a full measure. The seller could short measure, not pack it down or shake it thus leaving pockets of air and emptiness and I'm sure a plethora of other conniving practices. But here, in this passage, God points out to us the importance of being generous.

I find it interesting how few of us Christians do much above what everyone else in society does. We speak to people that speak back, we lend to people that we expect to be repaid from and we usually adopt the "I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine" theory. We've let too much of our world creep in to our Christian thinking. I often attribute it to Southern culture. Here in the south most people would refer to themselves as "Christian" regardless of even owning a Bible (which almost everyone has one sitting on some shelf) or being in the practice of Christ-following. It doesn't require church membership, community engagement, honest living or even kindness. I hear people all the time talking about siblings and friends living very clearly outside of Christian beliefs yet we're so inclined in speaking about these people to give them the benefit of the doubt, as in "of course they've saved." It's a part of the southern life to add "getting saved" to your life checklist:  they've had their moment alone or in church where they "gave their heart to Christ." Check. Set for life.

But if God says I'm being judged according to the measure [I] use, I'm in trouble. We're easily jaded by people taking advantage of us and vow to not be outsmarted again. We adopt the theory "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." And while I think there's still a place for that, it's not what the passage here says. It says, how are we lending and loving, giving and showing generosity to people again and again, without judgment, above the norms of society? How are we showing the kindness of a Savior? How are we different from everybody else? Luke tells us- it's when we give a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over that we're doing the work of Christ and fulfilling his order. And did you catch it? It's a good measure that's not just fair and equal, it's a measure that's running over and so a little beyond fair. It's a measure that shows Jesus' love and compassion, a little more than people expect or even need so that they can know the abundance that the Savior has and wants to give. It's a lot harder than we might think sometimes to live generously but I'm betting the reward will be worth it.