Human Responsiveness
W. Clarkson Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom… This word of Christ may be taken with that other on the same subject, which none of the evangelists recorded, but which we could ill have spared, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." We may consider - I. WHAT WE HAVE TO GIVE. We have much that we can draw from if we desire to benefit and to bless our fellow-men. 1. Our possessions - our money, our time, our books, our clothes, etc. 2. Ourselves - our thought, our affection, our sympathy. II. WHO SHOULD BE OUR RECIPIENTS. These should be: 1. Our kindred according to the flesh. 2. Our kindred according to the spirit - our fellow-Christians, our fellow-members. 3. Our neighbours, those who, as the nearest and most within reach, should receive our kind thoughtfulness. 4. The children of want, of sorrow, of spiritual destitution, both at home and abroad. There is a sense, and that a truly Christian one, in which those who are in the saddest need and in the darkest error, aye, and even in the most deplorable iniquity, have the greatest claim on our pity and our help. III. WHAT MAY BE OUR INCENTIVES. 1. That giving is that act which is most emphatically Divine. God lives to give - to bestow life, and health, and beauty, and joy on his creatures. Christ Jesus came to give himself for man. 2. That it is truly angelic. 3. That it is the heroic thing to do. Men have been true heroes in proportion as they have spent themselves and their powers on behalf of their kind. 4. That it is most elevating in its influence on ourselves and, when wisely directed, on those for whom it is expended. IV. WHAT WILL BE OUR RECOMPENSE. 1. The Divine approval. "For God loveth a cheerful giver." 2. The unconscious and uncalculated reaction that will be received by ourselves, enlarging our heart and lifting us toward the level of the supreme Giver. 3. The response we shall receive from those we serve. This is the recompense which is promised in the text. "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure... shall men give into your bosom." There is far too much ingratitude in this world; more, perhaps, than we are willing to believe, until sad experience has convinced us. Nevertheless, there is also a very large measure of human responsiveness on which we may safely reckon. If we give to others, men will give to us; if we love them, they will love us. Do not even the publicans so? (Matthew 5:46). Even those whose hearts have been unchanged by the truth and grace of Christ will respond to genuine kindness. Patronage they will recognize and resent; officialism they will distinguish and may endure. But the help which comes straight from the heart they will appreciate, and to him who gives it they will give a free and gladdening response. To the really generous man, as distinguished from the formal "benefactor" or the professional philanthropist, there will flow a stream of warm-hearted gratitude and affection which will far more than repay all the time and treasure, and even all the sympathy and service, that have been expended. The generous giver will be the recipient of (1) the regard, (2) the gratitude, (3) the affection, and, (4) when it may be needed, the substantial kindness of those whom he has tried to serve, and of many others outside that circle. And to these may be added that which, if its worth be less calculable, yet may be even more valuable and more acceptable than any or all of these - the prayers of the good. Selfishness often misses its own poor mark, and it always fails to bless its author with an inward blessing; but beneficence is always blessed. God rains down his large benedictions from above, and below men offer their glad and free contribution. "Give, and it shall be given unto you... for with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." - C. Parallel Verses KJV: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. WEB: "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you."