Grace Comes With No Strings Attached.

Generosity in life and graciousness in giving don’t require, or reward, emotional manipulation {guilt-tripping}, a point-system {chalking up my brownie points}, the demand for recognition {a plaque on the wall, your name on a pew, a thank-you card or a legal record}, a lust for approbation, the expectation of approval, competition with the cat next to you or bribing God for a better deal.  All these involve what is popularly known as ‘attaching a string.’  What’s fascinating to me about this is grace always comes to us with no strings attached.  O sweet, sweet irony.

Didn’t Paul say in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich”— spiritually, eternally, intellectually and ethically.  With a set of values, a core of convictions, and a system of priorities, based on the Living Word of the Living God.  And a heart set on Eternity.

Our generosity of soul— our willingness to ‘live generously’— reflects who and what we are.  Generosity and graciousness reveal the character of the giver, not the receiver.  So, how does one evolve from tight-fisted to open-hearted?  Centre your life in the Word and will of your King.  Maturing in both of these enhances and expands our hearts’ capacity for love, for Life, and for grace.  Think about this the next time a divinely designated opportunity gets dropped in your lap.  The breakdown?  [i] The Son of God gave Himself for you on the basis of who and what He is.  [ii] The recipients {you and I and the entire human race} neither earned nor deserved His Gift!  [iii] Jesus demanded nothing in return from humanity before dying for our sins.

Jesus’ Gift to humanity came with no strings attached.  Agreed?  This is the very nature and heartbeat of grace.  And generosity in the gifts we give should always flow from a heart of grace.  They are intimately connected.  To separate them is to move outside of the way Abba works and the realm in which He operates and into the realm in which we take over!  Why would we do this?  Cause surely there’s a better way than simply trusting God to provide for my needs.  Surely, He won’t mind a little manipulation, the subtle exertion of pressure, a minor amount of intimidation.  Surely.

Wherever you find yourself one day, in whatever Family of Faith, remember this.  Then make up your mind who you’re going to serve.  Grace does not pressure people to give.  Grace does not ‘gimmick’ anyone into giving or deceive anyone for money.  Ever!  Grace simply opens the Door of Opportunity: ‘here is the need, and here’s how we can meet it.’  Give or don’t give, a little or a lot; it’s just this simple.

One last thing.  Requiring recognition for our gifts is just another attack on the glory of grace.  It’s one thing to need a receipt from a 501(c)3 for your taxes; it’s another to demand public recognition of what we gave and how we gave it, of how we came riding to the rescue of this church, or ministry, or charity, how it wouldn’t have survived without us.  The reality is: this may be true!  But who are you trying to impress?  God ...or man?  Because if it’s man, then it’s not God.  And if it’s not God, once you have your recognition, approbation and applause, guess what?  You also have your reward— cf. Matthew 6:1-4.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Is My Love Sincere?

When we give, anytime and anywhere to anyone or to anything, it is and should always be an expression of human freedom, the outworking of the will God gave us surrendered to His own.  You with me?  It should never be a matter of organizational {office, corporation}, denominational {‘This is our biiiig thing, the one all good ____s give to.’}, or even societal, pressure and persuasion {‘We’re taking from you, by ever-increasing taxes, to give to you, under government action.’}.  Persuasion is when giving is ‘suggested’— and maybe how much or to whom; pressure is when the suggestion is made at gunpoint.

Paul writes, rather clearly in 2 Corinthians 8:8, about how he wants to “test the sincerity” or ‘genuineness’ {from gnesios, used of legitimately born children} of the Corinthians’ “love by comparing it with the earnestness of” the Macedonians, by their ‘diligence’ and their ‘zeal.’  You see what he desires here?  He wants them— as all wise leaders, parents, and lovers want— to be internally motivated, not externally coerced.  He wants their internal motivation to manifest in external action.  In this case, an external action of overflowing generosity, just like that of the Macedonian Churches, whom Paul doesn’t let them forget are their Brothers and Sisters in the Battle.

After twenty-plus years of watching the Children of God up close and personal, I can say this without hesitation.  Giving will test, and test strongly, the genuineness and “sincerity” of two things: [i] our love for God; and [ii] our love for one another.  We invest ourselves— personally, professionally, emotionally and financially— in what we believe to be critically important.  Whether it actually is or not, or whether or not it is to others, is another matter for another time.  But we invest in what some part of our souls has determined to be imminently important to our survival, our success, our happiness, etc.  Giving in the Kingdom of Grace is no different!  It will test the sincerity of your love for the Lord Jesus Christ.  It’s like people who proclaim their undying passion for the Gospel... but won’t take five minutes to share it with a co-worker, or let fear keep them from ever declaring His love to their families.  Something is wrong with this picture.  Radically wrong.

And so is hoarding up the resources which have been poured lavishly upon us in grace.  We are reservoirs of Life, filled by the Father so we may quench the thirst of the weary and the wounded.  We receive from Abba in faith so we may give to others in grace.  As Jesus instructed His Disciples when He sent them to the “lost sheep of Israel” with “this Message: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is near!’” {Matt. 10:6b and 7b}, “Freely you received; freely give” {8e}.  Amen.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Generosity In Relationships.

No gift of grace is ever really given unless a part of us goes with it.  Which is another way of saying ‘unless it comes from the heart.’

This is why you’ve heard me challenge the Children of God over and over and over again to ‘live generously and love graciously.’  It is generosity in relationships which will stand the test of Time... and Eternity.  Forgiveness and compassion, tenderness and grace, the freedom to be exactly who Christ created you to be, and extending the freedom for this person to be exactly who Christ created them to be ...enough joy to laugh at how seriously we take ourselves ...enough love to cover over every failure, fault and flaw ...enough wisdom to recognize when things have gone beyond the bounds of reality, of healthy and of holy ...and enough courage to seek Abba’s and others’ help so these things can be redeemed!

This is my prayer for you, and for us, in every single one of our relationships.  In this arena, Jesus is the immaculate image, the ultimate example, of One who was willing to go to the grave and beyond in order to rescue and redeem those He loves!  May our hearts be ever-willing to follow in the Master’s footsteps.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Paul’s Corinthian Challenge.

To challenge the churches in Corinth, Paul appeals to three things.  One is their own past.  He writes, “Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so” {2 Cor. 8:10b}.  I.e., ‘Titus and I have been here before, Corinthians, we’ve both seen your generosity and your grace.’  Think about this.  If we simply lived true to our own highest standards, if we lived only from our convictions and not from our fears, how very different our world would be.  And what this might mean to the lives of those around us.

Secondly, the necessity of translating emotion into action, “desire” into deed.  What’s the follow up to v. 10?  “Now finish the work... finish the task at hand... complete the mission you signed up for... so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it” {v. 11 RR Exp}.  One of the tragedies, not only on the stages of ancient Greece but in our post-modern, post-Christian, commitment-avoiding-at-all-costs era, is how often we fail to turn Spirit-led impulse into God-honoring action.  You with me here?

Desire is not a substitute for deeds— Jms. 2:15-16; 1 Jn. 3:16-18.  And ‘best wishes’ during the Holy Days, when we could meet another’s needs practically, are worthless.  What does James say here?  “Suppose a Brother or Sister [We begin with the Family of Faith, the Household of God.] is without clothes or daily food.  If one of you says to him or her, ‘Go, I wish you well: keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” {2:15-16}.  Doesn’t John have a similar indictment against the People of God?  “If anyone has material possessions [And we all in the prosperous West have ‘material possessions.’  The poorest and most poverty stricken American is wealthier than 98% of the world.  If you’re living on more than two dollars a day, you’re wealthier than a vast portion of the Earth’s populace this very moment.  ‘If someone possesses these things, these resources and materiel:’] and sees his Brother in need but has no pity on him [‘no mercy, no compassion’], how can the love of God be at home in Him?”  How can it live and abide in his or her heart if this is the case?  “Dear Children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in Truth” {1 Jn. 3:17-18}.  Sounds like a plan.

Third, he reminds the Achaians that Abba has a way of evening things out.  “At the present time your plenty [Materially and financially: perisseuma refers to ‘an abundance, a fulness, an overflow.’] will supply what they [Jesus’ Followers in Jerusalem] need, so that in turn their plenty [The wealth of the Word of God, the passion of their prayers, even financial help when these churches face their own fire one day.] will supply what you need.  Then there will be equality” {v. 14}.  There will be ‘fairness and equity’ in the Body.  Boom.  The Body meets the needs of the Body, and the “God of all grace” {1 Pet. 5:10a} is glorified!

“Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap [These are all images of extreme generosity, the lavishness of grace.].  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” {Lk. 6:38}.  More often than not, don’t we find Jesus’ words ringing true in our lives— the measure we use on others gets used on us in return?  Abba has this beautiful way of repaying bounty with bounty, blessing with blessing, and a miserly effort with a miserly return.  In fact, at the beginning of 2 Corinthians 9 Paul will go on to say, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” {v. 6}.  And this, my friends, is reality when it comes to living and loving in Jesus’ Kingdom.  We can live generously, or miserly; we can love graciously, or greedily.  We can walk through Life tight-fisted or open-hearted.  The challenge is ours… and so is the choice.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

A Prayer For the New Year.

“May God bless us with discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so we may seek truth boldly and love deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so we may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all.

May God bless us with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all they cherish, so we may reach out our hands to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless us with enough foolishness to believe we can really make a difference in this world, so that we are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator, Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word who is our Brother and Savior, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide, be with us and remain with us, this Day and forevermore.

Amen.”  And amen!

— a Franciscan benediction ...slightly modified

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously