A thoughtful post for this First Friday. A Good Measure By Fr. Steve Ryan, SDB Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in turn be measured out to you.” – Luke 6:36-38 In Jesus’ day merchants used scales to get a good reading on how much to pay a seller for a product. Measuring an amount of flour, wheat, sugar or even gold, the merchant would place the item to be weighed into a pan on a scale. The measure was important because if the proprietor was stingy and didn’t give the seller a good measurement, the common man trying to make a living could be ripped off. In this Gospel of Luke, Jesus is telling us that we can relax with God as our arbitrator. If we go to Him with trust and surrender – He will always treat us more than fairly. God will never rip you off. Hand Him over the goods of your life and know that in turn you will receive grace and favor. He will give back to you a more than generous reward. Jesus teaches that we surely will get more than we deserve when we’re humble enough to trust the Lord. Going further with this – once we receive blessings from God, we ought to immediately imitate our Lord in our actions and transactions with others. We will only continue to produce what we’re willing to release to other people. This is because we can count on this: God will not be outdone in generosity. We will always receive back what we invest in God and others. Keep giving generously and you will be generously treated in return. In that sense, we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). The return for a generous “measure” is another generous “measure” (pressed down, shaken tight and flowing over). Now you may say, “Well I trust God’s goodness, but not necessarily the goodness of all the people around me. After all, there are quite a few snakes out there in the world. I doubt that they’ll be generous and bless me if I am generous and bless them.” Yet we must do it. Christ commands it. Jesus said for his disciples to love their enemies, do good to those who hate them, bless those who curse them, pray for those who mistreat them and give to others without expecting anything back. He says that if our enemies ask for anything from us, we should give it to them without expecting anything in return. He says to turn toward someone who’s mistreating us, rather than turning away from them. Jesus says don’t judge people, then we won’t be judged. If we don’t condemn, then we won’t be condemned. These are radical statements that go against human nature. This is where the rubber hits the road. Again – trust His words. Trust the process! If we are willing to give our time, attention, resources and love to others – even when it’s not returned – blessings will come back around. We will receive much more in return. It may not seem so in the moment yet remember: imitate Christ. Behave like Jesus. You will grow deeper in God. When it seems to be silly to be humble and to make sacrifices, when it seems unfair – the Kingdom of God is expanded. Yes in our hearts, but also in the hearts of those we impact. The Kingdom of God is like a seed that starts small yet spreads everywhere and produces more than we can imagine (Matthew 13:31-32). We receive when we’re humble and emptied. We get more from God when we’re vulnerable and even used by others. God will not be outdone in generosity! What goes around, comes around. Trust! Stay generous. So… we reap what we sow, and the resulting return is a good measure, pressed down and overflowing in our laps.
