What Kind of Gifts Does God Give? a sermon for the Second Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 3:20-35

²⁰and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. ²¹When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’ ²²And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’ ²³And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. ²⁷But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

28 ‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; ²⁹but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— ³⁰for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’

31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. ³²A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.’ ³³And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ ³⁴And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’ 

Let the words of my mouth

and the meditations of my heart

be pleasing to you,

LORD , my rock and my redeemer.

Let’s list things we’ve heard about how God gives gifts:

All good gifts come from God.

God will never give you more than you can handle.

God helps those who help themselves.

What I like about this week’s texts is that we have several rather different witnesses to the way that God gives us gifts.

Let’s start with Samuel.

And, by the way, I love the way the people confront Samuel as this passage opens.

“You are old…”

That’s not something we generally will go up to someone and say, no matter how true it is. Well, maybe Noah or Sarah would, but most of us learn a little bit of empathy by the time we leave elementary school.

I suppose it makes a difference who says it. If I, at 35, say that to someone who is, say, 65, how well will that go over?

But the people saying this to Samuel are all the elders of Israel.

Look, you’re old, and your kids are completely disinterested in your line of work. We want you to appoint us a king so we can be like everybody else around us.

Is Samuel interested in appointing a king for the people? No. Is God interested in appointing a king for the people? No.

But they do. Because the people ask.

Because sometimes God gives us what we ask for.

And before you jump to some conclusion about God teaching the children of Israel a great big lesson about who should be in charge, or about setting up the lineage of Christ through the Throne of Israel, think really hard about how many lives were destroyed through the greed and power hunger of the kings of Israel and Judah. Do you really feel comfortable saying that God would do that?

Let’s just observe what Samuel does: Sometimes God gives us what we ask for.

And sometimes that ain’t a great thing.

But a couple generations later, the Psalmist records a different testimony:

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
   you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
   and your right hand delivers me.
⁸ The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;
   your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.
   Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Because sometimes God gives us protection.

⁶ For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;
   but the haughty he perceives from far away. 

Sometimes we need protection.

I suppose it’s important to note that this is a psalm attributed to David, who knew great comfort and power for most of his life, so to speak of David as lowly is mostly a comparison to God, not to other people.

But the psalmist also draws a comparison between the lowly and the haughty.

The CEB puts it this way:

Even though the LORD is high,

he can still see the lowly,

but God keeps his distance from the arrogant.

If there is a comparison being made, it’s that God is near to the humble, to the lowly, but allows the arrogant and haughty the chance to fall from their height.

But when God is near, God offers us protection from the arrogant, from the greedy.

When we’re humble, God offers us protection.

Maybe the most familiar conception of the way God gifts us, though, is what we have in 2 Corinthians:

¹⁷For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure

Now, we do have to work through a bit of a translation problem to get the comparison Paul is making. Honestly, the KJV handles the comparison better, but the rest of the language is muddled.

The sense is this:

The affliction that we are faced with now is lightweight, relatively inconsequential in mass, compared from excess to excess [that is, comparing the small to the infinite; remember Paul’s “from glory unto glory”?] to the weight, the incomparable hugeness of glory that this affliction is preparing us for.

(Sometimes you can pack too much into a phrase. Paul’s good for that.)

God gives us a little bit of hard stuff so we can be ready for a whole lot of good stuff.

No, let’s be real about this. That’s not actually what Paul’s saying. Paul isn’t saying that the affliction comes from God. And for the record, Paul also isn’t saying that God’s not going to give us more than we can handle. Some of you are well aware that, yes, sometimes God does give us more than we can handle. And really, sometimes God isn’t giving it to us. Neither is the Devil. Sometimes really awful stuff just happens, like death and unfaithfulness and accidents and disasters.

That’s not the stuff that comes from God.

What God gives us is that “eternal weight of glory beyond all measure” [NRSV], “an eternal stockpile of glory for us that is beyond all comparison” [CEB].

What God gives us is grace:

As grace increases to benefit more and more people, it will cause gratitude to increase, which results in God’s glory.

And grace is what makes God’s work, God’s praise, God’s witness possible through us.

All the time, God gives us grace.

And the best news is what Mark shares with us: that all are welcome to be sisters and brothers of Christ; that all are welcome in the Family of God.

‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ ³⁴And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’ 

Not only has God gifted us with grace that leads us into truth, that leads us into the will of God; but God has gifted us with the Family of God. We are joint heirs with Christ of eternity!

Amen!

With good news like that, who needs all the stupid clichés about what God gives us? What kind of person tells a grieving mother, “God never gives us more than we can handle”? Say something real! Say something true!

In Christ, I am here with you. I am your sister here and now. I am your brother because I love you. Because Jesus loves you.

I am the love of Christ for you because God’s love can’t quit.

Sure, sometimes God gives us what we ask for, even when we don’t know better. And when we are weak and humble, in need of a Protector, God gives us protection. Always God gives us grace to call us to holiness. And always God gives us the gift of family in Christ, so we can always be brothers and sisters to each other, looking forward to that day when

⁴ All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
   for they have heard the words of your mouth.
⁵ They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
   for great is the glory of the Lord.
⁶ For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;
   but the haughty he perceives from far away. 

God’s love is enough. God’s gifts are enough. Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.