Lent Week 4: Give

I read this passage for years before I realized it was about food, a farmers’ market in particular. The general admonitions, which are so easy to read and yet so hard to live by, are followed by a concrete story of the food market to show us what they really mean. If you’ve been to the farmers’ market you know that produce is often weighed and sold by the pound. In Jesus’ time, certain produce, grain in particular, was sold by the “measure.” The Greek word for “lap” is kolpos, which translates literally as one’s chest or the “fold of one’s garment.” Shoppers would hold out their robes, and grain was poured into the robe like a basket until it reached their chests, or the “fold of the robe.” This was a “measure.” It’s easy to imagine such an imprecise measurement being abused. Jesus here is counseling the shopkeeper, the owner of the farm and holder of more than he needs, to give a good measure to all–not just to friends and relatives, but to everyone.

When you measure out the grain, Jesus says, press it down. Shake it together to get as much as possible into that robe. Pour out the grain until it is overflowing. For the measure we use will be the measure God uses with us. What does this say about the way we are to feed the hungry among us? Is it enough to drop an occasional can of green beans into a collection box? Or should we pour out our fullest measure? Baking from scratch with our favorite recipes? Smoking ribs all day like the finest BBQ joint? Asking what types of food immigrant families in our community actually enjoy eating?

We are called to give a good measure, without judgment or condemnation but with care and thoughtfulness. Too often we have a leftover mentality when it comes to giving. Instead of giving out of our abundance, we give whatever is left over. The things we give away are the byproduct of a day spent cleaning out the basement or the pantry, rather than researching the actual needs of those around us. Don’t get me wrong, those leftovers are put to good use. The furniture we don’t need any more is an exciting gift for a young person transitioning to their first apartment through Epworth. The extra can of beans we bought on sale is a blessing to a hungry family shopping at the LifeWise food pantry. But when Jesus talks about giving in passages like this, he is talking about something more intentional.

A retired Kingdom House Executive Director told me long ago that the gifts we give to the poor ought to be as thoughtful as the gifts we give to the other people in our lives we care about. What do we normally ask ourselves when giving a gift: what is needed? What is helpful? What might bring joy? Giving a “good measure” involves asking the same questions. To give a good gift, to anyone we care about, requires some thought. Jesus calls us to give as we would want it to be given to us.