My Cup Overflows...From The Inside Out

[dave c]

HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #126e; Re-Written 24SEP08; http://groups.msn.com/AHealingShelter/welcome.msnw

My Cup Overflows— Part Five: ...From The Inside Out

by rev dave c

In First Peter 2:4&5, all Believers everywhere are told: As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (NIV). The sacrifices that are acceptable to God are RIGHTEOUS LIVING (Ro 12:1), THANKFUL PRAISE (He 13:15), and GOOD DEEDS (He 13:16) through Obedience, Sharing, and Giving (Ma 3:8)—where Sharing is fulfilling our obligations (much like paying taxes), and Giving expresses a generosity of spirit that anticipates no material or positional return. Furthermore, Hebrews 13:11-16 teaches that we are to go outside ourselves as individuals, families, and fellowships to offer sacrifices of giving to the needy around the World...and around the block. Isaiah 58 and the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Ma 25:31-46) lend concrete support not just to the suggestion that we should be ministering to those outside the Church, but that it is an absolute necessity of, and for, discipleship.

Now when [Jesus] had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. 40 “You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 “But give that which is within [inside the cup] as charity [alms], and then all things are clean for you. 42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others (Lu 11:37; NAS). We are to share (tithe) and give (alms).

In the Matthew 23:27&28 account of this same incident, Jesus cries out, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness (NIV). Jesus is here speaking of expectations not being met as based upon superficial observation. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law made every impression of being righteous through strict adherence to tithing in the “n-th” degree. Like the Sadducees, however, they neither understood the Scriptures, nor the power of God (Mt 22:29).

The word that is translated charity, or alms, in Luke 11:41, is eleemosune (Strong's #1654), which means, compassion, i.e. (as exercised towards the poor) beneficence, or (concretely) a benefaction—deeds. The message that is being spoken in these verses is painfully direct. To be “clean” on the inside is to give from within at least what is suggested by the outside. Our munificent giving to those in need should be at least equal to our dedication to maintaining the structures of our religion. This generosity includes our time and our interest, as well as our finances, and it should draw from all of our resources. If we are to take up our cross and follow Jesus outside the gates of our city we must be offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ in the form of Obedience—Sharing—Giving as we pursue RIGHTEOUS LIVING—THANKFUL PRAISE—GOOD DEEDS. We must give from what is on the inside of our cup, not just from outward existence.

Ironically, Pilate, as well as all of the Romans and the Jewish leadership, assumed that the inside of Christ’s tomb would be full of dead man’s bones as a natural consequence of the outside circumstances of death. But the inside of the tomb was “clean” because God the Father had given what was inside His cup to all of the world’s poor, to the broken, to the suffering, to those in jail and in hospitals, to the hungry and to all who need clothing and shelter—to all who are dead in their sins and transgressions (Co 2:13). God the Father sacrificed that which was most dear to His heart, His beloved Son, Jesus, so that we might have life, and life abundant (Jn 10:10). The tomb is empty. Because of His obedient sacrifice born of perfect love and eternal mercy—Christ is risen. The Lord is alive and sitting at the right hand of our Father in Heaven.

“Lord, I pray that we might begin to give what is inside our cup through the power of the Holy Spirit and in Your name. Like Paul, I ask that we willingly and joyfully allow ourselves to be poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from [our] faith (Ph 2:17; NIV). [Our] attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Ph 2:5-11; NIV). Amen.”