”...[Instruct them] to be working good, to being rich in beautiful works, to being generous, sharing...laying up to themselves a beautiful foundation unto the [time] being about to, in order that they should take hold of the indeed life.”
(looks like we need to take these two verses together, since they are pretty inseparable)
-As we are fixing our hope on the God Who richly supplies us will all good things, which we gratefully enjoy with gratitude, our Source AND our Destination, we pass it on. We are not Dead Sea people, everything flowing in and nothing flowing out. We are not termini - we are conduits. All the good and beautiful things which God does for us and has given to us - we are His means of passing those on to those around us. To our neighbors and to the nations.
-And yes, our goal is to get rich - but not that way. The account we’re looking to grow doesn’t exist at some bank or brokerage. It is a heavenly account, one which stores up these beautiful works - but it is not some sealed vault. We are not saving them for a rainy day - no, these get credited to our account when we give them away. Yes, I know that’s counter-intuitive, isn’t it? What account grows as we actually give away that which we are trying to accumulate? Nevertheless, this is the economy of heaven. Give it away - and you get to keep it. Forever. Isn’t that precisely what Jesus taught? Give it away, give it all away, give your life away - and you’ll get to keep it forever. Give away these beautiful works, slather them on extra thick, cup overflowing and running over. Give away so many of these beautiful works to those around you that you spoil them rotten.
-It is the abundance mentality. Generous and ready to share. What’s mine is yours. Sharing. One of the lessons of earliest youth - whatever God has entrusted to me is meant to be shared. In this game, the real life game of life, we win not by getting more than the other poor chap next to me, but by sharing. Again, it is counter-intuitive. But we are thinking of a world which is not of this world. A kingdom where things operate differently. Where me-first doesn’t fly - it doesn’t even exist. Yet this is our destiny. This is life indeed, life as it was always meant to be. Not living for me, trying to make myself rich with the perishable baubles and trinkets of this fallen temporal frame. No, we are all the time laying a foundation, building a portfolio which will survive not just into the future but beyond the future. Life indeed. The Indeed Life, Paul calls is. Life eternal. That which we were always meant to live. Entrance into golden streets of that glorious realm is not gained by scrimping and saving up for me-myself-and-I. Give it away. Whatever I have - I hold with an open hand. Ready to share. Ready to meet needs. That’s the heavenly way. The way to the heavenlies.
