The constantly flowing stream of God's love

Here is my reflection from yesterday's lunchtime Eucharist at St Martin-in-the-Fields:

Our Gospel Reading today (Luke 6. 36 - 38) speaks of how we are to receive from God; a particularly appropriate theme for Lent where we seek to deepen our relationship with God through prayer and meditation over the 40 days of Lent.

The image we are given at the end of this short passage, is that of a constantly flowing stream of water which is being poured into a container (a jug, a cup, a glass). ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’ Because the water is constantly flowing, the container quickly fills and then the water spills over the sides and constantly runs over from the container.

The constantly flowing stream of water is the love and blessing of God which is always being poured out over us. Our lives are the container (the jug, the glass) and to receive from God we need to position ourselves under the ever-flowing stream of his love and blessing and open our lives to that love and blessing.

We could decide that we don’t wish to receive from God either by moving away from the source of blessing or by closing our lives to the flow of God’s love. But the image we are given here is of someone who is completely open to the love of God and who has positioned their life in order to receive as fully as possible from God.

Is that where we are in our relationship with God this Lent? Are there aspects of our lives and experiences that keep us closed off to God or to receiving his love fully? Are there ways in which we are sidestepping coming fully into the steam of God’s love, perhaps because there are unconfessed or unforgiven experiences in our lives? As we confess those things that are blocks to receiving or as we reposition ourselves so we are no longer avoiding God’s love, then we are able to receive from God as fully as possible. Let us aim to do so throughout this Lent and beyond.

When we are fully open to God and positioned to receive fully from him, then the other aspect of this image to note is that the image is not about simply being filled ourselves. Instead, the image is of being so full ourselves that God’s love constantly spills over from us to others. God’s love is not something we can contain or retain simply for ourselves. God’s love is always being poured out for all people everywhere. It is profligate; without limit and without end. We cannot bottle it up, put a lid on it and keep it just for ourselves, because to do so closes us off from receiving in future.

The only way in which we can be filled and blessed by God’s love is if we constantly give it away - 'give, and it will be given to you; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’ We can only go on being filled if we give away what we have received to others.

We often think about Lent in terms of giving up. We give something up in order to focus more on God during Lent. This image suggests, however, that as well as giving up those things that prevent us receiving from God, we should also take something up, as that is about giving away what we have received from God to others as part of the profligate way in which God pours out his love to us. Some Lent programmes or initiatives essentially encourage what are now called random acts of kindness; a different act or action for each day of Lent that blesses someone else and thereby shares the love of God with others.

How will you be a source of blessing and love to others this Lent? Considering that question is primarily about how God’s profligate love is shard abundantly with others, but secondarily, is also a question about our capacity to receive more of God’s profligate love ourselves; as our capacity to receive is actually wholly dependent on our willingness to give.

‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’ Amen.

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Julie Miller - River Where Mercy Flows.