“Sometimes it’s not even the drugs that’ll kill you, man. What really kills you is looking for drugs.”

– Tommy Chong, “Things Are Tough All Over” –

 

Those two guys? Really? Can I do that?

Youbetcha I can!

I have already waxed eloquently about dorm bowling, cattle rustling, and shouting “Hey you kids, get off my lawn,” so, why not those two guys?

After all, back in the day I did enjoy their movies. Well, some of their movies. It seems that the more movies they made, the less funny they became until Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong became parodies of themselves. “Things Are Tough All Over” is widely considered either their last “good” movie, or their first “bad” movie. As for me, I needed a jumping off point for this bit, and it looks like a good fit, so there ya go.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few years, you are well aware that economically speaking, Things Are Tough All Over. The cost of stuff, essential stuff and non-essential stuff is becoming more expensive, and the value of the dollar is becoming less and less.  There are many reasons for this, and I absolutely refuse to get into them here. I am simply acknowledging the obvious.

There are many things that will come out of this situation, as we spend more on the things of sustenance, the less we are able to spend on discretionary items, which in turn will adversely affect the employees and employers who manufacture and provide those discretionary goods and services, which in turn…, well you get the idea.

One of these perceived “non-essential” or “discriminatory” expenses is in our charitable giving.  The more we tighten our belt, the stingier we happen to become. I’m not saying this out of judgement, or condemnation; it’s a natural reflex, a survival instinct. It’s also a natural reaction to place greater and greater effort to attain more money to afford the stuff you need, and the stuff you want. There are only so many hours in a week, and only so many hours you can work until you hurt yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally. As physical and mental stress kicks in, our soul begins to suffer. We begin to operate from a place of fear, from a mindset of lack. Essentially, we begin operating from an Anti-Gospel Worldview.

Let me be clear, I am not in denial of the fiscal reality that we are dealing with these days. I am fully cognizant of the fact that we may have to change our spending and earning habits to do what we have to do to take care of our families, and of each other.

What I am concerned about is where the impetus is based.

Are you coming from a place of fear and lack, or are you standing on the promise of God?

“…you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand has made me this wealth.’  But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you the power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

– Deuteronomy 8:17-18 –

So…

The Father has not only already given us the Gift to make wealth, it is His idea in the first place. HE wants to Confirm HIS covenant, which HE swore to our father, and thus, us as well, and He is doing it THIS DAY.

We are not operating from a place of fear and lack, but from a place of confidence.

Hmmmm…

What about any “Grace Pharisees” out there who may have a problem with me quoting “the Law”?

First off, “…It is HE who is GIVING you the power…”

Father is GIVING this. He is not selling it, nor is he trading it for something. It not a reward for some type of behavior. It IS a GIFT. And like all of His gifts, it is irrevocable (Romans 11).

And yes, we are no longer under the Law, but we are grafted into Israel, those who receive the benefit of the promises of the law. (Again, Romans 11)

More importantly, we are now living under a better covenant, with better promises, all through what Jesus has already done.  The old one was good, verry good … this one is better, much better! With that in mind, we went from Very Good to Much Better, and Papa is gonna leave us hanging out to dry exactly how?

Anyway.

I don’t know about you, but as I said, “Things are tough all over” and my checkbook doesn’t look very prosperous today. If you are in a similar situation, there are two things you can do.

The first thing you can do is simply wait. Yeah, I get it. Waiting sucks. Look how long it took for the first promise of Messiah (Genesis 3:15) to be fully realized with the physical birth of Christ.

The second thing you can do is to do something. Don’t just sit there twiddling your thumbs all day and expect to receive anything. I don’t know what that looks like for you. It may be finding a part time gig to fill in the gaps in your budget; it may be reworking your budget; it may be something else entirely, I don’t know, I’m not you.  

Whatever it is that you do, do not do it hastily or rashly.

You don’t want to be like Abraham when he got impatient with waiting on Papa’s promise. That did not work out well, and we are still dealing with the repercussions of that today.

Another thing you can do is, again, Do Something!

Remember that this is not merely about personal finance, but about Charitable Giving.

You may not have the money to give to your church. I get it, and I am not going to lecture you on “Sacrificial Giving.” You have already heard it before, and there is nothing new I can tell you about that.

What you can give is your time. There is aways something that needs to get done at any church. It may be a physical task like vacuuming the floor or answering the phones. It may be something like visiting the sick or participating in corporate intercession.

Then there is the Giving Lifestyle.

Way too many times, churchianity has told us that when we “…give, it will be given to you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over…” as if this were a financial matter. Jesus is talking about something entirely different:

“… Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure–pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

– Luke 6: 37-38 –

Freedom from judgement, freedom from condemnation, receiving a pardon for your stuff.  These are the building blocks of the Gospel. 

Peter and John took this to the next level when they met the man who was lame for 40 years, begging at the Gate Beautiful. This guy, without a doubt, knew the meaning of “Things are tough all over”.  We know the story, He asked for money, but Peter told him “… “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene – walk!” (Acts 3:6).  We all know what happened next.

Welcome to the Kingdom!

Jesus gave Peter and John, and us as well, His marching orders: “Get out there and do the stuff” (Mark 16: 15-18, New Karasiewicz Version).

So yeah.

 “… Give and it will be given to you” 

It has already been given to you, and for a specific reason.

Don’t forget that the guy at the gate had been there for 40 years.

There is no doubt that during the many times Jesus walked thru that gate, the guy was lying there, but Jesus didn’t do anything about it.  This is because He had a plan, and that plan is for US to bring heaven to earth.

He wants us to give, and he has already given us the stuff He wants us to Give, and it don’t cost a penny to give away what we didn’t pay for. Even better, the more of this we give, the more will be given to us, “…pressed down, shaken together and overflowing…”

Consider this:

The Kingdom of Heaven is a place of pure joy, and when we bring Heaven to earth, we bring pure joy to the earth. His Joy will totally saturate us as we do this (and saturate the folks we minister to as well).

We all know that God is completely head over heals in love with a giver who is full of joy, perhaps even more so when we are giving away His Joy.

So yeah.

Things are tough all over.

And yeah, Papa has a promise waiting for us.

And yeah, it may take a while, from our perspective, to see the fulfillment of the promise.

In the meantime, he gots some joy for us while we wait!

Welcome to the Kingdom!

Thanks for letting me take up some of your time.