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᛭ INI ᛭
The Lord gives of His bountiful goodness. All things flow forth from that, from His love for all creation. “He cares for the birds. He cares for the trees. He cares for the fish. And He cares for thee.“ He created all things. He sustains all things.
He’s bountiful not just with Creation, but also with His Redemption. Christ sheds “His holy, precious blood” for “our sins and the sins of the whole world.” He’s bountiful with His holiness, His Sanctification as well. All Three Articles of the Creed bespeak His bountiful goodness. His bountiful goodness is also seen and received in the Gifts of Salvation. His bountiful goodness is also lived out in the lives of His Saints. The bountiful goodness of the LORD cannot be summarized better than verse 10 of our Epistle reading:
“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”
(I. The LORD has 1st Article bounty.)
The bounty of the Lord knows no bounds. There is no lack or want when it comes what the Lord has to give. He can always give more and doubly more. He can make a bumper crop from dust. He doesn’t give sparingly. He doesn’t hold back from those who are in need.
He can, as we know from the Magnificat, that “the rich He sends empty away.” (Lk 1) That’s so called alien work to lead to repentance. So it was for the Israelites that He turned “the heavens to iron and the earth to bronze,” (Lev 26) as the Leviticus says. He caused a drought for three years and six months under King Ahab, only sending rain by the Word of the Prophet Elijah.
But the default of the Lord is to give, give, and give some more. “He supplies seed to the sower and bread for food.” “He provides food for the | cattle and for the young ravens | when they call.” “The eyes of all look to [Him] and [He] give[s] them their food at the | proper time. [He] op- | en[s] [His] hand and satisf[ies] the desires of every | living thing.” (SC)* “He waters the hills from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man, That he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man’s heart.” (Ps 104)
So, why then is there want and hunger in the world? There is more than enough, but sinful man is never satisfied, and the corrupt and godless syphon off food and water, money and possessions for themselves alone. They oppress the widow and the fatherless. The poor and needy suffer at their hands. One day their payback will come. “For He will deliver the needy when he cries, The poor also, and him who has no helper.” (Ps 72) “Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be heard.” (Prov 21) If not now, then on the Last Day.
(II. The LORD has 2nd Article bounty.)
Again, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness,” and because of the sinfulness of all mankind, His bounty is seen all the more! “For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the [righteous] and on the unrighteous.” (Mt 5)
Not only that the lack of generosity and love in the world is to such an extent that the only solution to stop the LORD from just making a final end of mankind in His wrath is the death of the sinless Son of God! For a time, God the Son gives up control of the universe, “taking on the form of a servant, and becoming obedient unto death even death on a cross.”
In shedding His blood for one and all, for the least and great, “for high and low, rich and poor together,” we see the love of God on display. He even shed His blood to buy back the likes of you and me. And all those who “in Him believe, the purchase of His blood receive.” We see His bountiful goodness pour down His brow, spilled out on Calvary.“You know the grace of our Lord <span style=“text-decoration: overline;”>IHS Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2-Cor 9) So that we would no longer put our trust in riches and wealth and stuff, after all, “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”(1-Tim) “He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2-Cor 5)
(III. The LORD has 3rd Article bounty.)
Finally, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness,” and we see this come true in the lives of believers, too. He pours forth His bountiful goodness upon you in the forgiveness of all your sins. The Font delivers that bountiful goodness, with the Gift of the Spirit, regardless of age. The pulpit is here for you to hear: Christ really died for all your sins. The most lasting bountiful goodness of the Lord is not necessarily seen in a full cornucopia, but rather in a full chalice, a paten mounded with the body of the Lord, for us Christians to eat and to drink, for forgiveness, life, and salvation.
The true wine, His blood, gladdens our heart, and the true bread, His blood, strengthens our heart, that is, in faith toward God and fervent love toward one another. So it was in Paul’s day in Macedonia, and Paul was using their example to encourage the Corinthians to liberal giving. But it wasn’t their bountiful goodness that they were handing out. Rather, the Lord was using them to deliver His bountiful goodness through them to the poor Christians in Jerusalem.
So it is for you and me, faith that is borne out what has been received in the Lord’s bountiful goodness, the forgiveness of your sins, responds with prayer and thanksgiving. Thus, the proper eucharistic prayer, prayer of thanksgiving, is after Communion… Anyway, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”
What are you afraid of giving for? What you have isn’t your own. It’s the Lord’s bounty to you but might not be for you. He may have given it to you because you’re in the best position to give to someone else, who will in turn not give you thanks, but, as Paul reveals, give thanks to God. Besides that, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8) He who did not spare His forgiveness toward you, but Baptized you, absolves you, preaches His word to You, gives His own body and blood to you, will He not enliven you by His Spirit? He will! Paul’s words are true:
“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”
(Conclusion.)
The Lord gives of His bountiful goodness. Sure you can see it in the cornucopia. But you see it also in Christ hanging, bleeding, dying, dead, on the cross. The blood and water from His side tell you that it’s also in the font and chalice. See, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” After all,
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