Sermon: Give Like God--Luke 6

Devotional

Day 1: Loving Enemies with Unmeasured Cups

Jesus flips the script: treat others not as they deserve, but as you want God to treat you. This isn’t about fairness but divine imitation. When you withhold judgment, lavish mercy, or forgive freely, you mirror the Father who pours grace on the ungrateful. The measure you use for others becomes the measure God uses for you. Every interaction becomes a prayer-shaped offering. [10:07]

"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." (Luke 6:35–36, NIV)

Reflection: Who feels hardest to love in your life right now? How might seeing them through God’s kindness shift your next interaction?

Day 2: Mercy as the Family Resemblance

Mercy isn’t a spiritual accessory—it’s the DNA of God’s children. Just as rain falls on the righteous and unrighteous, mercy flows indiscriminately from the Father’s heart. To be called His child means growing into His likeness, especially when love costs something. The test comes not with friends, but with those who leave grit in your soul. [07:12]

"He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:45, 48, NIV)

Reflection: Where does mercy feel like a splinter in your hand? What one step could make your heart more porous to God’s relentless compassion?

Day 3: Giving That Stretches the Sack

The Macedonians gave until it pinched, their poverty birthing a generosity that defied logic. True giving isn’t arithmetic but liturgy—an act of trust that God multiplies seed. When you hold resources loosely, you mimic the Father who shook heaven’s storehouses to give His Son. The offering plate becomes a threshing floor where small sacrifices become eternal grain. [17:45]

"In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability." (2 Corinthians 8:2–3, NIV)

Reflection: What practical gift (time, money, care) have you been rationing? How might releasing it crack open your trust in God’s provision?

Day 4: The Physics of Eternal Investments

God’s economy runs on paradox: pressed-down blessings spill into laps when we release our grip. Like the widow’s pennies clinking in the treasury, heaven measures not volume but velocity—the wholehearted surrender of what we clutch. Every act of service, however unseen, gets weighed on resurrection scales. [11:19]

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38, NIV)

Reflection: What “clink” of obedience have you dismissed as insignificant? How might Jesus’ valuation of it alter your perspective today?

Day 5: Labor That Outlives the Harvest

Fruitlessness lies. The plowman’s sweat, the night prayers, the cards sent into silence—none are wasted. God grafts our small obediences into His eternal story. What feels buried now is seed awaiting resurrection soil. Work becomes worship when done for eyes that never blink. [32:13]

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58, NIV)

Reflection: What unseen act of service makes you question its worth? How might anchoring it to eternity renew your perseverance?

Sermon Summary

The golden rule starts simple: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Jesus gives it no conditions, no escape clauses, and no “unless they don’t deserve it.” Jesus aims that rule first at enemies, not just at church family, because treating family well is what normal families are supposed to do. The difference comes when God’s children treat enemies with the love, respect, mercy, and kindness that the enemy has not earned.

Jesus takes the rule higher than common sense. Jesus says, in effect, do to others as the Christian would want God to do to the Christian. God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. God sends rain without checking gratitude first. God’s children, then, are called to become like their Father, because children grow to resemble the parent they know, watch, and spend time with. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” becomes the centerpiece.

Luke 6 also gives a promise. Loving enemies and giving mercy will probably mean getting run over and taken advantage of. Jesus does not hide that. But Jesus says the reward will be great, and that promise has to be held onto when love does not get returned and kindness gets answered with nastiness.

The image of the good measure shows how God gives back. The measure is pressed down, shaken together, and running over, poured into the lap like more grain than a person can carry. The point is not a sales pitch for more money. The point is that God knows how to take care of those who give, whether the gift is money, time, service, prayer, or love.

Paul’s words to Corinth show that giving is not mainly about percentages. Everything belongs to God, and the Christian is a steward. The Macedonian churches become the model, not because they were rich, but because severe trial and extreme poverty welled up into rich generosity for suffering brothers and sisters. Corinth needed structure because Corinth dragged its feet, but the heart of giving remained cheerful, generous help for people in need.

God sees gifts differently than people do. Jesus saw the widow’s two tiny coins as more than the truckloads of the rich, because she gave all she had. Paul says labor in the Lord is not in vain. God can take small seeds, quiet prayers, cards written with love, and unseen service, and somehow carry them into the new creation.

##

Key Takeaways

1. Mercy has no escape clauses Jesus does not make mercy depend on whether the other person deserves it, returns it, or even understands it. God’s mercy toward the ungrateful and wicked becomes the family likeness of God’s children. The call is not sentimental niceness, but the hard imitation of a Father who gives before gratitude appears. [06:59]
2. Generosity follows need, not pressure Paul’s picture of the Macedonian churches shows giving that rises from love, not from manipulation. Their poverty did not cancel generosity, because the famine in Jerusalem made their brothers’ and sisters’ suffering feel urgent. Christian giving is measured less by a fixed formula and more by faithful stewardship, cheerful willingness, and real need. [19:30]
3. God sees treasure in pennies The widow’s two coins looked tiny to everyone except Jesus. God’s sight does not measure the way human reputation, wealth, or visible scale measures. A small gift, a quiet prayer, or a simple card can carry enormous weight when it is given with the whole heart. [28:50]
4. Labor in Christ lasts forever Paul says that labor in the Lord is not in vain, even when the visible results look disappointing. God gives the growth, and God knows how to preserve faithful work in ways that cannot yet be seen. The Christian’s task is not to control the outcome, but to give the effort fully to the Lord. [31:55]
5. Eternal reward steadies weary service Jesus knows that loving enemies and serving faithfully is a tough road, because he paved that road first. The reward God promises is not a cheap temporary payout, but something bigger than present life can hold. Delayed gratification becomes spiritual sanity when heartbreak, weariness, and discouragement start saying the work is pointless.

## [35:52]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:34] - The Golden Rule Without Conditions
[04:21] - Children Imitate the Merciful Father
[08:23] - Loving Enemies and God’s Reward
[10:29] - The Measure Used Will Be Measured
[13:29] - Giving Without the Sales Pitch
[15:25] - Everything Belongs to God
[17:14] - Macedonian Churches and Rich Generosity
[21:04] - Corinth’s Promise and Weekly Collection
[27:28] - God Sees Differently Than People
[31:55] - Labor in the Lord Is Not Vain
[35:52] - Eternal Rewards Beat Temporary Payoffs

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Luke 6:35-38
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” [04:21] [10:29]

2 Corinthians 8:1-4
“We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—” [17:14]

1 Corinthians 15:58
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” [31:55]

Luke 21:1-4
“Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, 'Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.'” [28:50]

Observation questions

In Luke 6:35-38, what specific actions does Jesus connect with mercy toward difficult people, and what promises does he attach to those actions? [10:29]
According to 2 Corinthians 8:1-4, what was true of the Macedonian churches’ circumstances, and what kind of giving came out of those circumstances? [19:30]
In the picture of the “good measure,” what details are used to show the way God gives back? [11:54]
In Luke 21:1-4, what contrast does Jesus draw between the rich givers and the widow, and what made her gift “more”? [28:50]

Interpretation questions

Jesus says to love enemies because the Most High is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. What does that reveal about the kind of family likeness Jesus wants in the children of God? [06:59]
Jesus connects mercy, forgiveness, and giving with God’s reward. How does that keep Christian kindness from becoming mere politeness or simple good manners? [08:23]
The Macedonian churches gave out of severe trial and extreme poverty to help suffering believers. What does that suggest about the real engine of Christian generosity? [19:30]
Paul says that labor in the Lord is not in vain. How does that speak to moments when faithful work seems small, ignored, or unproductive? [33:33]

Application questions

Jesus gives no escape clauses for mercy. Who is one person right now who feels hard to love, forgive, or treat with respect? What would it look like this week to treat that person the way one would want God to deal with oneself? [02:35]
God is kind even to the ungrateful. Is there a place where gratitude has quietly become a condition for kindness? How might mercy look different if it were given before thanks, before apology, or before change appears? [06:42]
Loving enemies often means getting hurt, overlooked, or taken advantage of. Where has discouragement started to make obedience feel pointless? How could the promise of a great reward steady the heart in that place? [08:48]
Everything belongs to God, and each believer is a steward. When it comes to money, time, energy, prayer, or attention, which resource feels hardest to release right now? What might cheerful stewardship look like there? [15:25]
Christian giving follows need, not pressure. What needs are close enough to see right now—within the church, family, neighborhood, or wider body of Christ? How might the group respond in a concrete and generous way? [16:07]
Jesus saw treasure in the widow’s two coins. Is there a small act of service, generosity, or encouragement that has been dismissed because it seemed too small to matter? What would it look like to offer that small thing wholeheartedly anyway? [29:33]
Labor in the Lord is not in vain. Where is there a temptation to give up—on prayer, serving, giving, encouraging, or loving someone difficult? What would “always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord” look like in that one situation this week? [35:13]

Sermon Clips

49s

“``So we have to remember, God doesn't see the way we see. He doesn't look at situations the way that we look at it. So we you you might you might look at yourself and say, I I have hardly any money to give. I I am not gifted. I'm not talented. There's so little that I can do. There's so little I can give. And I'm telling you, if you give what you can, whether we're talking about money, whether we're talking about time, whether we're talking about just in the love, in the way that you serve, if you give what you can, God sees it differently than anybody else. God sees treasure when we see pennies and you have to remember that.”

50s

“we're gonna get tired. We're gonna get heartbroken. We're gonna get weary. And the point is is we keep lifting each other up. We keep telling each other, don't give up. Keep working for God. You keep praying. If all you can do is pray, you keep praying with all of your heart. You keep serving. If if you're like our sweet sister Laverne, writing a card with all of your heart is is a beautiful thing. It's not a small thing. God sees treasure when we do that. And you you might you might look at what you give and say it's small. It is not. God can make a beautiful garden out of the smallest seeds.”

55s

“Your job is to be faithful with what God has given you, to be a steward with what God has given you. And then someday, the curtain's gonna be drawn back, and we're gonna see that beautiful new creation. And we're so somehow we're gonna say, I helped build that. I helped I helped make that. And you're we're gonna be able to point to what God the beautiful creation that God made that we get to be a part of. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord. It's never in vain. when you feel like it's in vain, even when your heart tells you it's in vain, it's not in vain. That's a promise from God.”

45s

“Always. So we know what always means. Right? Not sometimes, always yourselves fully. That's what he says. Knowing what God can do with your effort, knowing what God can do with your service, always give yourself fully because it's not in vain. It's not pointless. It's never pointless. It's never worthless. God's going to do something with it bigger than what you we can see with our eyes, bigger than what we can imagine. And so we hold on to this promise.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Jones Chapel Church of Christ This sermon · AI assistant

How should Christians treat their enemies and others?

How will God measure our generosity in return?

Why is faithful labor in the Lord valuable?