Our God is a God of Abundance

There was a time when I went to Barnes and Noble so much that they knew my name.

I was like Norm from Cheers.

I’d walk into the store and there’d be a “Hey, it’s Ms. Lacy.”  They knew I was a teacher, so it was always Ms. Lacy.

One woman, who worked there, told me that she planned on naming her first child Harper after the To Kill a Mockingbird author, Harper Lee.  As that was my favorite book of all time, how could we not become friends?

She and I were talking one day, when she noticed where I had parked my car.  “Oh,” she said.  “You got a God-spot.”

“A what?” I asked.

“You got the best, most perfect parking space out there—a God-spot.”

Some years later, I would hear preacher, Joel Osteen, say that it was okay to thank God for good parking spaces, so now, every time I find myself in a so-called God-spot, I send up a brief prayer of thanks.

Joel Osteen is most widely associated with the Prosperity Gospel.  Believers in the Prosperity Gospel believe that not only does God want what’s best for you, God actually wants to you be wealthy.  He wants you to live more than just financially comfortable.  And you will, the Prosperity Gospel says, if you just have enough faith.

Throughout the Bible, God always provides and always provides above and beyond what people think they need.

Think of Jesus’ very first recorded miracle at the Wedding at Cana.  We know this miracle simply as the one where Jesus turns water into wine.  But look more closely.  Jesus’ mother tells Jesus that they are out of wine.  She offers no further details, says nothing else, but the implication is that she wants Jesus to do something about it.

Jesus protests slightly, but perhaps because this is his mother and you do not say “no” to your mother, he orders six stone jars to be filled with water.  Each of these stone jars holds between twenty and thirty gallons.

Let me repeat that—gallons.

Now, as far as we know from John’s Gospel, Mary didn’t tell Jesus how much wine was needed.  And I have no idea how large this wedding was or how much wine people drank back then, but Jesus basically gave the wedding guests 150 gallons of wine.

This is no simple parlor trick.

And not just any wine—the very best wine, so good that the Chief Steward remarks how odd it is to wait until the end to serve the best wine.

God provides in abundance.

Our God is a God of abundance.

He gives more than we can imagine, more than we can think to ask.

Look at our two readings from today.

In the first from 2 Kings 4:1-7, a widow asks Elisha for help.  Her children are about to be taken into slavery as payment for her dead husband’s debts.  All that she has is one jar of oil.  Elisha tells her to collect more jars, empty jars, from her neighbors and to pour out the oil in her one jar into the others. She does.  And what happens?  She runs out of jars before she runs out of oil.  Elisha tells her then to sell the oil to pay the debts.

God gives.  God gives more than we think we need even.

In our second reading from Luke 9:10-17, Jesus feeds the five thousand with nothing more than five fish and two loaves of bread.  Everyone eats.  Everyone is filled and even after that, they still have food left over.

These are examples that those who follow the Prosperity Gospel would use to point out just how good God is, just how much God takes care of us, just how much God wants us to live without worry or fear about our next meal—or our next glass of wine.

And this is all true.  God does want what’s best for us.  God does not desire to see us suffer.

But—and here is where the Prosperity Gospel loses me—if you think that all God cares about is taking care of our financial needs, then you are greatly and unfortunately limiting the power of God.

Our God is a God of abundance.

But what He gives us to live on is not money—is not food—is not safety and security from the evils of the world.  What God gives us to live on is Himself.

God gives Himself in abundance.

I remember at my confirmation nine years ago, kneeling before Bishop Hugo in tears.  I remember him asking me if I was happy and I remember that even though I answered with a simple “yes,” that “happy” was a word wholly inadequate for describing how I felt.

I was filled with such joy, with such spirit.  I felt alive in a way that I had not felt at any other point in my life.  I felt like I could do anything, that I would do anything for God.

It is what is commonly known as a “mountain-top experience.”

Here’s the problem, though.  Our human bodies are not designed to live on the mountaintop.  Our brains are not wired to truly comprehend the majesty and power of God.

Think about Moses who spent the longest amount of time as anyone on the literal mountaintop with God.  He was so changed by his experiences there in Exodus 34:29 that he was forced to veil himself because the Glory of God showed so brightly around him that no one could be in his presence.

This is what God wants for us.  He wants to give Himself.  This is infinitely more important than whether or not we can afford that new car.

He wants to give Himself.

How do we know that?

Because He tells us—because every Sunday we hear the words, “This is my Body, which is given for you.”

Look—every time I pull into a parking lot and find one of those coveted God-spots, I still thank God.

The other night, when I was sitting with the CPA at H & R Block, I silently prayed for her while she worked on my taxes.

I prayed to God the other day when I heard the water spraying from the pipe the plumber had just replaced.

It’s little stuff, I know, but I will keep praying for it, even as I keep in mind what it is that God truly wants me to have in this life.

He wants me to have Him, as much as I can stand.

Our God is a God of abundance.

Amen.