Currency Traders

My Dear Shepherds,

The guys behind me at the coffee shop were discussing cryptocurrency. It was literally a foreign language to me. It’s hard to imagine that there is a whole realm of currency about which I know nothing. I tuned out till I heard one of the men begin sharing how he came to faith. I’m not sure how he got from crypto to Christ but now his friend was hearing about a currency about which he knew nothing.

The Kingdom of God has a currency unknown in the world around us, the coinage of mercy and grace, rendered to us through Jesus Christ. Mark 4 records some of Jesus’ teaching on the economy of the Kingdom of God. He taught about the seedsower, and soils and the Jesus-lamp put in our hands to expose what has long lay hidden. Then this:

“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” (Mark 4:24-25)

When he says, “Consider carefully,” we better stop and ponder because we trade in the currency of God’s mercy and grace. Given Mark’s context, these words invite us to generously sow gospel-seed and continually shine the Jesus-lamp into mysteries. Beyond this, though, Jesus applied this axiom to other kingdom situations.

Take the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors,” which Jesus expanded here:

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 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 6:37-38)

Before your mind goes to how you’d preach that, consider it carefully for yourself. Sooner or later, every pastor gets hurt, and the worst hurts may come from the flock we serve. Some of those wounds fester. We tend to pick at the grudges till they bleed again. Other wounds are deeper, crippling or blinding us. Wounded pastors are well-positioned to preach grace, but we can’t preach grace effectively if we haven’t given it. We are like someone trying to sing who is tone-deaf.

Fortunately, the mercy and grace we must give doesn’t have to come out of our own pockets. What we measure out to others is scooped up from the treasury of our King. To be sure, we must pay the price of surrender and sacrifice ourselves, but the blood-sprinkled resources of Jesus are what make us rich enough to be merciful.

This axiom is illustrated in Jesus’ parable about the bags of gold entrusted by a master to his servants to be invested, “each according to his ability” (Matt. 25:14-30). We are not merely investing our own time, energy, or gifts. We invest the Master’s treasure of mercy and grace, dispensing it like the sower or the lamp bearer, when we preach, visit, counsel, or pray. We not only preach forgiveness, we embody it. There is nothing a pastor is called to do that doesn’t require us to have our hand in the Master’s till.

God measures our faithfulness by how well we invest his currency. Our future assignments in the kingdom to come will reflect our effectiveness here. Then, imagine what it will be like to hear, “Come and share your Master’s happiness!”

Be ye glad!

Pastor Lee

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