“What return can I make to the Lord
for His generosity to me?
I shall take up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.”
--Psalm 116:12-13
I keep hesitating to write, waiting for something profound
to say or some beautiful epiphany to happen. Waiting until I have something to
share. But this morning during my prayer
I was contemplating these 2 verses from psalm 116 and it occurred to me: I never have anything to share… except that
which is given to me by God. And so,
here is what God has given me and I (like the psalmist) take it up and offer it
back to God.
What do we have to give to the Lord save that which the Lord
has already given to us? Even if we would make an offering in
thanksgiving we would only be giving back to God what God has already bestowed
on us. We have nothing of our own to
offer. Consider the example in the psalm:
The cup of salvation –the literal cup—comes from materials God provided, and is
shaped by hands God created, through talents God bestowed. As well the
spiritual cup “of salvation,” it too is a gift, a grace God offers us through
the gift of Jesus Christ. And all we can
do is take up that gift and offer it back to God in praise and thanksgiving. In a sense, all we can do is “re-gift” the
gift we have been given.
And as I pondered that, I began to think: isn’t that a kind
of reflection of the Holy Trinity. The
gift of grace and love radiating back and forth between the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit in a kind of eternal communion of re-gifting. God’s love is not
only a gift that keeps giving, but a gift that calls out to be given—as if it
were never completely accepted until it is given away!
We receive the gift and the gift itself calls us to give it
away, to give it back to God, and by doing so we take part (in however small
and humble a way) in the beautiful relationship of love that is the Trinity, a
relationship of generosity, of abundance, of sharing, of love.
What has God given you today? Offer it back to Him. A quiet rainy day? A moment of laughter? The
tears of a friend? A prayer? A cucumber
sandwich? Or the cup of salvation? Don’t hesitate. Share it; in fact, re-gift
it! And remember, whatever you have been given, its not really yours until you
give it away.
