Agitated to Confidence || Jesus’ Return Policy #2

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full – press down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. (Luke 6:38)

I hear this verse a lot during the offering collection at church. It’s made me wonder what my return will be like. This is imagery painted by Jesus. It brought to my mind scooping flour when making cookies or sweets. You might press it down, shake the excess off, or dump the overflowing scoop into your batter or dough when you scoop it. The results of it come back to you in a sweet treat. Jesus is trying to teach us his return policy in a similar way. 

Throughout this series, I will take apart each step in the return policy to see what it means and how the concept is shown in other parts of the Bible. Let’s get into part two of our “Jesus’ Return Policy” series and discuss how our gifts will be shaken together.

The Greek word is saleuó (sal-yoo’-o), which means to agitate, shake, or cast down. This word is used fifteen times in the New Testament. It comes from the Greek word salos (sal’-os), which means a tossing or the swell of the seas. It moves a lot in one place or from one place to another. I think the concept of the sea waves swelling and crashing is an excellent understanding that most people can conceptualize and connect with.

Mark 13:24-25

24 “At that time, after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, 

25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 

Mark 13 is all about the future. Jesus speaks of the end times all throughout this chapter. He talks about how false messiahs and prophets will become more prominent and perform signs and wonders with the intent to deceive. Even Christians will do these things. 

After there’s no light anywhere, the Son of Man will come down on clouds with power and glory. The angels will be dispersed throughout the world to grab his chosen people.

Mark 13:10

10 For the Good News must first be preached to all nations.” 

Wars, threats of war, famine, earthquakes, and more will happen. Before anything else, though, the Bible must be preached to all nations. I find comfort in that. I’m off-topic, too, so let’s return to the original message. 

Joel 2:31-32

31 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. 

32 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the Lord said. These will be among the survivors whom the Lord has called. 

The “day of the Lord” refers to when God will judge the nations. This day always points to extraordinary happening, whether something now, something in the near future, or the final period of history when God defeats all forces of evil. This evil will have two parts: the last judgment of all evil and sin and the final reward for faithful believers. 

Righteousness and truth will come, but not before a lot of suffering. Have you ever suffered waiting for the truth to come out? It’s nerve-wracking, irritating, and frustrating. I’ve been there, and the amount of freedom I felt when it came out was euphoric, to say the least. There’s no better feeling than the truth to be shared. In the process, I trusted and prayed to God that his truth and justice would be revealed in whatever way he seemed fit. It’s given me both hope and grief when it happened. It shook me for sure, but it was like trying to get the last piece of candy out of the wrapper. You have to work for it, but the results are sweet. 

Joel said that if people would repent, the Lord would save them from judgment. Some will be saved on this last day. God doesn’t want his people to be destroyed. He’s patient and is waiting for all people to come to him. God wants to heal and save you, but only at your decision. If it’s forced, would it feel the same if you came willingly? It’s an argument I often hear: “If God’s good, why doesn’t he just force good things to happen to me.” It’s the balance of life. If we didn’t experience bad, how would we know good? If God only gave good, then there’s no choice or freedom. God gives us the freedom to choose, and he hopes we’ll choose him. If God didn’t want to give us that choice, God wouldn’t have. He did, nonetheless, and we understand why he did and what happens when we don’t choose wisely.

Let’s change gears to talk about some prison rumbles that went down.

Acts 16:26

26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!

Paul and Silas were imprisoned after purging a demon from a girl who told fortunes. This made her owner mad because he lost his primary source of income. They were in so much trouble that they were ordered to be stripped and beaten with wooden rods AND thrown into prison. They wanted to ensure they stayed in prison, so the jailer put them in the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in stocks. Tucked away with no way of escaping, what would they do? What would you do? I’d panic, be depressed, and probably just lay there. Paul and Silas, though. They sang hymns and praised God. It caught the attention of the other prisoners and stirred such a movement that the earthquake occurred. It makes me wonder if the other prisoners joined their singing and praising and caused such a vibration that God set them free. 

The jailer saw all the doors open and assumed they had all left. He was so shaken he was ready to end it all. You would think they would’ve run. Yet, they were all there. The jailer was stunned and recognized this was an act of God. He received salvation after that. 

Acts 5:19-20

19 But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them,

20 “Go to the Temple and give the people the message of life.” 

The angel gave the apostles a command that, when accomplished, would lead to a brutal flogging. Why the angel would do this, I don’t know. It’s odd because we keep this idea that obedience to God’s will leads to a problem-free, blissful existence. Yet, obeying God comes with pain and suffering of some kind. The forces of evil do not want God’s way to be successful, so they will meet us with all kinds of opposition, grief, and sacrifice that will emotionally tax us and make us question whether or not to move forward. We need to remember that when we’re called out for doing what God wants, we receive a deeper kind of blessing. We may not understand it, but it’s still a good thing. 

In these two examples, we talked more about being shaken by God to do his will. If he can take the apostles and the people he chose out from behind bars, God can take us from where we are into glory. Our situation doesn’t limit us to what we can do for God. Sure, our situation can shake us and make us feel unstable. Still, God’s there with the tools ready to firm up our foundation and allow him to build up the person he created us to be. 

Hebrews 12:26-29

26 When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again i will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” 

27 This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. 

28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 

29 For our God is a devouring fire. 

When God first spoke to Israel, his voice shook all the earth. Later, Haggai foresaw the glorious expectation of God’s powerful revelation. He saw that the world as we know it will crumble, and only God’s Kingdom will remain. Followers of Christ will stand firm throughout all this. When the future looks bleak, these verses can be our source of confidence. Our confidence shouldn’t be put into something that can be destroyed. Let’s build our life on Christ and his unshakeable Kingdom. Remember:

• “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)
• “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

Shaken together can involve agitation, moving from place to place, and not feeling still. Our choices can leave us shaky, not feeling like we’re making confident choices. Yet, we remember that God’s guidance will provide all the clarity needed to calm the agitation and settle our minds and hearts. Doing what God wants leaves us shaky, too. What God wants often pulls us out of our comfort zone, but thankfully, God doesn’t pull us out by ourselves. He’s there to take us by the hand and walk with us. The jitters can calm our thoughts and help us remember that God got us this far and will continue to do the same thing in the future. We talked about building ourselves on something that doesn’t shake. The Bible tells us that our entire world will crumble while the heavens stay strong. Let’s remember to build our confidence in God rather than on the sands of the earth. Next week, we’ll run over what it means to be overflowing. Until then, stay blessed.