Sermon for the Second Sunday of Luke

2 Corinthians 9:6–11 · Luke 6:31–36

Sow Generously, Love Mercifully

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today our two readings fit together like two hands joined in prayer. St Paul speaks about giving. Our Lord speaks about loving. Both lead to God.

Let us begin with the Gospel and this simple Golden Rule: “And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.” Simple but yet already so difficult to achieve. Yet Christ goes further than this:

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.” It is easy to be kind to people who are kind to us. Anyone can do that.

So He asks for more. “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.” Expecting nothing in return. That is the hard part? So much of life works like a trade. We keep a quiet score in our heads. Christ asks us to stop keeping scores.

Why? Because that is how God loves. Our Lord tells us that God “is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.” Let us remember that like the sun rises on the saint and the sinner alike God does not wait for us to deserve His love. And so Christ ends with these words. “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

Now let us turn to St Paul. He is asking the Christians in Corinth to give to the poor in Jerusalem. He uses a picture from the farm.

“He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.” A farmer who is afraid to let go of his seed will have an empty field. The farmer who scatters his seed with an open hand will see a harvest. In God’s hands, giving is sowing.

Then St Paul adds something beautiful. “Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” God does not want our gifts squeezed out of us. A cheerful giver knows that everything he has is already a gift.

And here is the promise. “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance.” He is the One who “supplies seed to the sower and bread for food.” We only pass on what God has placed in our hands.

So you see how the two readings meet. Christ tells us to love without keeping score. St Paul tells us to give without holding back. Both describe a heart like the heart of God.

So let us act by being patient with someone who is not patient with us, by helping a neighbour who will never say thank you, by giving a little more than is comfortable, and doing it with a smile. None of us can do this by our own strength. But we do not sow alone. The same God who gives the seed also gives the growth. Each time we come to the Holy Chalice, He fills us again.

Let us scatter kindness with an open hand. Let us love even when we are not loved back. And let us trust that the harvest belongs to God.

Amen.