I know this title of today's reflection sounds strange, but its true, God doesn't give handouts! When I think of handouts I think of people who just receive, receive, receive, and there is no accountability or responsibility on their part, every day its a free lunch. Now don't get me wrong I think that one of the central themes of the gospel is concrete acts of love and charity, such as food banks, homeless shelters, and so forth. I am not against social justice by any means. There is an old saying, give someone a fish and they'll eat today, teach someone to fish and they will eat for the rest of their life. Now that is what I am aiming at.
Jesus came not to give us cheap grace as the Lutheran pastor and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer often said, but divine grace which is the path to the kingdom.
Jesus wants us to be mature Christians, upright and mindful of the well being of others. He wants us to be kind, gentle, meek, and mild, but he also wants us to be responsible for our actions.
Jesus gave us the ultimate act of responsibility by going to the cross. The cross is the gospel way of showing love which is a hard pill to swallow for most of us. Divine love seen in total sacrifice and humility.
