Concord Minute: Life of receptivity

“These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. - Psalm 104:27-28 ESV

Our bible passage gives us a fantastic picture of the life of receptivity. The life of receptivity is a fancy church way of saying that God is the giver; we are the receiver. The LORD God is the creator of the heavens and the earth, of all things. We are God’s creatures made in His image and likeness. As Martin Luther wrote before his death: we are beggars, this is true. Everyone - Christian or unbeliever - lives a life of receptivity whether they know it or not. God opens His hand to give all their daily bread. The LORD God also provides our salvation: His own Son, Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of our sins. We are beggars, this is most certainly true.

Psalm 104 captures the life of receptivity for us. In vv. 27-34, the psalmist writes of human beings waiting and hoping for all things needful for the body. Matter of fact, all of creation waits for her Creator to feed her. This area received plentiful rain recently from the storms south of us. That rain was God’s provision for His creation in our area. When the rains come, that weather pattern is evidence of the relationship our Creator has established with His creation. Put another way, when the rains fall, our Father is providing for His children. Just as children wait for food placed on the table, so too God’s children wait and receive what is needful to sustain our lives. God’s children can enjoy a life of receptivity under His grace and provision.

If you have a bible handy, look at vv. 28-30. Notice all the “yous”? Who is doing the giving or providing? God is. God gives, God provides. The bible says in Deuteronomy that man does not live by bread alone but by every Word from the mouth of God. When God speaks to His creation to rain or grow, the creation listens. When God speaks to His creation to dry up, the creation listens. When God tells His creation to provide for you, the creation listens.

Thanks be to God that He not just provides the basics every day, but God opens His hand to give you a savior - Jesus Christ. God opened His hands wide, wrists pierced, for you on a cross. God’s providence overflowed there at Mt. Calvary for you. God abundantly won for you the forgiveness of sins. Why? You need a savior. You need redemption. You need forgiveness. We are all beggars before God, needing to receive everything from Him to sustain our lives. God has done that very thing for you: the savior, Jesus, who is the creator of the whole world. He died and rose that you might live. To this day, God opens his hands to you. What grace upon grace do we receive from our Lord as we live this life of receptivity.

The Rev. Matthew Berry is pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Sikeston, Missouri. Based in Sikeston’s Historic North End, Concordia is a member congregation of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), a theologically conservative, biblically sound, Christ-centered church.