I Received More Than I Gave

The year I lived in Jamaica, a faith-based medical mission team came down from Florida to the part of the island where I was living. It was a small group — doctors, dentists, nurses — but the impact was extraordinary. People lined up for nearly a mile to be seen.

One Monday morning after the team's first day, I noticed a seventh-grade student who had come to school wearing a enormous pair of red glasses — way too big for his small face. He was smiling from ear to ear. For the first time, he could see the blackboard.

I thought about all the people in that town whose lives were quietly different that week. Teeth that no longer ached. Eyes that could finally focus. Bodies that felt better.

But here is what struck me most. At lunch near the end of the team's stay, I heard the same thing from almost every person on that medical team: "I received far more from this experience than I ever gave."

Over the last several days we’ve been reflection on the story in the Gospel of John, where the disciples fish all night and come up empty. In the early morning light, a figure on the shore called out: "Cast the net on the right side." They didn't know it was Jesus. But they followed the direction anyway — and suddenly the net was so full they couldn't haul it in. One hundred and fifty-three fish. Then fellowship around a charcoal fire. Breakfast on the beach with the risen Christ.

The abundance that followed obedience was not only material. It spilled over into fellowship, into presence, into a meal shared with someone they had thought was gone forever. It flowed in directions no one expected.

It still does. The ones who show up to give almost always leave having received something they didn't anticipate. That is not a coincidence. That is the shape of the kingdom.

Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for the surprising economy of your kingdom — where giving leads to receiving, and serving leads to abundance. Make us willing to cast the net where you direct. And open our eyes to the blessings that flow back to us when we do. Amen.

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