Thoughts on the Hampton Roads Church Troas night on Gifts and Grace, February 28, 2020
Gifts and Grace Troas Night
The Hampton Roads church held a Troas night this past Friday (2/28/2020) focused on Gifts and Grace. Troas nights are events that our congregation sponsors from time to time that provide deeper teaching on the Word, today’s culture, and issues related to Christian living. This latest session covered how gifts and grace are presented in the Bible, perspectives from Reformation theologists of the 1500s, influences of Roman and Greek philosophy on first-century Biblical authors, and a devotional lesson to close out the night.
Unfortunately, Mary and I missed the event due to illness. (As with many other couples and families in the church, we somehow picked up the flu and have been sick since the Marriage Retreat last weekend.) We joined the first session as it was streamed live, then I caught up with the rest of the sessions via recordings posted on Facebook (links included below).
Summary of the Troas Night Sessions
The evening started with an overview of two main views on gifts: one a cycle of give, receive, return and the other unilateral giving (give and receive only). The main difference is whether strings are attached (cycle) versus no strings attached (unilateral giving). The cycle of giving involves thanksgiving and Bible examples refer to the three parts of the cycle with one Greek word, “charis”, which is a similar root word as the Greek word for thanksgiving, “eucharistia”. It also implies reciprocity, with a joy of giving back to the giver.
The next session was a presentation of teachings on gifts and giving from early theologian Augustine and 16th-century Reformation thinkers Luther and Calvin. Augustine taught that there was no human interaction in the grace of God, which led Luther to a theology of sola gracia, or “only grace”, that any act by humans that was good could only be accomplished due to God’s grace. Calvin went further, teaching that grace is irresistible, or forced on those God chooses, so that works are of no value. These Reformation teachings resulted in a view that works were not only unnecessary but viewed negatively as a futile effort to earn salvation. The result on the view of gifts was that gifts should be given with no strings attached, that expecting a return was manipulative and salvation was only given to chosen “pre-destined” individuals. This thinking prevails with “once saved always saved” theology and was a major contributor to the individualistic culture that we have today.
The third session was a discussion on Roman and Greek influence on first-century Biblical authors. Seneca and Cicero were the prevailing philosophers and had more influence on Paul, Peter, and John and their writings than Old Testament views of grace. Seneca taught about the giving cycle, picturing give, receive, return as a “dance of the charities”. To Seneca, and to Cicero, the word “charis” is applied to all three parts of the giving cycle, and Cicero taught that continuing in this cycle didn’t require laws, because it was unthinkable to not receive and return a gift. Strings were not only attached – they were expected! This cycle of reciprocal giving leads to relationship bonds, which were extremely important in a culture that relied on community (reciprocal giving) more than commerce (unilateral transactions).
The Troas night ended with a recap and thoughts for devotional study on gifts and grace, with a review of many scriptures that talk about grace using the giving cycle concept. Ephesians 4 and 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are rich with gift, receive and return cycles of “charis”. See the video for a full review of Scriptures from the devotional session.
John 3:16 – Gifts and Grace in Action
One scripture not mentioned during the evening, but rich with the concept of grace and giving from the gospel message, is a very familiar verse: John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 English Standard Version (ESV)
Let’s look at how this verse displays the giving cycle of gifts and grace.
For God so loved the world…
To begin the cycle of giving, someone has to take the first step and give. To do that, there needs to be a motivation: why give? To God, the motivation to give was His love. The “so loved” hints at something we’ll discuss next, the magnitude of the gift. As mentioned in the devotional session, the magnitude of the gift affects how it’s received, and is truly a significant gift if it changes the receiver’s life. In this case, the magnitude of the gift would change the whole world.
That he gave his only Son…
He gave. The gift was his Son. The magnitude and significance of the gift is that He gave His only Son. This Son, Jesus, would live a sinless life, offering up “prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears” (Hebrews 5:7 NIV) to be saved from the death we deserved, yet was “obedient to death— even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8b NIV) to save us from our sins. God offered this gift to us, not fully knowing if we would receive it, as we see in the next part of the verse.
That whoever believes in him…
This verse tells us how we can receive the gift: by believing in him. The gift was offered with an expectation of this response, but as John points out, the gift is not automatically received or forced on us as an “irresistible” gift. God offered it freely, as a gift of love, not forced but open to being received by any who would recognize and accept that love.
Should not perish but have eternal life.
Finally, the verse describes how we can return the gift. Receiving the gift results in not perishing but having eternal life. What does John mean by “should not perish”? This certainly can’t mean that those who receive God’s gift of His Son will not die physically. The scripture also says that the one who receives the gift will have eternal life, but what about the rest of this life on earth? To understand how we return the gift, the verses following John 3:16 are helpful.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
John 3:17-21 New International Version (NIV)
God’s intention in sending his Son was not to condemn the world, but to save it. Receiving God’s gift by “whoever believes in him” (v. 18) means that the receiver of the gift lives in the light, not darkness. We return God’s gift through living life “by the truth” (v. 21), so that we don’t perish spiritually. Our return to God is a life lived in the light and in obedience to him, to show our love in return. This obedience and life are not a way to earn the gift, but a response to it. As we obey in return for the gift, God continues to give through his one and only Son as we live, serve, face challenges and repent of sin, receiving the Greatest Gift over and over as we dance through the three graces of giving, receiving and returning.
Concluding Thoughts
The Troas night had an impact on my understanding of grace, and how I live my life in response to God’s great gift of Jesus. Too often I’ve viewed a life of discipleship, evangelism, and prayer as working toward more maturity and wisdom to be worthy of serving God in greater ways. This reflects a misunderstanding of grace as a “no strings attached” gift that I can never measure up to returning. Instead, I can obey and serve God, his people, and the world not out of guilt, duty or shame, but with an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving. The cycle of giving started by God leads to building a relationship with Him that grows stronger as I receive and return the gift, and continue through the cycle of gifts and grace.