The Overflow: “It’s Not Karma”

The Overflow
“It’s Not Karma”
9/7/25
Pastor Mark England

Luke 6:38 (CSB) Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

When the people heard Jesus say this, they understood something we often … They heard it and understood what Jesus was telling them to give.

In their agrarian culture, the Hebrew people were familiar with the concept of a buyer coming to a seller for grain with a ready to be filled. The seller would fill the buyer’s measure with grain, pressing it down and shaking it up to make room for more until it .

In the same way, God will to Christians an overflow according to what we are , and He wants us to give Him our whole life.

In the divine of God, what we give will be returned to us in the same measure until it .

In our context we take this verse and abuse it thinking it’s time to get because it says give and it will be given back to you and all we think about is our .

When the people heard this from Jesus, they weren’t , they were soberly because Jesus was asking them to give something much greater than money.

Jesus wants us to give Him our .
Jesus wants us to give Him our , our , and our .

People ask for a life overflow but only want to give a life .

Despite what our culture says, this is .

is a that what you put out in the world will come back to you.

It’s not Karma. It’s the of .

Proverbs 11:25 (CSB) A generous person will be enriched, and the one who gives a drink of water will receive water.

Matthew 7:2 (CSB) For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.

Job 4:8 (CSB) In my experience, those who plow injustice and those who sow trouble reap the same.

Deuteronomy 15:10 (CSB) Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heart when you give, and because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do.

Matthew 6:14-15 (CSB) “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. ¹⁵ But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.

James 2:13 (CSB) For judgment is without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Galatians 6:8 (CSB) because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

Psalm 7:16 (CSB) His trouble comes back on his own head; his own violence comes down on top of his head.

Matthew 5:7 (CSB) Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Proverbs 28:27 (CSB) The one who gives to the poor will not be in need, but one who turns his eyes away will receive many curses.

It’s Not , It’s .

If we give , , and , we will receive those things.
If we give , , and , we will get that in return.

When we think about overflow, we often want to talk about what is , and Jesus wants to talk about what’s !

As Christians, we can no longer operate at a .

When we are too in love with the human (, , and ) and only think of the term “overflow” in the context of what we are we miss the point and remain .

We must live out the scope of the gospel, and that means .

Luke 6:27 (CSB) “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you

Acts 20:35 (CSB) In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

John 3:16 (CSB) For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Will we the Gospel but not the Gospel?

1 Corinthians 9:23 (CSB) Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings.

What kind of overflow do you ?

… compared to what the people Jesus spoke to heard about overflow.

Luke 6:27-28 (CSB) “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

How do we do that?

We can by .
Stop trying to get , stop , stop rejoicing when our enemies are .

Romans 12:19 (CSB) Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.

We should instead to those who hate us.

“But it’s not …”

We want the of God, but we want to continue to operate at a .

Are you making from you’ve never made?

We were once of Jesus, but He us and offered us salvation which we accepted.

You need to understand who the is in this message. So often we think are the victim in this story… when in fact is.

Romans 5:10 (CSB) For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

When He said pray for those who mistreat you, He was praying for !

Now the Gospel can work through us so we can respond like a and .

It’s not , it’s .