1451AFC121914 – Generous Helpings
Read it online here, please.
Romans 12:6-8 – We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Proverbs 11:24-25 – One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.
2 Corinthians 9:7 – Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Luke 6:38 – Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
Patience; kindness; generosity; humility; courtesy; unselfishness; good-temper; guilelessness; sincerity–these make up the supreme gift, the stature of the perfect man. The most obvious lesson in Christ’s teaching is that there is no happiness in having or getting anything, but only in giving. ~ Henry Drummond
Happiness is not in having what you want. It is in wanting what you have. Use of our spiritual and temporal gifts must be based on prudent stewardship and not on selfish motivations.
I have delivered that line hundreds and hundreds of times, in fact that short paragraph is part of my personal Mission Statement. You can see the whole thing online by following that link. I think it is an important distinction to understand; getting what you want is nowhere near as fulfilling as giving others what they need. Another adage that comes up often in what I write is …
Always seek,
Expect to receive,
And accept
The Greater Gift.
What is the greater gift? It is the joy of giving. Paul is recorded as having said in Acts 20:35 – In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive'” Some of you may wish to point out that there is no quote exactly like that in any of the Gospels. That’s OK because in the Gospel of John, the author himself tells us that not everything Jesus said or did was written down. Besides, Paul did actually meet Jesus, so who knows? Surely the awareness that Jesus held the gift of giving in high esteem is a reasonable inference from what we have of his teaching. There are few instances of the words generous or generosity in the Bible, and perhaps the most noteworthy is in Paul’s list of the Fruit of the Spirit. In the King James Version of the Bible, these words are phrased as “Dealt graciously,” “has done good to me,” or just “good.” (See Matthew 20:15 for example).
Generosity is something God understands very well. I have mentioned previously that the “famous Bible verse” about God’s generosity isn’t actually in the Bible. What is that verse? It is “God will not be outdone in generosity.” While it is true, it is not stated directly in the Bible. It is God’s own pattern of behavior. God is capable of awe-inspiring generosity, as scripture itself attests in so many places. He is teaching that they will have their needs met and more. His provisioning for believers covers not only supplying their needs, but also increasing their righteousness. Paul challenges them – and us – to emulate God’s generosity and reminds them that God’s goodness is the basis for great encouragement: God himself cannot be outdone because he is infinitely good, gracious, and does only good to those who love him; in fact he is so generous, he does good even to those who do not love him because ” … he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)
Personal generosity is a character trait that often astonishes me. Not so much ostentatious philanthropy like Buffet and Gates – although their generosity is certainly genuine and effective – but more like the impoverished widow who dropped her two small coins into the temple treasury box because “for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God,but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” (See Luke 2:1-4) You and I might find that challenging, but you and I also know people who live incomprehensibly blessed lives because they rely entirely on God. There are the parents with 14 children – many of them adopted – who somehow hold the whole family together with what would appear to be insufficient funds for “the average American family of four.” We see news reports from time to time about men and women who work multiple jobs so that they can help disadvantaged youth in their neighborhood. There are stories of ordinary people who do extraordinary things because it is their heartfelt mission to “accept the greater gift.” This is the kind of generosity that is admirable to most of us because it is difficult – or so we think. Yet if others can do that, why can’t I be that generous? Are you generous like these people I have described? What stops us from being godlike in our generosity?
I know many people who are really, really good people, and most of them are also really, really generous. Is there a connection between goodness and generosity? Of course there is! God is Good and God is Generous. When we are generous, we are good. Now, are we good because we are generous, or generous because we are good? The philanthropic people I mentioned earlier are probably generous because they are good, but they are also generous because it is advantageous. It helps with taxes, it helps with esteem, and it helps others who in turn convey their gratitude. It’s always nice to have someone be grateful for what we do for or to them. I think that is the key – GRATITUDE. Generous people are grateful people. They know they are blessed and they know blessing others helps others to feel grateful. Even if one’s generosity is mostly self-serving, the fact that it makes someone else feel gratitude is a way of perpetuating and nurturing generosity.
Generosity seems to me to be a natural part of human nature. We often see it in babies and toddlers when a small child spontaneously offers to share food or toys with a parent, a sibling, or another toddler. They know what it means to be taken care of, and in their innocence, they return that caring – often with complete strangers. Somewhere along the line we learn to be selfish, and that pretty much puts an end to our spontaneous generosity; we have to relearn it, and we relearn it by being grateful. We are enriched by blessings, and especially enriched by bestowing blessings for “one who waters will himself be watered.”
Think back to the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Generosity does not judge others by exalting self. Generosity serves others. The Pharisee was being generous to himself, taking credit for all his “goodness.” The Tax Collector was acknowledging the generosity of God by asking God for Mercy. When we show mercy to others without their asking, we are being humbly, quietly, and justly generous. That kind of generosity is something to which I can aspire. I usually fall short of that, though, and my shortfalls are for thousands of pointless reasons. In what ways is God calling you to be generous as we approach the close of Advent and anticipate the Joys of Christmas?
Is there a Giving Tree you pass by frequently but ignore. Is there a Red Bucket next to a bell-ringer you pass by and slip in a few coins? Do you give of your surplus instead of sacrificially? Have you felt the Spirit reaching into your wallet, moving things around on your calendar, or prompting you to do good to “even to the least of these?” If you and I feel we have stopped that Spiritual inclination, perhaps it’s time to be humbled and to let God know how grateful we are for all good gifts. Remember “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed”. (Proverbs 19:17), for truly Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2Corinthians 9:7) How much is enough and how much is too much? Better to ask, “How much is too little?” Turn your eyes upon Jesus for the answer to that one.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
