Over the years I have seen people stand up and beg, bully, insult, plead, command as they (in more ways than I can list) attempt to influence those before them to give more. “The Lord loves a cheerful giver,” they cry. And this is a true saying which comes from 2 Corinthians regarding giving to meet the needs of struggling believers elsewhere. The gathering of believers in Corinth have taken up the call to help and now the Apostle Paul is ‘encouraging’ them to ‘put their money where their mouth is’ as it were.
In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul writes: “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” “
We are encouraged to give ‘from the heart’ not from compulsion. The words in italics in the passage above are taken from Psalm 112. This is here as a reminder from the Old Testament to give credibility and an anchor to the words Paul writes. It is him saying that his words are valid because they are grounded in the sacred writings that are the Old Testament - it’s not him banging the drum but teaching what has already been written.
The reality is that we have a wonderfully generous God. Look at creation, the gift of life, the joy of love, the freedom and fullness that is to be found in following Jesus, the Christ, and the reconciliation that His (Jesus’) life, given up for us on the cross, between us and the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) brings. We have a generous God - this is not an exaggeration - who wants for us also to act generously.
Our generosity is to be from the heart. Something that occurs from the joy that we have not the duty or the person that compels us.
“I am so tired of you Christians. You’re always out there with your begging bowls. Mend our tower, repair our organ, give generously! But why should I? Do you come to my door and say, “Here’s some money to get your car working so you can get to work next week?”
Those words came from someone (who was not a Christian) in response to a Christian who had just thrust a collecting box into their face as they walked along Hounslow High Street. As I engaged them in conversation they asked me:
“How comes this God of yours who is supposed to have so much needs to beg from me who has so little?”
“What a good question,” I thought. “How the hell do I answer that?”
Well the answer was an act of generosity! I asked what was wrong with their car and having listened to their need and the description of their problem, I offered to pop over with my tools and have a look. So they gave me their address and a couple of hours, and a new set of spark plugs and distributor points later, the job was (to quote a friend) ‘a good un!
Now I’d love to say that as the engine started they fell to their knees and gave their life to Jesus - but they didn’t. In fact our paths never crossed again. But my act of giving came ‘from the heart’ - an act of generosity which engaged with a man and met his need just as God had met my need in the love of Jesus. An act that cried out, “Cheer up, God has heard your cry! Start your engine and go to work!”
This is what generosity is. There might be money involved somewhere in it, but the essence of generosity is to be found in the giving of ourselves. Jesus didn’t ‘splash the cash’ to rebuild the relationship sin had broken - He gave of Himself, shedding His blood for each and every one of us.
As we engage with ‘Holy Habits’ be careful not to confuse or limit generosity by focussing on money - it’s not an opportunity to increase the giving and pay the parish share but an opportunity to develop that same generous heart and lifestyle that Jesus calls us to exhibit.
And on a personal note: Whenever God has prompted me to act generously I have found that the time given never returned - it was gone forever - and yet when I had a need, others generously gave of their time to help. Whenever God has prompted me to act where money was involved, I have almost almost always ended worse off. And yet over the years I have also received generosity from others in the shape of things our finances couldn’t afford that appeared.
There are times in our lives when God enables us to be His cashpoint machine - that’s a seasonal thing perhaps - but being generous in ourselves is something that speaks of the love and generosity of the God we serve, love, and live for. Don’t confuse love and generosity with money!
As we see in Jesus, God made man. It is being flesh that makes God’s love real for us - there is power in being there in the flesh for others for in exactly the same way. Let’s not cheapen our generosity with mere money.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6. 19-21
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