Promote a Spirit of Generosity Read Matthew 6:19-24 I can’t remember which General Conference it was, but what I do remember is that my life-partner attended a workshop on the subject of giving. Having recently given my obligatory once-a-year stewardship sermon, I refused the invitation to join her and went off on my own to a totally different workshop. When we met for lunch that afternoon she was super-charged from the concept she had learned in her workshop. She said, “I really need to share this information with you and then present it as a workshop for our church when we get home.” Having never seen her very jazzed about the disciplines of tithing I preached, I was intrigued. In the workshop she had learned that giving was not really about principle and discipline. Instead it was something that flowed down and came back around to bless you as it blessed others. Being a visual person the image that came to my mind was that of a fountain. If we place water into the fountain it flows and splashes down and then comes back again so that it is constantly flowing. When I shared my idea about the fountain with her she said, “Yes, it’s a very joyful process! The blessings keep flowing when we give out of a place of joy and generosity rather than out of discipline and obligation.” This scripture popped into my mind almost immediately: “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each one should give what they have decided in their heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 She continued, “And it’s about giving from a place of generosity, not obligation. It’s giving with abandon. So many times churches try to stockpile as much money as they can. That’s fine if it’s in a fund for a particular purpose, but if we are storing up money as our church treasure, we’re missing out on what ministry is all about.” My mind was swirling with these new ideas. Our church was small and every penny counted as we had regular bills to pay. We had some money in savings, but that was our emergency fund; we surely wouldn’t want to give it away and not have it if we needed it! But as I read over the handouts from that workshop I agreed that taking this information home to our congregation was important. The next month, in preparation for the workshop, I preached a sermon titled: The Heart of a Matter. Let’s look at it from a scriptural standpoint: The scripture in Matthew 6:19-21 tells us that where our hearts are, there our treasure will be. We are warned about putting our hearts in three specific areas: 1) Where moths can destroy 2) Where things can be eaten and destroyed 3) Where things can be stolen from us. The simple questions might be, “what is your treasure? What do you value most?” This is what Jesus seems to be driving at when He calls up three pictures from daily life in Palestine in His day. Let’s look at each of them: 1) Avoid the things the moth can destroy. They didn’t have mothballs in ancient Palestine, and moths were a common problem. * Clothing was a sign of wealth. The wealthier you were the more clothes you owned. We’re not talking about basic clothing; we’re talking about fine and elaborate clothing. If you recall the Old Testament story about Elisha’s healing of Naaman, in 2 Kings 5:22, Elisha’s servant asks for a talent of silver and 2 Festal Garments. Clothing was a sign of wealth and status. Jesus seemed be saying in Matthew 6, that it’s silly to set your heart on clothing because you can’t wear more than one garment at a time. What you’re not wearing is hanging there being eaten by moths. There’s nothing permanent about clothing, so if that’s where your heart is, you’re settling for something in life that’s very cheap. 2) Avoid the things that rust can destroy. The word that is translated “rust” is brosis (long o). it literally means “eating away” which is what the rust we might think of does, but Jesus wasn’t talking about rust as we know it. * In His day a person’s wealth was determined not only by the clothing they owned, but also by how big their barns and storage bins were and how much was stored there. They had to be careful, however, because the more they stored up, the more problems they had with worms, mice, rats and other creatures who ate the stored food and polluted it. I believe that Jesus was saying: Don’t put your heart into storing up so much more than what you need, because there’s nothing permanent about that stored-up food. There’s no real quality there. If you put your heart into how much food you have in your bins and barns, you’re selling yourself short. Besides, the vermin will just ruin it anyway. 3) Avoid the treasures of life that thieves can steal by digging through. The houses in that day were made of baked clay. * Thieves would literally dig through the walls to break into the houses, so what good was it to hoard up gold and silver only to find that someone had dug through and stolen it all? “If you put your heart into how much money you have you miss the point of ministry.” These are the words I spoke to my congregation that day as I encouraged us to become a faith community that lived out of a spirit of generosity rather than a congregation of hoarders. I was surprised at how well this message was received! In fact, at the next board meeting someone brought a proposal for the church to participate in the upcoming Relay For Life, a community event to raise money and fight in the cure for cancer. A team was put into place and eight or nine people spent the night out there making sure that we had someone walking the track all through the night. Our congregation got very excited about giving time and money to this worthwhile cause! The next Sunday we announced who had participated and how much money our church had donated to the fight against cancer. The applause was deafening and the excitement was contagious. At the next board meeting someone brought a proposal that suggested the church send a donation to Habitat for Humanity. You cannot imagine my surprise when the board enthusiastically voted in the idea. Thank God I had a teachable spirit because I too was learning along the way! Two months later a remarkable thing happened in the life of our church. A local businesswoman called me to say that she didn’t attend church but felt she was supposed to give ten percent of her earnings to our MCC for the next twelve months. She asked me if I’d be willing to pick up the check from her each month at her place of business. Of course I readily agreed. Then she dropped the bombshell: It was her stipulation that our church should keep half the money and use it for whatever we wished. We were, however, to give the other half away in the church’s name. She didn’t care where we gave it, but it had to be given from our congregation. She didn’t want her name ever brought into it. To this day I don’t understand her rationale, but she was obviously a spiritual woman and she was certainly true to her word over the coming year. Once a month she would give me a call to say that the check was ready. I would drive to her place of business, have coffee with her, and fill her in on all the places that her money was going. She laughed heartily as I told her about our joy at being able to send it so many places, how the board meetings had gone from drudgery to the happenin’ place to be. Our church had gone from being hoarders to feeling like Santa Claus! We sent money to a horse ranch for disabled children, to PFLAG, to a health clinic that served impoverished people, to a new gay bar that was opening in town and needed sound system repairs, to a social worker’s organization that provided needed items for children who had just been taken from their homes and placed into protective care, and more. We came to love board meetings because each month we could see how much money we had to give and then decide where to give it. We were also able to purchase brand new hymnals for the church, start a building fund, purchase much needed supplies and pad our conference fund. Our church had become a fountain; we had started the flow but now it just kept pouring out and running over. “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into our lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 Additionally, as the church received letter after letter of thanks from these organizations we were giving to, as we heard each and every month about how our giving was touching lives, our own offerings began to mysteriously go up. The congregation sat enraptured as I read these letters from the pulpit each month. Our little church was making a difference in our city! As a result: * Giving in general went up significantly. Not only financially, but also in the contribution of time and the sharing of talents. People wanted to give to our church because they were happy with how their contributions were being used. * The level of joy went up significantly. People got excited and wanted to be involved in the church like never before. Social opportunities began to abound. * The church began to grow spiritually. We could see what God was doing in our midst; it was as though the scriptures were coming alive for us. * The excitement was contagious. Some people came back who had been away for a while and some new people came. * We earned respect from the greater community. We began to network with some of these organizations and that resulted in their coming to our church to learn more about us and even to provide speakers and workshops. We also began to team our efforts with some of these organizations. A well known philanthropist was once asked, “How is it that you give away so much and yet have so much left?” He replied, “I guess it’s because I shovel it out and God shovels it in; God must have a bigger shovel than I do.” In the midst of our church’s experiences my family has also developed a spirit of generosity. We are no longer concerned with going over the ten percent tithing principle. Instead we choose to give from our hearts whenever we sense God calling us to give. We, of course, give weekly based on our salaries as well, but that amount is closer to twelve percent than the typical ten percent tithe. In addition we claim what we give on our taxes and when we get our tax returns we tithe on that amount. It has become a very joyful experience for us to give out of a place of generosity rather than a place of discipline or obedience. As a result we too have grown spiritually as we learn to trust God to supply our needs. Now we don’t always have everything we want, but we have everything we need. On top of that, we have joy in our lives, and it’s just like a fountain, ever flowing, ever coming back around again to bless us. If you want to know blessings in your life and in the life of your faith community, promote a spirit of generosity. QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION What were you taught about the subject of giving throughout your lifetime? Is it different from what your church teaches you about giving today? If so, how is it different? What metaphor describes your congregation best: A flowing fountain or a dam? Why? How might your church finances be affected if your congregation developed a spirit of generosity? How might your personal finances be affected if you developed a spirit of generosity? In the experience we read about, the church began to give and things went UP from there: * Offerings went up * The level of joy went up * Spiritual growth went up * The excitement level went up * The respect of the greater community went up Are these things you would like to see happen in your faith community? Does your church have the teachable spirit(s) needed to bring this about? Explain In your personal life, what place would you like to be giving out of? Copyright © 2005 by Nancy J. Horvath-Zurn, MDiv. Published by UFMCC