We paid off a student loan! It wasn’t a big loan and it wasn’t going to take long even at the usual rate, but we decided to go ahead and get rid of it. We worked hard to give our kids the best gift we could think of, an education debt free. If you don’t think that’s a big deal then you haven’t been in the higher education scene for some time. Our parents gave us that gift a few years ago. (Well, ok a heck of a long time ago) So we wanted to do that for them. Passing on that blessing. Given that some estimates put the current student loan debt nationally at one and half billion dollars and the average (average, mind you) debt per student at just under forty thousand dollars, this is a blessing indeed. It wasn’t always easy making those payments - especially since both kids chose private colleges, thought they were given some scholarships. So, we struggled to get the money together, hence the small loan we had to take out for one semester of Maddie’s schooling. And we had help from La Donna’s parents who had the foresight to set up a trust that we were able to use. So it was their generosity, both sets of parents, that taught us to want to be generous, that has now blessed our children and will no doubt go on to bless many others as they begin to make their way into the world.
That’s the effect of generosity. It almost never affects only one. It is rarely binary, almost always algebraic. Exponential? One of those big math words anyway. It expands, and more and more and more are blessed. More and more and more receive from the gift of generosity. But it’s not really a math equation. It’s a faith item, a biblical principle. It is the secret to life. To living fully. The abundant life that Jesus wants us all to have.
It’s Stewardship time here at Southport UMC. Everyone’s favorite time of year when we focus on money. “All that church ever talks about is money!” I’ve heard that accusation before. “All they’re interested in is my money.” I could argue against that idea. I could point out the months of preaching where money doesn’t enter into the script anywhere. But frankly, that’s not a positive on my part. I don’t talk about money nearly as much as Jesus did. I don’t keep trying to show you just how serious this subject really is. I keep hoping you’ll pick it up by osmosis. That you’ll arrive at the conclusion without me having to constantly point it out. But Jesus knew you’d need more help than that. So He kept talking about money. About what you do with it. About what it does to you. He talked about it more than anything else, except the Kingdom of God. And even there the subject lines get blurry. Blurry because sometimes it sounds like the Kingdom of God is a long way off, and other times He makes it sound like it is all around us right now. And how we choose to live now, what we choose to do with the things of this life indicate whether we are even aware of that Kingdom or oblivious to the promise that pulses around us. He doesn’t care about our money, He cares about our souls, our lives. And what we do with money, with resources, with gifts, with time, with life itself is a sign that we have ears to hear Him when He pleads with us to enter into His Kingdom, to enter into His rest. To partake of His life.
So instead of budgets and pledges and tithing and maybe the guilt of doing or not doing our share, this year’s stewardship emphasis is about the secret of life. The abundant life that Jesus offers. The life of the Kingdom that is ours if we claim it by choosing how we will live. The secret. It’s not really a secret. It has been there from the beginning. Told to us in bits of wisdom in ancient texts we overlook because of the lack of drama, perhaps, or the overly simple obviousness of it all. Yeah, yeah, we nod along with these secrets, this wisdom. We know this. But do we? Do we know it deeply enough? Do we know it as a life changing reality? Do we know it as the secret to life? Do we? And the secret? Generosity. Give it away. Pour it out. That’s how to be full. That’s how to have all we need. Give it away.
Psalm 37:21 The wicked borrow, and do not pay back, but the righteous are generous and keep giving.
Let’s take a look at some Old Testament Wisdom. To find this secret being trumpeted loudly. Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm of a choice. There is a choice in how we will live. We find this choice presented in lots of places. Here it is a choice between righteousness and wickedness. Well, when you put it like that... OK, set the words aside for a moment. The choice is not just good and evil, the choice is self or others. The choice is inward focus or an outward one. Making room for God and God’s will in our lives or doing what seems right in our own heads and hearts. It’s a choice we make all the time, every day, every moment. Sometimes it is a conscious choice, most of the time we just go, following whatever nose is closest. But Psalm 37 invites us to pay attention and make a choice. And in the heart of the choice is this idea of generosity. It is the hinge upon which the psalm rotates. Give and keep giving. That defines the Kingdom choice. Keep giving.
Psalm 112:4-9 They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous. 5 It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice. 6 For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever. 7 They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the LORD. 8 Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. 9 They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor.
Um, what? Their horn? Yeah, their horn. The horn was the symbol for power. Like a rhino with an impressive horn. You respect that power and keep out of its way. But this horn, this power is the power of giving, the power of generosity. Here the horn is not the horn as a weapon, but the horn as a source of blessing. The horn hollowed out and filled with the oil of anointing. The generous are blessed to be a blessing, they pour out and are remembered by how they give to others. And their generous spirit survives difficulties, setbacks. Their hearts are firm, says the psalmist. The secret of living an abundant life is giving it away at every opportunity. Not a secret. Just hard to remember. Especially in difficult times.
Prov. 11:24-25 Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due, and only suffer want. 25 A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water.
You can’t talk about Old Testament Wisdom and not look at Proverbs. So, two quick looks. First here is a thought in the middle of a whole bunch of statements about the good life. The wise life. And it is about how giving comes back. And hoarding brings loss. A paradox, it seems, and yet true. We know this. Because we are filled up when we can give, when we can help. We are filled up even when we stumble, or fall short. It is about living abundantly, which is different than living with lots of stuff.
Proverbs 22:9 Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.
We all want to be blessed. We all want to feel the commendation of our God and our community, our family. But again and again we are reminded that blessing is not about what we get, it is about what we give. Are we sensing a theme here? A common thread by which we can stitch ourselves into the tapestry of abundant living.
Exodus 35:5-9 Take from among you an offering to the LORD; let whoever is of a generous heart bring the LORD's offering: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine linen; goats' hair, 7 tanned rams' skins, and fine leather; acacia wood, 8 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 and onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and the breastpiece.
OK, not wisdom literature per se. But this is the beginnings of the people of God. Remember, this is Exodus, they are not settled, not at home, they are wandering in the wilderness, have years ahead of the them of who knows what, they sure don’t. But a call goes out, a call to generosity. A call to make worship beautiful by giving what is precious. A call that can then be a way of defining a people, God’s people. Let those of a generous heart bring the Lord’s offering. And give that you may be blessed to be a blessing. It’s a secret everyone knows.
Shalom,
Derek
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