SIW 25.02.2024
Looking at
bible verses about giving I read one that I have read and heard a lot of times
before but somehow the emphasis changed
Thus,
when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do
in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others
And I got
this mental picture of someone parading with trumpets and throwing money in the
air and I nearly laughed out loud. It’s such a ridiculous scene, isn’t it?
Well that’s
a clear picture of how giving shouldn’t look so lets have a look at what the
discipline of giving looks like.
The first
thing I think we want to consider is whether the discipline of giving is the
same as *just* giving. Why do we say giving is a spiritual discipline? Why is
it not just something we do?
Well the
difference between giving and the spiritual discipline of giving is in those
two words:
spiritual
and
discipline 😊
Discipline
is something we do that yields benefits in the future. There can be a reward at
the time we do it but the real benefits come later. The difference between
disciplined giving and random giving is that discipline is intentional, we
think about it and plan for it. Discipline is regular and consistent. It might
be a small habit but the results build over time.
If we think
about exercise, we might get a runners high or we might lift weights to get
“the pump” and make our muscles look temporarily bigger but the real reason we
exercise is so we can have long term benefits. Little by little we get fitter
and stronger, we barely notice but the results add up
So what
spiritual benefit is there when we give in a disciplined way? Giving makes us
more like Jesus. It helps us to get closer to God. Giving is a practical way to
show love and showing love, loving our neighbour, is what God wants us to do
“Jesus said
unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And
the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
For there
will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall
open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your
land.’
Flexing our generosity muscle makes us more generous. And practice makes things
easier, so that when life gets harder or the gift we want to give gets bigger,
more difficult, more sacrificial, we are already good at giving.
So we know
that the spiritual discipline of giving is giving in a way that will yield
results in our spiritual life. It’s one of the ways we can build treasure in
heaven.
When Paul
was planning to visit Corinth he wrote:
On the
first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money
in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections
will have to be made.
The
instruction is for everyone to give. To do it weekly and proportionately.
We give
intentionally and often, so what will we give? We can give time: being unhurried with people,
giving time to encourage or teach or help out. We give time when we join the
worship team or sit with someone who is sick or in pain.
We might
give our talents by playing music in church or using our love of reading to
read to a child or offering our talent for cooking by making a meal for
someone.
We give when
we have an attitude of generosity and everyone likes to be treated generously.
Sometimes the person we need to really be generous to is ourselves. Giving through
our attitude means giving the benefit of the doubt, assuming good intentions
and knowing that everyone has unseen burdens.
Then of
course, there is the giving of material goods and money. When we think of
giving we usually think of money and that’s because money is versatile, when we
can’t assist with a need in any other way, money allows us to contribute.
What is
disciplined giving? It’s something we do to please God, to show gratitude and
obedience to God and to become more like Jesus. It is regular, it is
intentional and it is holistic. It is an attitude we live with and it leads us
to give in a variety of ways.
Each one
must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.
He wants us
to be cheerful in giving, to put our heart into it, not to see it as an
obligation.
Thus,
when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do
in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others.
Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the
needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that
your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward
you.
Every one of
you.
How should
we give?
When the
bible talks about giving How to give is the really big topic.
We just
heard from Corinthians that we should give in proportion to the way we have
been given. If we don’t have much, we are not required to give so much, if we
are well and truly blessed we are asked to share.
Lets hear
directly from the word about giving:
Each one
must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.
He wants us
to be cheerful in giving, to put our heart into it, not to see it as an
obligation.
He wants us
to be discreet. We give to help and we give to serve God, nobody needs to know
about it because God sees. It’s a private thing between God and us.
Give to
everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not
demand them back.
He wants us
to generous or you might even say overly generous, giving to those who ask and
not expecting a return.
Honor the
LORD with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your
barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
Here we see
giving as a priority. Giving the first fruit, not giving our left overs but
giving first, honouring God with our gifts.
Bring the
full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby
put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of
heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need
In these
verses God asks for us to give in faith. Give to me, he says, test me out, give
so that it hurts and wait to see what I give back. Wait to see that you won’t
be in need. Find out that the blessings will be poured out.
I wonder
what blessing we might receive if we really give?
What might our
lives look like if we give holistically, generously, regularly, and in faith.
How might we be changed? How could our communities, our families and our
churches be impacted by our giving?
On a website called Generis, I saw a quote that says it better than I can:
Giving is
not about getting money out of pockets. It’s about reverence, honor,
faithfulness, and gratitude to God.
Giving has
the power to transform the giver, to remove idols from our hearts, because it
is not merely a transactional act. It’s an intimate act of trust and a tangible
act of obedience to the Lord.
3 comments:
Kylie, you honor me by inviting me here, so I will share my thoughts as tactfully as I can with the proviso that I lost my "faith" for many reasons, some of them being contained in the verses you quote, verses that, in my view, point to the moral deficits of a religion that admonishes us to give so that we might receive; that preaches against materialism in this life so that we might walk upon streets paved with gold in the next life; etc.
"Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine."
This is the prosperity gospel in a nutshell. In short, if you massage God's back a little, God will massage your back a lot. What this has to do with love and generosity, I have no idea, the greed and callousness that it inspires being so overwhelming. For example, if God rewards riches to those who please him, then poverty represents God's righteous judgment upon sinners who don't deserve our help, either privately or through government programs. True, to obey this verse, one must have faith--or at least a desperate hope--which is why America's TELevangelists fly around in jets while the "faithful" die because they can't afford medical care. In my view, this verse represents the public face of Christianity in America better than any other in that it has nothing to do with love and everything to do with self-interest in the quise of holiness.
"Here we seegiving as a priority. Giving the first fruit, not giving our left overs..."
By "give so that it hurts," do you mean to say that if a poor woman can't afford to feed her children, she should give her "first fruits" anyway so that God "will fill her barns with plenty"? I don't believe you do, which means that you are nobler than the God you worship. I've been privileged to know many such people, and while I can't pretend to understand them, I respect the good that I see in them because I know it doesn't come through their religion but despite their religion. No doubt, you will strongly disagree.
"Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back."
I know that there are such people, but I'm glad to say that I've never met a Christian who defaulted on their house loan--or deprived their children of dental care--by giving money to a drunken panhandler, nor have I ever met a Christian who refused to report a robbery (thereby allowing the robber to rob others). In my view, Biblical admonitions are a mixture of wisdom, wickedness, and stupidity, and I believe that this verse falls in the third category.
In friendship,
Lowell
Hi Lowell,
What I've posted here is a sermon I wrote and preached at my regular church which is pretty much populated by people who have been on the road a lot longer than I have so in many ways, this topic has been done to death for them. I was asked to use the topic "Spiritual Disciplines- Generosity" Anyway, that's the context.
Prosperity gospel is an abomination and almost prehistoric in the way that it assumes good will come to the good, whereas we know that this world pretty much rewards the ones who are so confident as to be deluded, those who will tread on anyone in the pursuit of power, etc.
I read this verse as a rule of thumb rather than an ironclad promise and it's metaphorical as well. I take it to mean that if we give to God freely and as a priority, we can be assured of His faithfulness to us but this may not necessarily be a material/ financial giving and receiving.
When I said to give until it hurts, I was thinking about a congregation full of people who are not well off but in a sort of comfortable zone, meeting their needs but probably not all of their wants. I wanted to encourage people to give just a bit more than what they find comfortable, to extend themselves as a matter of discipline. I would never expect anyone to be in need of basic items or basic care and to surrender their means of getting those needs met, though as you say, some do.
"Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back"
I specifically commented on this, I did so as an aside so I haven't written it in the text. Who was this aimed at? Are we talking about theft? or maybe people who borrow and forget to return the borrowings?
My best guess and on topic for "generosity" is that we forgive a debt where we can and in a circumstance where someone might be finding it hard to repay. I think we are to use our judgement, not just let anyone walk all over us.
I've heard it said that we often insist on reading The Bible in a literal way but we should be reading as literature: following themes, watching for patterns, interpreting the text in context, being aware of metaphor and other techniques. If we were better at the Bible as literature, I think we'd all be a lot better off and get a lot closer to the intent of the book
"this topic has been done to death for them."
Then I guess that didn't run about shouting in tongues and lifting their arms to heaven in praise... Seriously, I've visited 55-60 different denominations over the years, but the SA was not among them, although I don't envision it as being terribly demonstrative.
"Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." --"I read this verse as a rule of thumb rather than an ironclad promise and it's metaphorical as well."
When I started having serious doubts about the Bible, one of the questions that plagued me painfully in my extremely literalistic church was why, God being God, he was seemingly unable to write a book that didn't lead to instance after instance of painful, acrimonious, family-splitting, congregation-dividing, friendship-ending, disagreement among reasonable people who were doing their utmost to understand what in the heck the Bible was trying to communicate. As for this particular verse, if someone told you, "If you trust me enough to do ___ for me, then I will commit to doing ___ for you;" and then didn't do it after, at great cost to yourself, you had kept your part of the bargain; would you emerge with your trust intact when he explained that he had had only spoken metaphorically and as a-rule-of-thumb and had never intended to have made a binding promise?
"I've heard it said that we often insist on reading The Bible in a literal way but we should be reading as literature..."
Certainly, it would be absurd to have men poking their eyes out because they looked at a woman with lust, but on the other hand, it would rob the Bible of most of its meaning (for instance, it could be claimed that the very concept of a just and loving God is a metaphorical concept, and the claimed existence of Christ but a literary device), while at the same time allowing Christians a way to sidestep (however unconvincingly) problematic passages like the above. The fact is that God could enlighten people as to what he wishes to say, and the fact that enormous suffering often results when he doesn't represents an objection to the religion of Christianity.
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