Central to God's heart

There are over 400 distinct passages in the Bible that address issues of poverty and greed and wealth and responsibility. Over 3,000 particular verses address this topic. The Bible is saturated with this over and over and over again.

 

God calls his people to practice justice, to have a heart for the poor, to provide housing for the homeless and food for those who are hungry and to care for the widows and those that are under oppression. The Bible is saturated, just saturated with that theme.

 

In fact, greed is the second most frequently mentioned sin in the Bible. The first one is idolatry, and I would argue that greed,  actually,  is  simply  a  form  of  idolatry.  It's pervasive  in  the  Bible.  In  fact,  the  number  one  reason  why  God  judges  nations  in  the  old  testament  is  because  of  their  greed.  Greed  is, simply, a matter of  hoarding more than you  need when there are people who have less than they need, hoarding more food than you need when there are people who are hungry. That's called gluttony. Hoarding more resources than you need when there are people who don't have enough  resources, that is greed. And the number one reason why God judges nations in the old testament, including Israel, is because of their greed. This is a topic that is central to God's heart. I don't think you can get a topic that is more central to God's heart than this one.

 

The above is a quote by Greg Boyd from his sermon, Seeing What God Sees, 4th October 2009.

http://whchurch.org/sermons-media/sermon/seeing-what-god-sees

 

Kids & generosity

A last thought on generosity before tomorrow night when we move on to our next topic.

It was only towards the end of our previous gathering that we managed to focus on how we inspire our children towards generosity. I was unfortunately called away from some of the discussion by my little one who needed some mother TLC, so I missed some of the sharing. 

However these three questions stick with me - and have prompted me to grapple with the issue on a deeper level than I would have otherwise.

Do I want the only picture that my children get from me regarding generosity to be one of me handing money through my car window to a beggar? In South Africa we cannot avoid the beggars who stand at most traffic lights, hoping for mercy. They certainly challenge our generosity and can be a wonderful opportunity for us to discuss giving with your children. Yet is this the only opportunity - one that is often a brief encounter, where there is the distance of being inside the car and the poor, the needy, the one without power being slightly removed from us. There is no relationship there, there is no chance for the giver to also receive. It is not a complete picture of generosity. So how can we as parents create opportunities for more fuller displays of generosity, where God's generosity to us is mirrored. No easy answers here, I am afraid, each of us needs to pursue this with God's guidance and grace.

I want to explore this journey of learning to be generous, and I want my kids to come along with me on that journey, but how do I help them understand fully, and how do I help them learn from my victories and not my less victorious moments? No quick answer here either. Just a cute story that highlights part of this question: One mom shared she is faced with many people who are begging and can't give to all of them, especially in this season where her finances are very tight. She is trying to ask God's to tell her which person He wants her to give to. Driving in the car, approaching a traffic light where she sees she will be asked, she says to her 4 year old daughter, "Lets ask Jesus if He wants us to give to this man". They both pray and listen for a prompting from the Holy Spirit. The daughter gives a certain reply God wants you to give to this man, and you must give paper money.

Is this God speaking through her daughter or is this just the words of a little girl who cannot yet fully understand the concept of money and of poverty?

I want to get to that stage where I give cheerfully and obediently when God prompts, even if the giving is sacrificial, but how do I balance that with the need to be a responsible parent who ensures my kids needs are met? Sacrificial giving is all about giving beyond one's ability, in faith that God will supply one's needs. This is more challenging when one considers that one might not have enough for the basics for one's child. Is having children a legitimate reason to not ever give sacrificially? Again each of us needs to look to God for His direction and guidance to work this out in each of our families.

Much that we need to work through - good thing that Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith...we can trust Him to show us how.

Generosity Stew

Our sharing time this month was like one of those tasty winter stews, where every mouthful brings a different flavour. I am sure that I was not able to note all the brilliant perspectives, points and ponderings that were shared – but here are a few tasty morsels to get you chewing on this whole generosity thing:  

Giving is about responding to God’s call to give and not stressing too much about the outcome of the giving. That’s God’s concern. Our concern is that we are obedient to the His voice when He asks us to give.

God is generous and He does provide, but one must guard against seeing His provision as a sign of His goodness. God is good regardless of whether there has been provision or not. If there has been a lack of a sign of provision it doesn’t mean that He is less good.

As we have to learn to give, we also have to learn to receive generosity from others. To receive it with an open heart, and not feel that one is now indebted to that person and that one now has to perform. Rather, just as the giver has to keep her eyes on Jesus and not stress about the outcome of the gift, so the receiver has to keep her eyes on Jesus too – and respond to His directing rather than feel she owes the giver.

Generosity is not just about giving money – I can be generous with who I am

I can be generous in the way that I talk to people, in my conversations
I can be generous in focussing on the issue and not the person in times of conflict
I can be generous by not holding grudges against people
I can be generous by thinking the best about other people’s intentions and motives
I can be generous by respecting the dignity of each person, including the beggar at the traffic lights - I can look the beggar in the eye and greet him or her, even when I don't feel right about giving money
I can be generous with my time

One mom shared she had a longing to see God’s miraculous provision – inspired by the book Always Enough (a book review to be posted soon)  - and yet recognises that in order to allow God to move in the miraculous, she needs to be in a place of complete desperation. This is hard. She and her husband are trusting God for finances and so have experienced being totally dependent on God. She shared about the cycle of being in need, trusting God for provision, then a rising sense of panic as the deadline approaches, and the relief and joy of the 11^th hour provision.

Someone wondered why God’s provision was often at the 11^th hour, another wondered if it was because we so often give at the 11^th hour having um-ed and ah-ed as to whether we should give or not.

A lady who did not seem to grapple with the cycle of trust/panic/relief was Corrie ten Boom. She knew Jesus well enough to trust him even into the 11^th hour. Another book review will elaborate on this and hopefully inspire us to do the same.

Giving out of guilt, manipulation or coercion is not generosity. God loves a cheerful giver (2 orinthians 9: 7). If you don't feel you can give cheerfully, then maybe you shouldn't be giving, or you need some Holy Spirit work on your heart?

Generosity is totally enhanced when giving is done in the context of relationship.  

Would love to hear your thoughts on generosity…

God is generous

A while back a friend referred to God as being generous, and I was struck by the fact that I found it hard to embrace this description of God. Looking around at the poverty and at so many struggling with finances, I realised that I did not really believe that God is generous.

I have recently read Is God to Blame by Gregory Boyd where he challenges us to understand and know God only through Jesus, and not let experiences we have in life define God. So I asked God to show His generosity to me through  Jesus and was led to the story of the loaves and fishes in Matthew 14.  

You know how the story goes, Jesus multiplies two fishes and five loaves to feed a crowd of thousands. What hit me as I read it this time was that there were 12 baskets full of food left over – God provided more than enough. So those 12 baskets are for me a visual image to remind me of God’s generosity.

One of the other mom’s at our gathering shared that she always thinks about her own father's words when he responded to her request for financial help during her poorer student days. He reminded her of what Jesus said: “which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?” Matt 7 verse 9-11

What is your image of God’s generosity?

Understanding God’s generosity is an important step towards being freed to be generous, and to share with our children how they too can be generous.