The Gift of Generosity
1 Timothy 6:17-19
They are to do good,
to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up
treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may
take hold of that which is truly life.
This is a sermon about generosity. You could consider it the
“Stewardship Sermon”; after all, it is that time of year! However, today’s message is about much more
than the amount of money one gives to the church, to charity or to children. I
feel it’s important to stretch our understanding of generosity, and what better
day to do it than on the day we honor Mothers?
What better embodiment of generosity of spirit, time and finances do we
have than that of our mothers? “Being truly generous is being selfless in the
service of others…it's a complete giving of one's self for the sake of love of
God and neighbor [and family] in every sphere of our lives.”[1]
Generosity, for Christians, is to be a way of life, a part
of one’s personality, as deeply and inseparably embedded in our spiritual
makeup as is our DNA in every cell of our bodies. Generosity is one of the nine
fruits of the spirit; and you can find all nine listed in Galatians 5:22. The
fruits of the Spirit are the qualities that bring us closer to the person God
creates each one of us to be. I also believe that most mothers’ hold the highest
hopes and say the deepest prayers that their babies will grow into children and
then into adults who live out these qualities throughout their lives.
By my way of thinking, the best chance—the highest hope and
the finest opportunity—we have to ensure that our children have the ability to
survive and thrive, physically and spiritually, in this chaotic, oppressive,
and unchivalrous world is to baptize each tiny and precious child into Christ’s
death and resurrection (as we have done with Luna today) and stick with them
every small step of the way into maturity.
Baptism begins with a few drops of water caressed upon the
child’s head, but there is so much more to do after the sacrament is conferred, and not to follow through with
the vows we all make to teach each
baptized child how to be a Christian, how to live the Christian life, is
tantamount to a mother giving birth to a baby and then abandoning it without a
thought as to its survival in the present, let alone its future. The chances of
survival, let alone success, are less than slim to none, whether we are talking
birth or baptism.
Paul’s words to his protégé Timothy show us a way to
pulverize those dismal odds: that way is generosity. Listen: “As for the rich
in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on
the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything
to enjoy. “ The mature in their baptism—the truly faithful—are, in Paul’s
words, “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to
share” (v 18).
“Generosity is usually thought of in terms of material
generosity, but it’s bigger than that.
Generosity is doing or giving more than necessary. It is going above the bare minimum required
to maintain civility. It is doing more
than just what is required by social standards.”[2]
That definition does not even come close to filling the bill
for Christians, however. We are called to be generous because God is generous.
God richly provides us with everything to enjoy—not just what we need but everything to enjoy. That’s amazing generosity.
And what is even more amazing is, God desires to be generous to everyone, not because
they deserve it, but because God is generous.
Said another way, mothers always love their children, not because their
children always deserve it, but because they are mothers, and mothers love
their children. (There are certainly times when mothers may not like their
children very much, but they always love them.)
The gift of generosity, like a mother’s love, comes from spiritual
power that freely and flowingly expresses “kindness towards others…it refrains
from judging, it believes the best of another. It gives the other the benefit
of the doubt. It seeks to see life through another’s eyes and to walk in her or
his shoes.”[3] When
people put up with you when you really blow it; assume the best of you after
the worst has come out of you; forgive you when you behave unforgivably;
recognize your shortcomings and yet look past them unless they see a chance to
help you overcome them, they are giving you the gift of generosity.
That is what being spiritually generous, as opposed to
begrudgingly generous, is choosing to do more than necessary because of who we
are in God because of Jesus Christ and not because of what the other person
deserves. And, in living generously at
all times, in all places, under all circumstances, and with all people, Paul
promises that we will “store up treasure for [ourselves] as a good foundation
for the future, so that we may take hold of that which is truly life” (v 19).
What is truly life? Truly life is worth taking hold of;
truly life is setting up a good foundation for our future; truly life is doing
good; truly life is being rich in good works; truly life is being generous and
ready to share; yet, truly, since my mother died last September, I’ve worried,
wrestled and wept about the significance of my life without her in it. In my
worst moments, the only comfort I can find is in the truth that my mother truly
lives with Jesus now, and I will see her again one day.
The sacrament of Christian baptism, like the love of a dear
mother, opens us to the ultimate gift of generosity: that God so loved the
world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish
but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to
condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. The
truly life is truly in Christ; thanks be to God for the generosity of
salvation: the treasure we have stored up in heaven God is using to build the
foundation for our place in the truly life. Amen.
May 10, 2015
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor
[1] Ray,
Paul A. “Generosity.” January 10, 2011. www.tonguesoffire.blogspot.com
[2]
Wende, Meredith. Pastor Meredith. “Fruit of the Spirit, Sermon Two: Kindness,
Gentleness, Generosity.” First United Methodist Church, Wharton, TX. Sunday,
August 14, 2011
[3]
Hamilton, Adam. “The Secret of True Wealth.” May 12, 2013. www.cor.org
