The person who has two shirts must share with the person who has none. And the person with food must share with the one in need. [Luke 3:10-11 (VOICE)]
Early this year, a charity event in our Florida town raised over $11 million in one auction. The top bid was $750,000 for the world’s first 2016 Rolls-Royce Dawn ultra-luxury convertible. $720,000 each netted three bidders exclusive access to Napa Valley’s BottleRock music festival along with personalized guitars and several vintage bottles of wine. $400,000 won some lucky person (and nine friends) a cooking class and dinner hosted by celebrity chef Mario Batali and legendary actress Glen Close. For a bid of $320,000, one couple will soar off on a private journey to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Japan and the Philippines. Every year, we watch the private jets fly into town for this event, read accounts of the fabulous dinners that are part of the activities, and gasp at the enormous amount of money spent in the name of charity. It’s obvious the attendees at this impressive event have more than enough to share.
Not everyone who shares, however, has more than enough. I recently heard a teacher explain why her classes do service projects as part of their curriculum. Most of her students are poor inner city kids who have spent the better part of their lives on the receiving end of public aid and charity. She has them volunteer so they learn how good it feels to be on the giving end! They may not have money but, young and able-bodied, they share their time, talents and youthful vigor. Giving empowers them in a way that receiving can’t.
The latest newsletter from a charity we help support included a heartfelt letter of appreciation from a women they helped. Granted our little check played a minor part of what was done for her, but her letter reminded me that it truly is more blessed to give than to receive. Feeling fortunate to be a small part of changing a life for the better, I wrote in my gratitude journal, “Thank you, God, for giving us more than enough so we can share with others.” The Holy Spirit quickly convicted me: “Whether in abundance or need, you always have enough to share!”
A boy shared his fish and bread with 5,000, a widow shared the last of her food with Elijah and, for all we know, the Good Samaritan shared his last few shekels when paying the innkeeper. They didn’t have extra—in fact, they didn’t even have enough, but they all shared what they did have. Sharing that improves the human condition is love in action. We are obligated to share and not just in times of abundance or even bare sufficiency. From the ultra-rich to the under-privileged, whether we have a feast or but a few crumbs, a Christian always has more than enough to share.
Thank you, God, for always providing us with enough of something to share with those in need.
To be poor does not mean you lack the means to extend charity to another. You may lack money or food, but you have the gift of friendship to overwhelm the loneliness that grips the lives of so many. [Stanley Hauerwas]
I admit to having left some church services feeling like I just “mailed it in” and that’s not the way to worship our wonderful glorious God. It’s been said that familiarity breeds contempt. In the case of familiar gospels, epistles, songs and liturgy, while familiarity may not breed contempt it may breed boredom. We’ve listened to the Benediction, Consecration or Absolution so often that we don’t even hear them and we’ve said the Lord’s Prayer, recited the Apostle’s Creed, or sung certain hymns so many times that the words exit our mouths without needing to pass through our hearts or minds.
Last week, I sat down to write in my gratitude journal and couldn’t believe my eyes. I hadn’t written in it for seven days. “I write in it every day!” I protested. Surely there was a mistake—pages must be missing. It wasn’t and they weren’t—the mistake was mine and it wasn’t pages that were missing; it was gratitude! It had been a week jam-packed with family, errands, chores, and writing—a week of “same old, same old,” just at a faster pace than usual. That, however, was no excuse for a heart oblivious to the blessings of seven ordinary days. Surely, within each one of those unexceptional but busy days there had been something for which I could thank God. Although I always offer thanks in my daily prayers, that journal has been a way of making me mindful of God’s specific blessings of each day—a way of making me see His hand in a life of the “same old, same old.”
Writing about my granddaughter yesterday made me think about birth defects. In actuality, all of us have what could be called birth defects—it’s just that some are more obvious than others. While all of God’s children have defects, none are defective. I consider a young man at our Florida church. Cerebral palsy keeps him strapped into a wheel chair and his physical limitations are immense. There is, however, nothing defective about this bright young man. I ponder the enthusiastic grocery worker with Down’s syndrome. She may have an extra chromosome, but there is nothing defective about her. I think of a fellow at church who has no ears. He may be deaf but there is nothing defective about him, nor is there anything defective about a friend’s grand born with only a partial arm and hand or my grand, with her heart defects and learning issues. They are all marvelously made—different from others, but no less wonderful.
Upon receiving an invitation from a business acquaintance to a “Celebrate Life” picnic, my first response was “Who died?” The words “It is just for fun!” along with the promise of pony rides, moonwalk, magician and games seemed rather odd for a Celebration of Life. That this was the 19th such picnic further confused me. Fortunately, accompanying the invitation was a brief note explaining that nineteen years ago his son had overcome serious health issues and every year since his family has gathered with friends and family to celebrate. Rather than celebrating the life of someone who died, they were celebrating that he lived!
Devotions of the Heart 