Matthew 6:1-4
Do you know the song, “Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way?”
Our scripture lesson today is about giving, specifically about doing it discreetly. Jesus tells his followers not to blow trumpets and make a big show when they drop their offering in the Temple box. I wonder why he felt like he needed to say that since nothing we know about these people indicates that they would ever have much money to give or would be inclined to draw attention to themselves. Maybe he did it to make them feel good, rather than to caution them against copying those who were getting credit for making big gifts.
What had the disciples given? They had given their time, giving up their jobs to travel with Jesus, learn from him, and help him with his work. They were in charge of logistics, crowd control, and catering. They were learning to heal and to repeat Jesus’ teachings to others. Some of them paid the bills, bought bread and wine, maybe even paid for lodging on rainy nights or piled lots of folks into their own homes when the group was in the neighborhood. They were giving up judgment and prejudice against those who were beggars or “sinners” and learning to treat them with compassion. They were giving their lives and livelihoods to a cause that was bigger than anything they had been a part of before. And they were doing it under the radar. They weren’t getting rich or famous. They didn’t really want to be known. Because they were human, they sometimes wanted credit, but don’t we all.
I’ve preached a lot of sermons in my time about giving. I’ve encouraged people to tithe or give 10% of their income. I’ve encouraged people to be generous and cheerful and hopeful that there would always be enough to meet the need of the moment. I don’t think I’ve ever preached about what not to do. For sure I’ve never said, “Don’t blow trumpets when you give your offering.”
Long ago there was a day when a church was baptizing a Cameroonian baby and all the grad students from Cameroon and their families came. After the baptism, the mother held an offering plate at the front of the church and the students sang and led a procession to drop offerings into the plate so the mother could give it in the child’s name. Even some of the stodgy Americans came at the end of the line, singing and dancing and giving. A few old timers objected, but it seemed like the best offering I ever remember taking. It’s not such a bad thing to celebrate giving. We do that a little when we give noisy offering and enjoy the noise it makes.
Family of God knows a lot about giving. We’ve given away almost $16,000 in the community fund this year. We’re about to pay off our building loan. We’ve bought a lot of groceries with our LaGrave account and even more with things we slipped into our own grocery carts. We’ve given space and time and transportation in amazing ways. With all that giving, I haven’t heard a single complaint. I think we’ve figured out how to give what we want to give. We give what makes us happy.
I’m lucky to be able to be involved in a lot of what we give. The social workers in town have me on speed dial. I get to go buy gas cards and phone cards and bus passes. I get to pay utility bills at Walmart or over the phone. I took my granddaughter to buy $500 in baby supplies (which didn’t quite overflow the cart). People thank me, but I always tell them it’s not me, it’s all of you who keep the account full.
I know Jesus says to keep quiet about what you give, but I’m pretty noisy about what you do. When people ask me why my cart is full, I tell them. When people ask how we feed so many people, I tell them you are generous. Some folks who know our story ask to give along with us. We get checks for the community fund from my book group and from the people who share our building. We got $5000 for LaGrave from someone who lives in South Dakota and has a friend on the Grand Forks Homes Board. This summer we got apples and tomatoes and sweet corn because people knew we’d give it away. Because we are generous, we help other people know the fun of giving too.
I like the way we handle giving from our funds. We trust the professional social workers in town to know what they are doing. If they say there’s a need, we believe them. If someone calls me directly, I send them to one of the helping agencies. They know if there’s a grant or government program that can help first. They know how to follow up so that people don’t get in a bind over and over. They know that when they’ve exhausted all the possibilities, we’re good as a last resort. We come through for them.
There are other churches in town that help people, but we have the least red tape. We don’t ask people to make appointments with us or fill out forms. We don’t lecture people about how they’d feel better about themselves if they got a better job and didn’t need to ask for help. Most of the time we don’t know who we’re helping and I rarely meet people in person. I like being in partnership with people who do hard work with compassion and great love. It makes our gifts that much better because they deliver them so well.
Somewhere years ago I read that people of privilege should give until it hurts. I’m not thinking that’s very good advice. It’s possible to give too much and shortchange yourself or your family. I think it’s better to give until it feels great. Give what makes you excited to give. Give what comes easily because it’s so much fun. Giving like that brings joy to the giver and to the receivers and makes the world a joyful place. Giving with joy is its own reward.