The Joy Of Giving

SAT., NOV. 5, 1994, 7:05 AM
FARM, STUDY

This is the third day of your return, and you certainly don’t have to worry about watering the garden. The trees are not quite bare, and the temperature is still warm, but clearly the Fall is ebbing and Winter shall soon be your season. In the church year it is the time of stewardship and a time for you to consider what more you should give.

I shall not tell you what the figure should be. I am not interested in dollar amounts, and I don’t respond to prayers for specific amounts of money. You should increase your giving, of course, for the budget includes more for benevolences, and you should always be in favor of more for others, rather than just your own church’s needs. You also appreciate Judy’s greater presence as a church leader, and this presence must be paid for. So you must decide.

My Teaching this morning shall focus on giving in a more general way. I’d say that you are ambivalent about giving. On the one hand you do give generously to the church and to other groups that you think are important… and some of this giving is joyous. You do have some sense that it is I who have given to you, and that you can have the fun of giving it where need is evident. On the other hand you still worry about bills and about the responsible allocation of your income. You are paid well, but you have little to no extra income, as you did when you were in your more hustling younger professional years. While you do give to the church “right off the top”… the first check… and also to Andy’s Network you then are cautious about further giving until you see how the month’s funds last. You know that Lenore does some giving out of your general account also, and that’s not completely predictable.

So, this evaluation is no surprise to you. You know the feelings both of job and of apprehension in giving, and sometimes these come together. My task is to urge you toward more joy, for it is unlikely that in this earth life you will ever completely lose those apprehensive reactions. I don’t call them fears, quite, even as they are in that direction.

I can tell you again, of course, that I am quite aware of your needs, and I do provide so that these are met and that you do have an excess to give. In My terms you shall never be needy, and if it sometimes appears thus it is because you have given to needy sons, more than you have to give. I enjoy seeing that you have sufficient and more. Then I want you to feel joy when you give, not feeling that you have to, but that you want to.

In one sense it is true that you come into this world with nothing, and, no matter how much you may have saved during a lifetime, at death “you can’t take it with you.” You come on over with nothing material. In another sense you came into this earth with much… into a family in which you were wanted and loved… one with sufficient means for you to have a happy childhood and youth. You were born at just the right time to benefit from World War II, and, with an above average mind you applied yourself and got a fine education, plus the degrees that made this fine teaching position possible. Was all of this chance? You obviously worked hard, but was what you accomplished just from your own efforts?