Why do we Give?

Oct. 5

Sometimes I get a little nervous talking about money and giving. Part of it is that growing up society said we weren’t supposed to talk about money, politics, or religion. I think another factor is that society today often thinks that religions, especially Christianity are just after people’s money. The biggest reason that talking about giving makes me nervous though, is that I don’t want anything to stand in the way of you connecting with God, of building a stronger relationship with Him. Our finances can so easily become a sticking point, something that can get in the way of our relationship with God. So the ironic part of my nervousness in talking about money, is that I know how we give is a part of our discipleship. Giving is how we grow in faith, trust, and relationship with God.

It is interesting in our passage from Matthew that Jesus starts out pointing out the negatives of giving. He talks about those who show off their charity by practicing it before others or blowing trumpets as they give. In Jesus’ day, there was such an assumption that people gave to the temple that Jesus didn’t have to address that need. So, Jesus, in this moment, thinks it is more important to ask, why do we give?

We might not blow trumpets when we give, or try to have people watching us, but the big question is why do we give? The biggest reason the Pharisees gave was because they wanted to show their self-righteousness, they wanted to be recognized and lifted up by others - they were forgetting or ignoring that it is far more important to be lifted up by God.

Remember that only a few verses before our reading today Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”, so righteousness in our passage can’t be telling us not to live out our relationship with God. I believe the translators are trying to point to a difference between self-righteousness and a right relationship with God. The big difference between the two kinds of righteousness is in self-righteousness we are getting the glory whereas, in a good relationship with God, he gets the glory - we can turn our gifts into something we do or our gifts become a response to what God does and an act of trust knowing that he will do far more.

So why do we give to the church or why do we serve others? Sometimes it might be about self-righteousness. There are a whole lot of online figures, stores, or celebrities that purposely show off how they give to others to improve their image. It is far better though to care about our image before God. Sometimes we can give to make ourselves feel good, to feel like we have done something to help. Yet, we must recognize in this urge, that we feel good giving because it is what we were meant for - giving is part of our godly purpose (from creation we were meant to tend God’s garden). Sometimes giving makes us feel better, because there can be a kind of guilt that comes with wealth because we know we have more than so many others. Yet we should recognize that this guilt comes from the fact that our wealth is a gift entrusted to us from God that is meant to serve and build up others for God’s kingdom (not unlike the parable of the talents).

Last week, when Jesus was talking about how we shouldn’t just love those who love us, or give to those who we know will pay us back, he was pointing out two other reasons we give: we give out of thanks, as a kind of response to what we have received, or we give as a kind of investment. When we give only to those who have given to us, we only respond to the simple human gift. But if we are truly giving back in thanks to God’s immense gift, of course, that would mean loving our enemy, because God has done far more for us. Donating to the church is not like paying for a movie, it is not a response to something nice I or this community has done for you, it is instead meant to be a response to the unmeasurable and never-ending gifts from God. Our giving is a way that we show how truly thankful we are to God for giving us everything and more.

For me, I have been overcome with this gratitude, numerous times in my life. Matteo my 9-month-old son, was a great reminder. Here is this wonderful bundle of life and joy that I could have never deserved and yet God has given him to us and trusted him to our love and care. Now in our parenting, we are called to respond by living out God’s generosity to Matteo, through sacrificial giving. There was another moment, where I was reminded of God’s sheer gift. You may remember that when I was 6 I was completely deaf after an accident. Over a year and a half, God miraculously healed me. It wasn’t until I was 25 and three years into my acting and singing career that I realized that I was only an actor and singer because God had given me my hearing back. This led me to the question, if God has given me so much, why haven’t I been willing to give even a fraction of that back? This eventually led me to the priesthood but also led me to realize that my life and birth are a miraculous gift that again I never deserved.

Another way we give is to invest. When we give in trust that people will pay us back, sometimes with interest, that is usually showing a very limited and worldly amount of trust and an equally limited reward. Instead, when we give in trust to God, that trust should extend far more into our whole lives. Our giving to God is a form of trust, it is an act of faith. When we give from our first fruits or paychecks, or when we don’t know if there will be enough, that is an act of faith - trusting that God will continue to provide and that in him there will always be enough. On top of that we are investing in God, we are investing for a far greater reward.

I had an experience that pulled these two ideas together. I was once sitting with a new immigrant to Canada. She was so immensely thankful that God had finally led her to a job. At one moment she was thanking God as she spoke about her paycheck and directed towards it. I only realized a moment later that she had pointed at an envelope for the church. A part of me wanted to argue with her that she needed it more than the church, but she was living out her immense thanks and faith and that was far more important than what a little money could do. She had the widow’s might. I too need to learn from her thankfulness and faith.

Today, Jesus specifically talks about our reward, what we are investing in. Ultimately, we are meant to seek our reward from God himself - not from this world as we now know it. Over the last few weeks, I have been talking about how we are investing and building God’s Kingdom through our words and actions. Our giving of our time and money can truly join God in that work of building the perfect world. Giving can also be a way that we grow as disciples in relationship, trust, and obedience to God. As we give, we step out in faith and trust, we put God before money, and we make him our Lord and King.

Giving is an essential way that we grow closer to God. Both giving to the church and giving to our neighbors. Remember in our reading from Luke, that the natural outpouring of our total love for God, is our love for our neighbor and ourselves. Remember the good Samaritan’s sheer generosity. He was living out His love for God. Generosity is how we grow in our relationship with God. In fact, it is more than that. Generosity is how we become like Jesus. Remember everything we have and are was a gift from God, which God freely gave to us when we could never earn it. This means that we could never ever give back as much as God has given us. Even if we were to give our lives for God, it would only include our birth, but not the entirety of the good that we have experienced throughout our lives. So when we give with no expectation of return, at least in this world, we are becoming more like God. In fact, that is when Jesus told us last week, that we become children of God. The ironic and beautiful thing is that God usually gives us even more in this life when we give out of sacrificial love and faith, just as he gave a return to those who invested their talents in the parable of the talents. God is so immensely generous though that he promises an even greater reward is waiting for them.

So why do we give to the church and to others? We give out of our immense and ever-growing thanks because God has given us more than we could ever deserve or pay back. We give knowing that our relationship with God, is more important than anything else. So, we give to build our faith and trust in God as our Lord and Savior. We give knowing that by doing so we join in God’s work of building his Kingdom. We give so that we might become like God and be his light in this world. We give because investing in God’s Kingdom is the greatest investment we can ever make, as its returns are far greater than we can know or imagine. In all of this and more, we can be truly joyful in our giving, because God takes every little bit and turns it into something wonderful and astounding. AMEN