The Challenge of Generosity

Grumpy: A monologue based on Deuteronomy 15:1-2, 7-11

What are you up to now, God? We’re settled in this place. I just want a bit of stability in my life after wandering in the desert for forty years. We survived on manna and whatever else you sent. I’m very grateful but I just want to be more settled. I always help my neighbours and loan them whatever they need. I work hard for everything I have.

Now you’re saying that not only do I have to loan to them whenever they ask, but every seven years all the debts will be cancelled. It doesn’t matter if I just loaned to them yesterday or seven years ago. Basically, I’m giving away my money. That’s not fair, God. And on top of that, I’m still supposed to be generous in caring for anyone in need. Why would you ask that of me, God? I’m not trying to get rich here. I just want a bit of stability and security. I want to provide for my family and leave something for the next generation. Is that too much to ask?

There’s always going to be poor people and people in need. I can’t fix that or change it. You think that giving people a break and being generous when people haven’t worked as hard as I have is going to make a difference? Nah. It’s just going to make people lazy. They know they don’t have to work as hard, and they get a free ride out of it so why would they bother?

I know you want all your people to have enough. I know that God. But what you’re asking feels pretty radical. You’re asking those of us with money to give it away, joyfully. It goes against common sense and logic. If I give my money away, I won’t have enough for my family and then I’ll be in need too. How does that help anyone?

I know you can see a bigger picture than I can God. I know you have concern for all your people. I know that and I want to follow but it’s just too much to ask. I can help a bit, but I don’t like the idea of forgiving debts. That cuts into my own money too much. I don’t want your people to suffer either. I’ll try to be generous with my other resources. It might alleviate some suffering, but it won’t solve the problem. I just don’t know how we can make sure everyone has enough and no one is over burdened.

Debt and Generosity

Last week we focussed on individual sabbath—taking time to enjoy God’s creation and connect with the Holy, friends and family. Our faith is very personal and nurturing our relationship with God allows us to thrive. But scripture is also clear that our faith is communal. Because faith is communal our sabbath is also communal.

The Hebrew people had been slaves and wandered in the desert for forty years. As they begin to settle, the laws we find in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy help them organize themselves as a community. The idea is that if they follow these laws, their society and communities will flourish. If they aren’t able to follow the laws, it will bring suffering to the community—not as punishment but as a natural outcome.

In the ancient Near East, there was a tradition that new rulers sometimes cancelled all the debts made to the previous ruler, returned land that had been taken by the crown, and released the slaves. This release and return happened once in a ruler’s lifetime. There was no guarantee it would happen and no knowing when it would happen.

In Deuteronomy, we find something similar: Every seven years, you must forgive all debts.
What is different about what we hear in Deuteronomy is that it isn’t a ruler cancelling debts. It is the people themselves cancelling the debts. And this isn’t an occasional thing. This is to happen on a regular basis—every seven years. There is debate about whether or not the ancient Hebrews actually followed this practice but it does present an alternative vision for the way society could function.

In Exodus 23, there is a command to let the land lie fallow every seven years. The same Hebrew word is used here in regard to debts. Let the debts lie fallow. In other words, let the debts rest. Even in the world of finance, rest is important and required for society to function well. The point of forgiving debts every seven years practice is to prevent the concentration of wealth and power within a small group of people. Every seven years there would be a reset and the playing field would get levelled again.

This goes hand in hand with generosity. Do not be harsh or stingy with those in need. Be generous—and not with a grudging heart. There’s a recognition of the tendency towards hoarding our belongings, money, time, and energy. It sometimes feels easier to give the leftovers, the things we don’t want, the cheap food. But this is something else. Be generous with everything we have. Help in whatever way is needed.

The passage continues with more instructions: a loan shouldn’t be denied just because the seventh year is getting close. God seems to recognize how easy it is to get caught in self-interest. The “what do I get out of it” tendency. There’s no benefit to the person making the loan. In fact, they will lose money when the debt is cancelled. Why would someone make that loan? God is thinking ahead and sees the thought process and the tendency to keep what we can for ourselves. There’s no enforcement of the law. Either people will do it or they won’t.

Finally, the passage ends by reminding us that there will always be people in need, and we are required to always be generous to the poor and needy. There’s a reason the passage ends with this reminder. God recognizes that humans will have a hard time living up to the ideal of cancelling debts and being generous.

How many of you have debt? (a mortgage, credit card, line of credit, car payments). Many of us live with debt as a part of our life. If you have debt, it can become harder and harder to keep up with the payments. Life happens—people lose their jobs, become ill, or a spouse dies. All sorts of things happen that impact our ability to pay off debt. Imagine the scene when the debts are cancelled…Dancing in the street, big parties. That is an opportunity to sabbath—to rest and enjoy.

Now if you’re like me and a bit cynical, you’ll be starting to see the ways this could be taken advantage of in our culture. People could buy big fancy houses, or expensive cars or take long exotic trips. Then the debt gets cancelled, and they never have to pay up. How is that fair or right?

For some of us, debt allows us to have a home, buy groceries, and pay necessary bills. There are also many in our communities who do not have access to credit. Survival becomes tenuous when costs have risen faster than wages or pensions and there isn’t the wiggle room that credit can allow. It is a sad reflection on our society when debt is almost necessary to meet basic needs.

Debt has become a very real issue in our society. Access to credit has given us the ability to live beyond our means. Access to credit means that people can appear to have more wealth than they actually do and are actually struggling with the debt they owe. This tendency to live big also creates a sense that we always need more. Our value is transferred from who we are to what we have. We need to pause, take that sabbath again, and reflect on what we need versus what we want. These are often not the same thing. As we pause, we need to learn again to find value in who we are rather than what we have.

Even all those years ago when the scriptures were written there was a sense that too much debt, greed and self-interest would not benefit the whole community. We also need to take seriously the ecological impact of what credit allows us to use and consume. As we take our pause, we recognize that our culture and context are different from that of the Hebrew scriptures. However, we still find our grounding in a God whose concern is for the whole community and all creation.

Our faith invites us to consider the economic structure in which we find ourselves. Is this an economic structure that ensures everyone has their basic needs met with dignity and compassion? Is this economic structure sustainable for the earth? Our economists and governments talk about economic growth, but I wonder again if even the economy needs a pause and a rest to reset so we can all move in a more sustainable and compassionate direction.

Even while we work to change policies and practices that harm people and destroy the earth, we need to be generous, with joyful hearts. Sometimes there is tension between changing a system that keeps some people poor and feeding people in need now. We need to do both. Everyone should have a warm place to sleep this winter and enough food to eat. May we be generous with our money, resources, time, talents and energy for the benefit of all God’s creation.

Counter-Cultural Community

This tiny little passage, Acts 2:42-47 describes an early church community and lifts up the practices that were really important for living faithfully in a time of turmoil.

Have a read and see how many practices you can identify.

Holy Habits identifies ten practices in this passage which I have tweaked a bit.

Share the Good News—When we live these practices, other people will be drawn into the excitement. We live in a world that teaches scarcity, that teaches individualism. We live in a world that tends to be disconnected from community, from our hearts, bodies, minds, and souls. Communities of faith are gatherings of people who live in ways that are counter-cultural. The world needs that correction in order to heal and be whole. I think many people are yearning for something different than what the world offers. Communities of faith have an opportunity to model something different.

1. Apostle’s instruction – learning
2. Community – communal life
3. Breaking bread – communion
4. Prayer
5. serving – signs and wonders
6. Sharing – as each had need
7. Worship – gathering in the temple
8. Eating together – eating meals
9. Gladness and Generosity – joyful and sincere hearts
10. Share the good news – God added to their number

Apostle’s instructions—In the early church, there was an opportunity to learn directly from those who had their own experiences of Jesus. We don’t have the benefit of having been there to witness Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. We take our instruction from scripture—the ones written about Jesus and the Hebrew scriptures that Jesus would have known. But our sources of learning are wider than that. We recognize that wisdom is found in many faith traditions. We learn from each other’s stories and wisdom. Learning is something that is a lifelong process. Our learning in faith doesn’t end when we are confirmed or when we quit going to Sunday School. Throughout our life, we should be wrestling with our faith, asking questions, and incorporating new knowledge and experiences into our faith.

Communal life—In many faith traditions there is a practice of communities living together. This communal life has been reflected in the United Church as a shift from congregations and churches to communities of faith. Communities are the places where we support each other, work together, serve together, and pray together. Community recognizes that we are stronger when we are together.

Breaking bread—the sacraments of communion and baptism are moments when we recognize the risen Christ among us. They are moments in our communal life when we gather in community and intentionally connect ourselves to a long history of faith and with faith communities the world over. We need those places of pause to remember Jesus and the Risen Christ among us.

Prayer—prayer can be a powerful way of lifting up our concern for ourselves and others. It isn’t a magic fix, but it creates space for the spirit to be at work in us and others. Prayer can change our energy and give us strength, courage, acceptance, a new perspective. It can remind us that no matter what’s happening, we are not alone. Prayer is also a way of giving our thanks and gratitude back to God.

Serving—all the ways we share God’s love with others. Serving can be as simple as listening to someone’s story. It can include supporting the most vulnerable in our communities and the world. Serving can be caring for the earth. Serving includes all the ways we use our time, energy, talents, skills, and finances to support others and build up the community of faith.

Sharing—our resources are not our own. Anything that we have (time, talent, energy, finances) are a gift from God. They are not intended for us to hoard for ourselves. I think of them as something we hold in trust for God’s world. The scripture we heard this morning, tells of a particular community that sold everything and then used those resources to ensure everyone had what they needed. We need to think personally and collectively about this. The people that gather here every Sunday do not own this building. We have responsibility for it, but it is a resource that can be shared with many different people and groups to create space for gathering, learning, support, connection, and healing. Those of us who have more financial resources have a responsibility to use those resources to support and encourage others. We might do that directly or we might support organizations that work with the most vulnerable.

Worship—worship is an intentional way of gathering in community. It is a place and time where many of the other practices come together. In worship we offer praise and gratitude, to serve, share, learn, and pray together. Worship reminds us of our connection to each other and to the wider creation. It is a time when we are held for our own healing and nurture and sustained for our work and service in the world.

Eating together—Eating together is an important practice. Over a shared meal, conversation happens. We relax and spend time together. Sharing a meal is a good way of connecting, and getting to know each other. We are better able to support, serve, and share with each other when we know what’s going on in each other’s lives.

Gladness and Generosity—We are invited to come to all of these practices with an attitude of gladness and generosity. These are not things we do because they are required or out of a sense of duty. We participate in these practices as a response to the God who loves the world. We participate in these practices as a response to the Risen Christ among us. Joy and generosity are infectious. If we come to the practices because we have to, or because no one else will do it we bring resentment and scarcity with us. These are also infectious. Who wants to be a part of a community that is shaped by resentment and scarcity. Our culture often tells us that resources are scarce or that we are not enough. Our faith tells us that there is an abundance, and we are called to share that abundance with all. Our gladness and generosity as individuals shape the character of our community and encourage others to join in the exciting transformation.

These practices invite us to be oriented toward the world. They are not primarily individualistic. They create space for individuals to be fed and nurtured and then turn us back into the world. The early church knew how important it was to support each other. They were a minority group within their society. This minority status encouraged them to work together. It often feels like communities of faith and other groups that are trying to create a better world struggle for resources and struggle to make their voices heard in a culture where the loudest voice wins. This passage is an invitation to be joyfully counter-cultural. It is an encouragement to continue the practices that connect us to each God, to each other, and to a hurting world.