October 30, 2003
Some give freely, yet grow all the richer;
others withhold what is due, and only suffer want.
A generous person will be enriched,
and one who gives water will get water. (NRSV)
Proverbs 11:24–25

In today’s verses, the foolishness of self-absorbed frugality is contrasted with the wisdom of generosity. “Love is a spendthrift,” said noted preacher Paul Scherer. Giving freely with abandon eventually enriches the giver. Withholding what is needed impoverishes the withholder.

As Christians we don’t give in order to get, but when we give, we do receive. When we withhold in order to retain, we end up with a poverty of spirit that at last proves fatal. When we bless others, we ourselves are blessed.

The projected increase in the world population over the next fifty years is from six to nine billion persons. Most of this increase will occur in parts of the world that are already having trouble feeding and providing adequate health care for their populations. If as a nation we spend far more on our own security than we do on helping these impoverished areas, are we in danger not only of failing to provide the world with a model of needed generosity, but also of contributing to eventual world catastrophe? By withholding what as a blessed nation it is our bounden duty to give, may we not end up suffering want ourselves? The wisdom of Proverbs suggests that we do well to ponder the possibility.

Generosity is a product of gratitude. Ungrateful folk are rarely generous. In praying about my financial contribution to the capital fund campaign, I seek God’s guidance so as to do what I am able to make my contribution reflect my profound gratitude for the blessings of God’s love, for the good gift of life, for the community of care which to me is Fourth Presbyterian Church, and for the privilege of serving our Lord in this place. It will not express that gratitude fully, but it will be enough, because as was said in scripture of the widow’s offering, I will have done what I could.

Giving God, help me to be giving, not because I must, but because my gratitude can do no other than to praise you, from whom all blessings flow. Amen.

Written by John H. Boyle, Parish Associate