Giving at Christmas Time

As Christmas approaches the interest in buying gifts for relatives and friends increases until for some it reaches a panic situation by Christmas Eve. Many Christians are aware that Jesus was probably born in October and not December. Nevertheless we continue to celebrate and give presents and so remember that Jesus came into the world because God gave the greatest gift of all. Lovingly He had provided mankind with a lovely home and in it, all that could make for a happy life. When men and women got their lives into a mess, He did more than look down from Heaven and feel sorry for them. He personally intervened with the most costly of gifts, his only son. In a sense there is nothing which we could give him but he gladly receives the joy and thankfulness and fellowship from those who appreciate his goodness. He also gladly receives the surrendered life and places it in his great plan of salvation. Believers are therefore bound to examine the reasons for all generous action, for what they can give is held in trust as stewards for God.

At this time of year charitable causes benefit a great deal by the popular upsurge of generosity. Children become the centre of a great deal of the interest in the giving of gifts. Can we not approve activity which bears something of the image of a generous God which remains in men and women, boys and girls, even though it has been somewhat tarnished and defaced by selfishness and commercialism? So what is our motive for giving? Jesus once said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20.35). He also said "…give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you give will be the measure you get back" (Luke 6.38 RSV). There are similar sentiments in the proverb "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty." In more modern idiom that reads "One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty" (Prov.11.24 NIV). Some might suggest that this is more a matter of getting rather that giving but it is all to do with the quality of love expressed in one of the most well known of texts "For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten son…" The motive for our giving is plainly love, unselfish concern for others without thought of getting anything back. Love has its own reward, the more we express God's love in action, the more we find ourselves loved.

This attitude of kindness was enshrined in Israel's law. In Exodus 23.11 the rich are told to harvest their crops in a manner which would allow the poor to benefit from gleaning. In Deut.15.7 Moses exhorts the people of Israel not to be hard hearted or tight‑fisted to a poor brother. This spirit is caught up in the words of the wise man when he wrote "He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD" (Prov.19.17 RSV) and later the prophet Jeremiah said of Josiah "He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the LORD" (Jer.22.16 RSV).

Taking their cue from great father Abraham, the people of Israel were expected to be hospitable to their own people and to strangers alike. Among the records of Israel's history examples of this kind of generosity is seen in the lives of Boaz and the welcome he gave to Ruth; Abigail and the kindness she showed to David and the Shunamite who was hospitable to Elisha. Records are not lacking concerning foreigners who showed the same traits of character. Rahab who entertained and cared for the two Israelites reconnoitring the land and the widow of Zarephath who took in Elijah during the famine were given very honourable mention. God's ancient people were expected to give, not for duty or grudgingly, but with the sense of generosity which God demonstrated when he gave them a lovely land.

In 2 Cor.8.9 (NIV) Paul draws attention to "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." This is the true spirit of Christmas. He was rich in his heavenly home with his Father, beyond our imagination. He was prepared to sacrifice that blissful environment and to share our life, stricken with poverty because of sin, in order that we might eventually share with him the glories of his home above. More than that, even now we can begin to experience the beauty of that place by living in his presence every day. His provision and protecting love make us rich already. His impoverishment provides for our eternal wealth.

By worldly standards Jesus may have been rich for a short time after the visit of the magi presenting their gifts. What became of that extravagant wealth we have no record. Only we know that for most of his life he appears to have been associated with the poor of the world. Glimpses of generosity in the Gospels are seen in his 'banquet' for more than five thousand men, women and children on a hill side in Galilee. Jesus loving attitude calls forth the best in others, and the women believers took care of his material wants. Most noteworthy was the generous outpouring of the anointing oil by Mary at Bethany.

It is clear that this same spirit was rapidly developed in the early Christians. The records in Acts 2.42‑47; 4.32‑37; chapters 5 and 6, show that the whole company of believers shared their material possessions just as they shared the things of their faith. No one was left destitute. This principle was particularly important throughout any period of persecution when families could readily be left without a 'bread‑winner' and their possessions could be vandalised. Such an attitude transcends human boundaries of class and background. The outstanding example among them was Barnabas of Cyprus who sold his own property and gave the proceeds to the Church. Just how long the system worked in the history of the Church is not clear but the teaching of generosity continued to flourish throughout the Gentile churches. In Ephesus while Timothy was there, widows were being cared for and Paul told him to admonish the rich to be generous and to share with those in need.

Surprising acts of kindness were shown in Antioch by the new converts among the Gentiles. The prophet Agabus spoke, through the Spirit, of the famine about to "spread over the entire Roman world" (Acts 11.27‑30 NIV). Spontaneously, members of the church decided to send gifts to their brethren in Judea. They were poor and would be among the first to feel the pangs of food shortages. Here again the love of brethren surmounted national and racial barriers. It is a surprising gesture because this kind of relief aid was unknown in the ancient world. Perhaps it was not so surprising in the light of the parable of the 'Good Samaritan' and in the fullness of the Spirit which those early churches experienced. Jesus was at work in a very real way among his people. One of the most touching stories of hospitality is found in Paul's visit to Philippi when the rich Lydia humbly begged Paul and Barnabas to stay in her home.

Perhaps the most forceful teachings about generosity are to be found in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians to which reference has already been made. The apostle believed that the churches in Europe should co‑operate in sharing their material wealth with the poorer churches in Judea. He wrote to say that the churches in Macedonia not only gave liberally for the benefit of other Christians but first "gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God" (2 Cor.8.5 RSV). This is the outworking of Paul's words in Rom.12.1 (NIV) when he urged the brotherhood in Rome to offer their "bodies as living sacrifices". He wanted the Gentile brethren among whom he had laboured so long and arduously, to excel in this quality of generosity, not by coercion but as a willing offering to the Lord for their brethren. The fruitage of Paul's example and teaching was seen in the gifts that were sent by him and those who journeyed with him, to the church in Jerusalem. When Paul eventually arrived in Judea for the last time (on record) he was brutally treated by those he had come to help. When he stood before the governor Felix to defend his action, he spoke of how he had brought to his "nation alms and offerings". (Acts 24.17 RSV).

Gun and knife violence in city streets, displaced people from areas of conflict and famine in desert wastelands testify to the terrible need of our time. It is a day when the wealth and resources of the Earth continue to be exploited running the risk of ruining our fragile planet. Yet on an international scale rich nations give grudgingly with one hand and grab back even more with the other. How concerned are we with our giving this Christmastide? Will it make the giants of the commercial world richer or will our brethren and neighbours benefit? There is only one way to discover how to give. It is to live in the very presence of God, acting by his spirit. Jesus said. "Bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11.13 GNB).

DN