Defined by Generosity

1 Timothy 6: 17-19 Marianne Niesen October 30, 2011

Our three verses of Scripture today come from the first letter to Timothy, one of the ‘pastoral letters’ – that is, a letter written to a pastor concerned with the building up, the encouraging of a community of Christians living in the latter part of the first century in the eastern Mediterranean region of the Roman empire. There is debate about whether Paul or someone else wrote it. I’m not going to get into that today. The important thing for us is that we simply hear these words as advice, written by an older, experienced Christian leader to a young pastor. Listen…

Tell people who are rich at this time not to become egotistical and not to place their hope on their finances, which are uncertain. Instead, they need to hope in God, who richly provides everything for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in the good things they do, to be generous, and to share with others. When they do these things, they will save a treasure for themselves that is a good foundation for the future. That way they can take hold of what is truly life.

Sounds like wisdom for our time as well, doesn’t it? The more things change, the more they stay the same!

There is an old Cherokee legend about an old man who told his grandson about a fight that was going on inside of him. He said it was between two wolves. One was evil: Anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, gossip, resentment, and false pride. The other was good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The grandson thought about it for a moment and then asked his grandfather, 'Which wolf do you think will win?' The old Cherokee replied, 'The one I feed.'" [1]

Over the past few weeks, we’ve talked quite a bit about those two wolves – the ‘Restless Heart Syndrome’ fed by greed (on the one hand) and contentment, fed by generosity and gratitude for God’s gifts on the other. We know which wolf we want to feed. We want to be good, to be generous and share, as the Bible says. We want to live lives of joy and serenity. We know true happiness does not come from the abundance of our possessions.

But, there are voices out there, competing for our loyalty. There is the voice of fear – fear of what might happen to us if we share too much, give too much. There is a wolf, whispering in our ear what if? So, just in case, we build bigger barns and succumb to the temptation to hoard. We hold back just in case there is not enough for me. Our credit card debt slowly creeps up as we buy what we can’t afford. As the saying goes . . . The trouble is that too many people are spending money they haven't yet earned for things they don't need to impress people they don't like. [2] That of course means we save less for the things we do need – like retirement, education, emergencies, vacations, homes we can afford. And pretty soon, we have more than we need of everything . . . more stuff and more debt, more anxiety, more fear of losing it all. We wake up to find that the wolf we’ve been feeding has taken over our lives. And so we can’t feed the other one. We can’t be generous. We aren’t content. We can only be protective and anxious. And that is not how we were created to be.

The story is told that one day a beggar by the roadside asked for alms from Alexander the Great as he passed by. The man was poor and wretched and had no claim upon the ruler, no right even to lift a pleading hand. Yet the Emperor threw him several gold coins. A courtier was astonished at his generosity and commented, "Sir, copper coins would adequately meet a beggar's need. Why give him gold?" Alexander responded in royal fashion, "Copper coins would suit the beggar's need, but gold coins suit Alexander's giving." [3]

Alexander had it right. We are created in the image of God and so we are created to be givers. We need to give. That’s what relationships are about. That’s what parenthood is about. That’s what grandparenthood is about. We just get mixed up sometimes about what is really important. We feed the wrong wolf. But we are not doomed to stay that way. As followers of Christ, we’ve committed to wrestle with the voices that try to talk us out of taking hold of what is truly life. We’ve committed to do good . . . to be generous, and to share with others – to be like Jesus. So we come together to think about these things, to support each other. This isn’t easy stuff – never has been. That’s why that letter to Timothy was written – and it was addressed to a community, a small church, struggling to be faithful in a culture trying to talk them out of it!

Any Jeopardy! fans here? Do you remember, a little over 4 years ago, when there was a three way tie on the game show? Mathematicians calculated the odds of that happening at one in 25 million – but it did happen. In the 'Final Jeopardy' round, the second and third place players each had $8,000. Scott Weiss, the leader, had a little over $12,000 going into the last question. The players made their bids. Often on Jeopardy! the leader – if possible - makes a bet that will assure a win, even if they get the final question right. Scott Weiss could have done that. But he didn’t. He bet exactly enough money so that if the other two players both bet their entire $8,000 (which they would likely do) and got the question right, then all three players would have a total of $16,000. They would tie and all would win. That's exactly what happened. Scott forfeited his chance at a solo victory so that all three players had a chance to be winners.

I read that story and, I wanted to check it out – to be sure it happened as it was described. And it did. But I found something else as well. I found countless speculations about why Mr. Weiss did it. Most commonly, people said one of two things - that he got flustered and miscalculated – in other words, that his generosity was a mistake – OR that he just wanted the fame of being part of a tie. Then I found a blog written by a friend of Mr. Weiss who wrote:

“Our first thought was "Why did he do that?" but it didn't take us very long at all to figure out, well, he must have just thought, "Hey! Wouldn't it be nice if we all won $16,000?" At a cost to himself of one dollar, (that is, if he just bet one dollar more, he would have won) he got to give two other people (a chance at $16,000) . . . Yay for altruism! Everybody wins! Now all of America knows what everyone who's met Scott knows: he is one of the nicest people alive.”[4]

In other words, according to his friend, this really was an act of gracious generosity, sharing the moment rather than winning the day. And then I read comments left on that blog from the naysayers.

· If Scott Weiss was being generous, he was just plain stupid.

· After all, that’s not how one gets ahead in the world.

· Scott Weiss might be a nice guy but he is doomed to mediocrity. He’ll never be as great as . . . Ken Jennings.

(I had to look him up…he is the biggest money winner of Jeopardy! He won over $3 million.)

There were a few kind comments but not many. Overall, people were suspicious of an act of generosity on a greedy game show for smart people! Which wolf will we feed? I don’t know this man. I don’t know what was in his mind when he did what he did but I want to trust his blogger friend more than the cynics. And, let’s face it, the discounting of that man’s act of generosity by so many says a lot about the sickness of our culture and the greed to which we so often succumb.

This suspicion of goodness, this temptation to greed, is not just our struggle. It has been around a long time. That’s why the Bible has offered guidance for our giving. And the guidance was not an amount, it was a percentage. You’ve heard about it. It’s called a tithe and it equaled a tenth of one’s flocks or crops or income. Abraham was the first to offer a tithe. The idea was simple. Life is a gift, given by God for us to enjoy. And life is full of wonderful things. But, to really enjoy it fully, we must remember it is a gift. And that remembering happens best when we share. Give some away. Not most – some. The Biblical guide is that we freely use and enjoy 90% - and creatively give 10% away to serve God’s purposes in the world. The early Christian community appropriated that Old Testament guideline where it became known as doing the ‘work of the saints’ or the church. Just a tenth would plant seeds of generosity that will do more good in us (the saints) and for the world than we can imagine. Just a tenth.

Show Tithing and the Ten Apples

     A rabbi, a minister, and a priest were having a discussion about how they split the offering money between the church and God.
     The rabbi said, "I take a piece of string, make a circle on my desk with it, and throw up the offering plate. Whatever goes inside the circle goes to God, and whatever falls outside the circle goes to the church."
     The minister said, "Well, that's not bad, but I have a better way. I halve my entire office with a piece of string, and stand next to it. I throw up the offering plate, and whatever goes on the right side of the string goes to God, and whatever goes on the left side goes to the church."
     The priest nodded, then said, "Well, that sounds pretty good, but we have a foolproof way of splitting the offering. I stand in the middle of my office, throw up the offering plate, and yell, "Keep what you want!""

Sometimes I think we decide our giving a bit like that. But the fact is that heaven doesn’t need our giving. We need to do it and bringing about the ‘Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven’ needs our participation. Tithing, you see, helps keep us honest!

Everything we have is a gift. But that is so easy to forget as we face the financial struggles of our lives. We often focus more on burdens than blessings. And when we do that, we tend to feed the wrong wolf. Tithing, or percentage giving, is a way of deciding ahead of time to feed the right wolf. If you have never tried it, I encourage you to give it a shot. Don’t start with 10% . . . start with 3 or 4 and try to build. And, if you are already at 10%, remember that tithing is a floor, not a ceiling. The point is to become the people we are called to be – gracious and generous as God is generous.

From the standpoint of the church, my promise to you on behalf of our Finance Committee, is that we will continue to be responsible stewards – planning a budget that really moves us forward on our vision of transformation – our mission of being a Christian community in the heart of Helena, grounded in hospitality, growing in faith, giving in service and going in mission. With all of our help, we will continue to work hard at paying our mortgage – which is an extra challenge. But, just consider our blessings - vibrant youth and children’s ministries, a new and growing young adult ministry, great music and worship, incredible outreach – these diapers are just a part of it – people active in mission in Haiti and Mozambique and Roundup and New Orleans and so much more. And we have the ministry of this building – unlocked every day, used more than you know, a place of hospitality and life in the heart of Helena. Through our generosity, we really do get to be part of building the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

In the bulletin you’ll find an insert that says Personal Goals and Commitment. This is a personal worksheet, a reflection guide. Please take it home with you and sometime this week, I encourage you to sit down with this and make some notes for yourself. Put it in your Bible to remind yourself of how you hope to feed that good wolf, the wolf of joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, kindness, generosity, and compassion this year. Next Sunday, on our celebration of All Saints Day, each of us ‘saints’ will have the opportunity to bring our Commitment Cards (you’ll get them in the mail this week) as our personal offering to God, our promise of faithfulness, our act of thanksgiving to this God of ours who has never failed us yet, and who never will.

[1] Anonymous.

[2] Source unknown

[3] Source unknown, http://bible.org/illustration/alexander-great

[4] http://www.yarnivore.com/francis/archives/001806.html