About 10 years ago, my
cousin and I were on a train from Warsaw to Krakow, Poland, and sharing a
compartment with us was a Catholic priest. That’s not surprising—there are a lot of
Catholics in Poland--in fact, eighty percent of Poles are in church on Sunday! Anyway, Fr Viktor
was traveling with his sister to a family wedding. He was warm and funny—I remember
his cell phone ring was the theme to that movie, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”
He was interested in us, and full of questions. He told us about places to go, where
to buy amber—Krakow being the epicenter of amber jewelry--and how to avoid
paying too much.
When
we arrived, he asked how we were getting to our hotel. We said we’d take a
taxi. He said, “No, no, I have a driver coming and you will come with me. We
will drop you off on the way.” Then he turned and asked his sister if she minded taking a
taxi--and when we protested, she said, “Oh no, it’s my pleasure. I will see my
brother in a few minutes!” OK then. When we got off the train, he asked several
bystanders to help us with our bags. As priests are revered in Poland, they
said “Yes Father,” and did as he asked. After his driver dropped us off, we
thanked him profusely, and he said, “You are in Poland. We are Christians here,
and here it is our privilege to greet everyone as Christ.”
I
haven’t forgotten Father Viktor’s ebullient welcome. He was the person I
thought of when I remembered a phrase one of my mentors, The Rev. John
Scannell, uses frequently: “Never resist a generous impulse.” I am so glad that Fr Viktor yielded to his
generous impulse. We were surely blessed by him.
Our
God is a generous God, a God of blessing, of provision and abundance, and of
great love. Most generous of all is the gift of Jesus who poured out his love
for us, even to the cross. Because of this grace given to us--this generous
impulse acted upon in the incarnation of Jesus--we are blessed, and we are to
be a blessing to others. The foundation of generosity is that what we give is
of God. “All things come of thee, O God,” we say, “and of thine own have we given thee.” A generous impulse reminds us of
God’s love for us.
Generosity
is not about the pocket-book—and it’s never about the size of the gift. It is
about the heart. And the opposite of generosity is fear—which we may experience
as caution, or common sense, and comes from self-protectedness--a fear of what
might happen if we give of ourselves. Generosity requires an open heart, and a
risk: for there is no guarantee that we will receive anything in return. Yet
when we step forward in Christ, with open hearts, we receive unexpected gifts
and blessings. And our own hearts are expanded.
In
a recent vestry meeting, Aaron, our senior warden, was talking about how we
interact with people who approach us about using our church facilities. We’ve
been reminding you when we talk about our vision of expansion, that our facilities
have some limitations. You can see why sometimes
when asked, we may think first of reasons to say no--why things will be messy,
complicated, or chaotic. Even if well-intended, may not lead with a generous
impulse. Aaron was calling us to do better. “Let’s start with yes,” he said—“and
go from there.”
When
a generous impulse is our organizing principle, we are not rejecting all limits.
But what a difference when someone’s encounter with us is people seeking to be
generous. Even if we cannot accommodate them, we have shown them our hearts. Further,
a generous impulse opens our minds to inventiveness and possibilities. “Let’s
at least try to make this work.” It’s worth the effort. For who knows—we might
be entertaining angels unawares.
The
story of Ruth and Naomi is about a chain of generosity. Ruth is a Moabite, a
foreigner, who had married Elimelech, the Israelite son of Naomi. Ruth was among
the lucky—her mother-in-law loved her--and they were both dependent on Elimelech
for protection. But he has died. As a widow, and a foreigner, Ruth is
vulnerable, and Naomi is vulnerable twice over. She had already lost her
husband, and now her son. Yet she encourages Ruth to go back to her family for her
own sake. She doesn’t want to be a burden.
 |
| Ruth, Naomi, and Orpah -- Kyra Markham |
Ruth
has a generous heart and pledges herself to her mother-in-law, and so, in
return, Naomi is committed to finding a solution, and sees an opportunity in
the openhearted Boaz. Although we didn’t hear about it in today’s lesson,
elsewhere in the story we learn that Ruth’s generosity had reached Boaz’s ears,
and impressed him. It inspired his own generosity. And so they make a family together. One of
the ways we can understand the story of Ruth is that one generous heart bestows
blessing on others, and those blessings flow, back to us, and to others, in new
and unexpected ways.
I’ve
been thinking about the generous impulse our Statue of Liberty represents. It
is rooting us in a “start with yes” impulse. The promise is not that any who
wish may make their home here, but it is to say that, since so many of us have
been blessed by the generosity of that idea, so we continue to carry it in our
own hearts. We are all made in the image of God. In humility, we confess that
many of our ancestors who made their homes here were no better or worse than
those who seek to come here today. We carry the memory that we all came on some
ship looking for safe harbor, through some port of entry where we might have
been denied, or in some caravan because we feared for our very lives.
Perhaps
along the way we met generous strangers. I have been moved by reading stories
of those encountering asylum seekers on their way. In Mexico, a mother feeds migrants lemon tea and stew, using meat
from her son’s butcher shop. Her daughter is handing out fruit. “My
family has been very blessed,” the woman said. “And we know that we
are all brothers. What
God gives us, we should share.” In San Juan, Texas, churches are helping to
house and help reunite families that were separated after crossing the border,
once they are released from detention.
It is not ungenerous to have policies which protect borders and screen
those who seek to enter our country. It is not ungenerous to deny entry and
even deport people who have entered illegally, especially those who bring harm
to our country. But the impulse to
de-humanize migrants—disparaging their countries, labeling them vermin, painting a picture of them as disease-infested,
dangerous criminals--this, as a starting point, is decidedly un-generous. Until
recently, the immigration discussion has been characterized by people on both
sides starting with a generous impulse. And generosity does not dictate a
particular solution to this very complicated issue. But the Bible suggests
generosity as our starting point—our first impulse. To start with open hearts,
and then to discern, what is the very most that we can reasonably do?
 |
| The Widow's Mite--Sheri Lauren Schmidt |
As
much as to the widow, the Gospel points to the miserliness of the scribes, who
claim to give their lives to God, but lack generosity of spirit. Jesus wants us to know that God is watching
them. And that these ostentatious givers were takers—for all their show of
piety, they devoured widows’ houses. Their
giving was motivated by status-seeking. The widow’s giving dignified her. Even in
her poverty, she still claimed her membership amongst the people of Israel. She
gave--openheartedly and unafraid--all she had to live on. Perhaps Jesus saw her
gift as foreshadowing his own giving of his all, for us.
When
we are generous, we are acting as image-bearers of God. The greatest impulse to
give comes from our kinship to others, our fellow creatures of God. How
differently I felt knowing that there had been an earthquake in Puebla, Mexico,
after I had been there just a few months before. My impulse to be generous came
from the communion I felt for the people there. And I knew that my gifts were
being used by them to offer generous help to each other. That is what the
generous impulse begets.
I
went to a conference where a speaker told about taking up a generosity
challenge. He pledged that for 30 days he would say yes to everyone who
asked—every beggar, street musician, or nonprofit who solicited him would get
at least something. (You and I might not be able to copy this challenge to the
letter but stay with me.) This man ran a
very large non-profit that invested in ventures all over the world that were
trying to solve social problems. Its very premise was a generous impulse, but over
time, the man was questioning his own heart. He said, “pretty soon, “no”
becomes who you are. I needed a new habit and a new reflex. When I teach my
kids to say please and thank you, it takes repetition. I wanted to practice
being more generous. I started to understand generosity in a new way, and I
started to be more effective, because I learned that even being a
philanthropist, I had to remember to start with yes.”
Never
resist a generous impulse. Stand in the gifts you receive from God, and take
the risk to pay them forward. God provokes us with opportunities to be generous
because God is provoking us toward the unexpected insights, the fresh delights,
the blessings that come from these unexpected sources.
And
now, I leave you with these words from a poem by Wendell Berry:
No, no, there is no going
back.
Now more than ever you can
be
generous toward each day
that comes, young, to disappear
forever, and yet remain
unaging in the mind.
Every day you have less reason
not to give yourself away.
generous toward each day
that comes, young, to disappear
forever, and yet remain
unaging in the mind.
Every day you have less reason
not to give yourself away.
No comments:
Post a Comment