Despite the innate desire to be generous, we avoid living generously because we fear it’s the same as living dangerously! Nevertheless, giving generously has the unexpected outcome of increasing who we are and our impact on the world. If you desire such an increase then generosity is going to part of your life.
Who we are, and our impact on the world are related to each other. The third Blessing described in Genesis 1:28 offers people “dominion” or stewardship of this world. Too often, we take this to mean that we have a right to rule, but with the absence of God’s heart toward the creation we have destroyed rather than created.
The power of generosity
The development of Christianity around the world was fueled by the generosity of Christians who had taken Jesus’ message to heart. The faithful weren’t just trying to meet immediate needs such as caring for the sick, although that was definitely part of it, they had discovered something far greater that opened their eyes to the extraordinary opportunity of living generously.
If you look at all the people in the world who take the Bible seriously, perhaps discounting those who have a vague memory of having one tucked away somewhere in the house, you will discover that the more in tune people are with scripture, the more likely they are to be generous. This is true of other faith traditions too.
“The accumulation of wealth is the way to scatter the people, and letting it be scattered among them is the way to collect the people.”
Great Learning 10.9 Confucianism.
It is interesting to note that Jesus considered the use and care of property, money and nature to be so significant that according to scholar, Timothy Wiley, he made this the theme of over half his parables and one sixth of all his recorded teachings. But I am not sure we are aware of that. We think of Jesus as the “turn the other cheek guy.”
Yesterday, I saw a thought provoking meme about Jesus on Facebook.
Jesus was incredibly strong with people which is why he upset the religious leaders and others of his day. He didn’t turn a blind eye to corruption or insincerity. We tend to think of soft images when we think of Jesus but if you read scripture you will discover a very passionate man with no thought for political correctness. He was concerned about what was at stake for people if they focused on the wrong thing.
Jesus’ teachings were echoed by Paul in a letter to Timothy:
“Command those who are rich in this present age not to be arrogant, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share .”- 1 Timothy 6:17
Naturally, few people think of themselves as rich so the mandate to give and be willing to share is conveniently ignored! Rich is the other guy. Regardless, there is a little inconvenient truth. If you earn $48,000 per year you are in the top 1% of wage earners worldwide. Maybe you earn less but you are most likely still in the top 5%. Either way we are richer than we think and have to consider whether this passage applies to ourselves or not.
It’s interesting that Paul adds the qualification, “In this present age?” The words, present age imply there is another age we should also be aware of. What would that age be?
Living in two worlds
The Divine Principle clarifies that all of us live in two worlds. There is the present world that we know through our five physical senses and there is another world we can come to know through our five spiritual senses.
It’s curious that even though none of us can know for sure the exact details of life after death the majority of Americans are convinced that there is something.
A survey reported in the Huffington Post shared some perspectives on this other world. (Survey – is there life after death http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/01/is-there-life-after-death-poll-dr-eben-alexander_n_2220811.html)
‘Everything Here Is Connected’
“I watched my partner pass away from a long illness. He’d been unconscious for several hours, when he awoke with a start. He smiled and told me that he had ‘been there.’ The place he’d seen was beautiful, with colors that there weren’t words to describe. He said everything here is connected — people, earth, animals, trees and flowers and that this is obvious when one gets to the place he’d seen. He had no fear and asked if it was alright if he went back there. He died peacefully a few hours later.” — renovatorbear
“Yes I believe. I believe we are spiritual beings on a human journey not human beings on a spiritual journey.” — Rose Beninger
‘Energy Cannot Be Destroyed’
“We are all a form of energy, and energy cannot be destroyed, only transformed.” — abbby
‘The Universe [Is] Greater In Scope’
“Would you buy the premise that: The universe and all that exist are infinitely greater in scope and complexity than what our limited 5 physical senses can detect and what our biochemical/electrical human brain can comprehend?” — busman
‘Identity Persists Through Death’
“The mind is not the brain. Identity persists through death because the individual mind is not limited to ‘running on’ the brain. Think about it. Your consciousness is non-material. I am constantly amazed at how many so-called ‘sceptics’ simply refuse to recognize this simple fact based on their own interior experience….” — BannedInBoston
Looking through the lens of eternity
Jesus’ concern was not just about what was happening in this world but what impact our actions would have in the world to come.
Jesus understood what was at stake. There is an unintended consequence to being rich. When you are rich it’s easy to be arrogant and let your hope migrate from God to hope in yourself or your stuff. You end up trusting the wrong things.
Jesus looked at money through the lens of eternity. If you do this then money loses its grip on you and you lose your grip on money. You gain perspective; in other words, your relationship with money changes. This is essence of what the 3rd Blessing is all about. It’s not wrong to have lots of money – in fact I imagine God wants all of us to have wealth and fun stuff. We were born to have dominion or stewardship over the creation – but God is very concerned about the quality of our relationship with things. In some ways money represents the creation, as it is a medium of exchange for all things. This is why Jesus talked a lot about money. His job was to confront people.
No-one thinks of the messiah as having a job description but it makes sense that any role has a list of duties attached to it. So, what would the messiah’s job description be? That’s an interesting question and might explain Jesus’ intensity to resolve the many issues he confronted. Ultimately, the messiah is the person who has to help all people fulfill the three Blessings: to be fruitful, multiply and have dominion.
Many times Jesus taught in parables. He shared a story with one simple point. He usually set up a character in the position of God and someone else whose role is to potentially be you! Jesus was trying to help us get the big picture and used parables to communicate God’s heart.
Parable of the Rich Fool
In the parable of the rich fool Jesus was encouraging the wealthy man to confront the fact that on the day he died all of his assets would be lost to him, in one fell swoop. The parable opens up with a question from the crowd. “Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”
This made me think – some things don’t change! The heckler had the opportunity to learn directly from the messiah (he could have asked anything) and all he wants Jesus to do is tell his brother to share! Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”
Interesting – “who made me a judge over you?” Jesus wasn’t into micro-managing people’s lives. He wanted this person to man-up. The 3rd Blessing is about taking care of the creation, including our assets, in responsible ways. We have to have the right relationship with our wealth and not confuse it with our value or allow it to dominate us.
“Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!” But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
The rich man in this story was operating under a lot of false assumptions. He believed that he had a right to his wealth. “It came to me,” he thought and presumably, “It’s for me.” He decided, “I’ll store it and save it and I will be OK!”
Fatal assumptions
We wrongly assume that if I am rich, I’m blessed by God therefore I must be good, and my ancestors must have been good too. If other people aren’t blessed then they must be bad or have done something wrong – therefore I am better. Jesus just turns the story around by saying – “you fool!” He goes on to explain that the rich man’s life will end that night. The question hangs in the air. What good is it to just save everything – you will never use it all. You held this assumption it was all for you. What if it was for someone else? What if you were meant to share?
The tragedy that Jesus is trying to awaken us to is what if you died before you had a chance to do something with the wealth you owned? You would lose an important opportunity to give meaning and significance to your life. In the end someone else gets ALL of the rich fool’s assets – not because he was generous but because he is dead!
We don’t get credit for what we leave. We only get credit (meaning value and significance) from what we freely give. In the end everyone leaves the same amount – ALL
To only give through dying is a total loss. We lose the opportunity to give generously in our lifetime. Jesus redefined rich as being rich in our relationship with God. In turn God asks that we are rich toward others.
Rev. Moon, in a sermon, shared about developing a natural heart of generosity. “It is said, ‘Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.’ If you lend $10,000 to someone and then remember it with added interest, you cannot be an owner of the Kingdom of God. You should forget about the money you lent. When parents raise children, do they remember how much money they spent for their care? Do they tally up a bill and present it to their grown children, demanding payment with interest? No, a parent’s heart is to forgive and forget it all. Moreover, after forgetting what they have given, parents are anxious that they could not have given something better.”
This is how Rev. Moon treated everything and everyone. His mantra was, “live for the sake of others.” He applied this to his life and the church he founded. He taught us to sacrifice the assets of the church for such projects as developing a fish powder that could bring valuable protein to starving people. In the later years of his life he would gather people in his home and give away his possessions. He wanted to share everything and anything he owned. He really thought about his relationship with money and the things of creation and wanted to show us what stewardship means. Being rich towards God is to love and share with the people God loves.
Instead of storing up stuff for yourself in your garage, or Swiss Bank account, start to look through the lens of eternity, as Jesus did, to determine what matters most.
Be good at being rich
God wants us to be rich but most of all He wants us to be good at being rich. I think of people like Bill Gates and the good he has done with his wealth. He is the greatest philanthropist in the world and he wouldn’t have been able to do that if he had not had wealth. I think that God is happy that he is rich.
We won’t be good at being rich if we allow our hope to migrate from God toward stuff. When you are wealthy it’s easy to rely on the externals: your money and what it can buy you. But if you want to make sure you don’t lose sight of what matters most, you need a plan – a good plan! We have to give generously and that means, not sporadically or sparingly. We have to prioritize giving and be willing to give more as we receive more. Think percentage instead of a flat amount.
Generosity is irresistible
It’s a funny thing but you never miss the money you have given away. You miss money that you wasted or misspent but something happens in your heart when you are generous. The Chinese character for generosity articulates the meaning of this word well. The pictograph shows that when you give something you immediately feel happy and healthy! Now, there is a good reason to adopt a lifestyle of generosity.
