Giving – Being a Pilgrim

“For you see, the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. They were glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the spiritual blessings of the Good News from the believers in Jerusalem, they feel the least they can do in return is to help them financially.”
Romans 15:26-27 NLT

A minister once suggested to a group of people that he was going to do something religious and have a collection. An ironic, vaguely humorous, statement that articulated what some people around him thought about Christians and their endless request for money for one need or another. If it wasn’t to be the organ fund, then it was to repair the church roof, and so on. My mother some years ago was very devoted with an orphanage project in Africa, to supply clothes, blankets and money. Appeals for these items and particularly money were popular and well supported in her church at the time. And that is how it was with Paul and the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. They were aware of the plight of poor people in Jerusalem and took up an offering to provide for them. Paul was asked to take the money to them, as he was going in that direction.

The motivation behind the Macedonian Christian’s desire to take up the offering was because of their gratitude to the Jerusalem believers, from whom their spiritual blessings had come. They had somehow heard that there were poor people in Jerusalem who needed their help, as had happened once before. We read in Acts 11:27-30, “During this time some prophets travelled from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.) So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could. This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem”.

In those days, there were no foreign aid programmes, supported from a country’s tax burden. There were no social security or universal credit schemes that would help the poor. Literally, people would starve unless wealthier people around them helped out from their resources. Jesus encouraged those early disciples to share everything they had, and we read the ethos prevailing in the early church, as recorded in Acts 4:32, “All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had”.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and we find that there are many opportunities for taking up a collection. There are many charities that rely on the generosity of people, and not just Christians. “Crowd-funding” is a fairly new phenomenon, a technique that leverages the power of the internet to maximise giving opportunities. But in it all what we give is a personal matter between us and God. There are many verses in the Bible about giving – here’s one, Proverbs 19:17, “If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord— and he will repay you“! I’m sure the believers in Macedonia and Achaia were richly blessed by their generosity, as we will be too in our giving.

Dear Lord Jesus. You gave us more than we could ever think or imagine. You gave us Yourself. We are so grateful. Amen.

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”
Romans 12:6-8 NLT

When the word “giving” crops up, the first thing that comes to mind is our money. Paul wrote that the ability to be able to give, and give generously, is a gift from God. But in God’s economy, money is not the only resource that is available to be given. We must include our possessions and our time, and a combination of all our resources. This is because when we pilgrims became Christians, all that we have is made available to God. God said to Job, as recorded in Job 41:11, “Who has given Me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is Mine“. Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him“. We must never hold onto what we have so tightly that God can’t use it.

Paul wrote that if we have a gift of giving, then we must use it generously. Paul wrote about giving to the Corinthian church, as we read in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, “Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others“. The strange thing is that God will give us the resources to give away. We can’t out-give God. Jesus taught, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (Luke 6:38). God even gave out the challenge that we can test Him in the matter of giving. We read in Malachi 3:10, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test“!

In the early First Century church, there was no social security or benefits system, but the Christians of that day shared what they had with each other, meeting people’s needs. We read in Acts 4:32, “All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had“. Acts 4:34-35, “There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need“.

We pilgrims who are available and willing to share our resources should do so generously, and by so doing we will fulfil what God has asked us to do.

God, we thank You for all that You have given us. We hold what we have in our hands, always open and outstretched towards You. Amen.