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Today, I’d like us to reflect on giving – financial giving. Before you run for the doors, give me a chance to put giving into context.

Our Old Testament reading today (2 Samuel 1:17-27) tells of the great love between David and Jonathan. It is a very tender reading, reminding us of our loving relationships with others, with family and with God. This theme of relationship runs through all our readings today.

Psalm 130 is an intimate song of love for and trust in God. “Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord” and “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope” and “with the Lord is unfailing love”. This beautiful Psalm emphasises the deep loving relationship between us and God.

And Mark 5:21-43 tells of the woman who suffered from bleeding and had all but given up hope of healing. But she hears that Jesus is in the area and so she comes towards him, hiding from the people who would judge her, trusting and having faith that he can heal her, even if she touches just the hem of his robe. And as she is healed, Jesus lifts her up and honours her.

And Jesus does the same later in the same passage with the little girl who had died, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” And she is brought back to health and life.

All of these readings emphasise the relationship of love, faith and trust between us and God and between us and each other.

It is in this context or relationship and faith that we come to 2 Corinthians 8:7-15, where Paul speaks about giving financially:

• v7 – Paul writes about the “grace of giving” – grace meaning a gift (charis in the Greek, from which we get charismatic – spiritual gifts)
• v8 – He emphasises that this is not a command to give – rather it is a grace to give
• v8 – He uses words like sincerity and earnestness in relation to giving, to emphasise how personal giving is
• v9 – Paul compares this with Jesus’ giving of himself for us – though he was rich, for our sake he became poor, so that through his poverty we might become rich – such a great act of generosity from Christ
• v10 – He affirms the Corinthians not just for being the first to give, but particularly for being the first to have the desire to give – this desire or willingness or wanting to give is more important to him than the actual giving
• v11 – He emphasises that we should give “according to our means” – the quantity of giving de-emphasised in favour of the “eager willingness” with which we give
• v12 – Again, Paul emphasises our “willingness” to give – and again he emphasises giving “according to what one has, not according to what one does not have”
• vv13-15 – And in the following passage he speaks at length about equality. He is interested in a redistribution of wealth – that those have more give to those who have less, so that everyone has enough. “The goal is equality” he says. Perhaps the modern word ‘equity’ is more appropriate – that each person has enough according to their needs, rather than that each person has the same. This is a foundation of Christian socialism, which brings us back to the focus on relationships – we live in fellowship with each other, connected to each other, and so if we have more than we need and someone else has less than they need, our inclination should be give some of what we have to them.
• And Paul concludes, “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little”, quoting from the Israelites gathering manna in the desert in Exodus 16:18, which also says, “Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed”.

Giving financially may not come naturally to most of us – we want to hold on to, protect, save or spend what money we have. But the scriptures call us to be both sensible and generous, based on our relationships with God, the church and each other – relationships of love, faith and trust. I encourage you to reflect on this and consider whether you should revise your giving to God’s work.

Featured image from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnjennings/2022/04/30/top-tips-for-effective-charitable-giving/