What’s right with this picture?

A boy has just become a bar mitzvah. He has received more money and gifts than he knows what to do with. He sees a story on television about a pro quarterback whose three-year-old son is afflicted with cystic fibrosis, an often-fatal disease.

The young man thinks to himself, “I have everything I need. I’ll give some money to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.” Shortly thereafter, he mails off a check for more than $4,000. When asked how he feels about what he did, the boy smiles shyly and says, “I feel good. I didn’t waste the money, and I gave it to someone who needs it.”

When asked what he thinks of the boy’s gift, the quarterback says, “The bar mitzvah marks the passage into adulthood. In his generosity, this boy shows that he has already become a man.”

What’s right with this picture? For one thing, it’s a true story that took place in our area not long ago. For another, it shows that this young man has discovered one of the secrets of life: the joy of giving.

Many people go through life encumbered by a mentality of scarcity. They feel the need to gather and accumulate more and more, because it seems there will never be enough. The impulse to give is overwhelmed by the desire to have and possess.

That is really too bad. One of the great spiritual truths of life is that the more we give, the more we have. Giving is liberating. It reminds us that true happiness and security lie in seeing what we have as gifts to treasure and to share.

And that’s no accident. We were created to give. It’s built into our being by a Creator whose generosity knows no bounds. We are here by grace, and we survive by the blessings that surround us every day with love and sustenance. What did we do to bring forth the sun to light our day or the rain to water the earth? How did we arrange for our parents to protect and provide for us, or for a church to educate and nurture us in the faith? What did we do to earn love?

Our membership vow to support our church is one way to offer back some of what we have received from God’s hand. When we give to the church, we do so because the church needs our support. But even more, we do so because we need to give, not as an afterthought out of our leftovers, but up front out of our abundance.

My experience has always been that when we stretch to make a financial commitment to our church, there is always enough. God sees to that. God provides.

On November 16, we will have an opportunity to make our stewardship commitments. Stewardship is about more than money. It is really about how we approach life. Do we take, or do we give? Do we live by greed, or by grace?

I hope you will join your fellow church family members as we offer our time, our talents, and our treasures to God. It will be a joy.

— Pastor Roy

P.S. Click the picture or link below to read the full edition of The Beacon. 

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