December 3, 2019 in Stewardship
Giving Tuesday… And Wednesday…
Yes, after Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, society has finally gotten to Giving Tuesday. And, if your mailboxes, email boxes and social media sites are like mine, they have already been inundated with multiple requests from every organization you ever donated to (including church related sites) and many more to whom some shared information about your generosity.
Of course, the church is way ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to generous giving. Virtually every congregation I know has already started collecting a variety of gifts for economically challenged families; or migrant worker families; or for the homeless. This on top of collecting canned food for food banks and providing Thanksgiving (and Christmas) meals for homebound people in the community. So, while the world waits until after we have spent our money in every retail opportunity before thinking about giving to others, church members generously gives to others all year round and still will be generous on “Giving Tuesday.”
But at this time of the year, when we are primarily preparing for and celebrating the birth of Christ, I would like to suggest we think about the many ways in which Christ gave to us and encourages us to give to others. Carl Reitz, a member of our Synod Generosity Team recently shared this quote with me that his wife saw on facebook:
“Generosity is also about giving time, giving friendship, giving presence (not presents), giving dignity, giving emotional freedom, giving welcome, giving a lack of judgment, giving hope, giving trust, giving an experience, giving space.”
I’m sure you could add to this list, but the key is to consider the many ways to be generous, even as our Lord was generous in so many ways to those whose lives he had touched – giving healing; giving forgiveness; giving acceptance; giving grace, and yes, even giving his life.
Thank you for the many ways that you share your generosity with others, reflecting the generosity of our Lord and God.
Larry Smoose
