GIVING BEATS GETTING

Remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  (Acts 20: 35)

            If I were to ask you where in the Bible one would turn to find the sayings of Jesus, you would likely answer, "Why, in the gospels, of course." In the main you would be correct, but not entirely so. For Jesus is quoted directly twice in the Bible outside the gospels. Once when St. Paul gave the words by which the Lord's Supper was instituted. And once in the words we will examine together today. "In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive."

            The original setting adds force to the utterance. Paul was enroute to Rome in the latter part of his ministry. He did not know what would befall him there, but suspected that it would not be good. The ship on which he was sailing pulled into the port city of Miletus. From there Paul sent for the elders of the Ephesian church, wanting one last reunion with those people who had served with him so faithfully. Let those who feel that Paul was void of passion and all those other elements that endear one human to another, reflect on this bit of history. There was much weeping, much embracing and much prayer. Paul had worked in Ephesus longer than he had labored in any other place. He wanted now to recall his labors among them and encourage them in theirs. "Remembering the word of the Lord Jesus, how he said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

            We have no trouble believing that these words came from Jesus, do we? In fact, they are so much like Jesus that they might very well be inscribed over every episode that comprise his life. Such an apt summation of all that Jesus represents are these words that some have alleged that Paul fabricated them to serve that very purpose. However, the double pronouns in the Greek will not allow this. The text insists on Jesus' direct authorship. "Remembering how HE HIMSELF said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

            I've been wondering when he said it. Was it the day when the mother of James and John sought special favors for her sons? "Woman, it is more blessed to give than to receive." Was it spoken as an aside to his disciples on that occasion when the rich young ruler went away sorrowful: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Or did those words originally trail that other utterance of Jesus, "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give his life as a ransom for many. For it is more blessed to give than to receive." Perhaps some day we'll know. But this much is for sure, had we no other word of Jesus, this would have been sufficient for us to rank him with the greatest of earth's great.

            The language of the Authorized Version is a bit starchy. Other translators have sought to give us a more human rendering. Godspeed didn't help much: "It makes one happier to give than to be given to." That's heavy, isn't it? The New English Bible is better, "Happiness lies more in giving than in receiving." But in plain, unvarnished, straight-forward speech so common in our time Jesus was saying simply, "Giving beats getting." That's what it's all about.

            This word of Jesus runs counter to our nature. No child that I have ever known or seen believed that it is better to give than to receive. A child comes into the world knowing how to get. It must be taught how to give. What's more, this word of Jesus runs counter to the wisdom of the world. In our society it is consistently and passionately held that a person is happy in proportion to his or her ability to acquire. Have you noticed that the happy people in the advertisements are always consuming something: the latest medication, the hottest I-pod or cell phone, a first class seat on Korean Airlines, an ocean voyage, the latest 4-wheel-drive conquering a terrain no sane person would navigate. They always seem to be taking something out of life.

            The question of the moment is, however, are Jesus' words true, or just pure fancy? Let me quickly suggest some reasons why giving beats getting. Among a variety of reasons that might be summoned, I suggest, for one, that GIVING GETS US OUT OF OURSELVES. And here we are not talking simply about money. I speak of the concept of the "given life" as representing what the gospel is all about. And I must say, I have delightfully found this style of life exceptionally and profoundly present right here at WPC.

            The constant in most human misery is preoccupation with self. We get absorbed in thoughts about our own advancement and our own affairs, and the more we reflect about ourselves, what a cloudy future we have, the truer those judgments become. Words like ME AND MINE AND MY are really hard words. They threaten community. They induce envy, jealousy and resentment. But when we start speaking of US AND OURS AND THEM we foster unity and begin to heal the rifts in the fabric of society.

            Also, giving beats getting because it gets us into the needs and concerns outside ourselves. This is but the other side of the same coin. Will you not agree with me that the happy people that you know are those who have learned to give themselves away! If the world's wisdom were true, and a person's life could be measured in what he or she has, then the happiest people in the world would be those who live in ocean beach mansions in Florida or California, and the most miserable those who live in thatched huts in Haiti. But it just isn't so.

            I cannot seriously doubt that Albert Schweitzer was a happier man than the wealthiest playboy on the French Riviera. I cannot seriously doubt that Ghandi was a happier man than most of the millionaires who were his contemporaries. My Dad worked for Tidewater Flying, a gasoline company, which was bought out by John Paul Getty. One evening John Paul Getty invited my parents to his home. They came back saying they never met such a sad, self-centered human being.

            But I suspect that the most important thing to be said about Jesus' words is that GIVING MAKES US MORE LIKE GOD THAN ANYTHING ELSE WE DO.  God is love. Love means giving, whether it be love for one's wife, one's children, one's church, or one's country. It is as simple as that. Love means giving, and we are never more like God than when we give. Our God is a giving God. Lavish with mercies. Sending sun and rain on the just and unjust alike. Raising for us the food of the earth. It is the selfishness of humankind that is responsible for climatic consequences that we are confronting.

            God is boundless with God's grace. God absorbs our sin and keeps "being there" for us despite our many transgressions, ever dealing with us in unmerited and unmeritable mercy. Behind this driving apostle who could truthfully allude to all that he had suffered for Christ was one fast, unshakable impression: "God loved me and gave himself for me."

            In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus who said "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Today is the culmination of our Stewardship program, and Commitment Sunday. But we cannot give in one direction and live in another. Our stewardship with funds must square with our sense of the stewardship of all life.

            Pretty soon we will be bringing our pledge cards forward. These are critical for the financial well-being of our church and our mission. But I am as much concerned this morning with what you think about your life. Ask yourself whether for you the dominant verb is the verb "to get," or the verb "to give." This is the paradox that each of us must live with: What you keep you loose, and what you lose for the sake of Christ you keep, for now and forever.

Prayer

            Lord, the world is too much with us. Consciously or otherwise we have been shaped by forces hostile to the mind of Christ. Free us from self-serving theories of the human enterprise, and let the joy of giving that Jesus urged and lived be real to each of us, for HIS sake and OURS. Amen.