Sermons

Sun, Aug 11, 2019

Giving and guilt

Series:Sermons

It seems to happen almost every week––

almost every time that I go to the shopping centre––

there’s someone out the front with a tin collecting for charity.

Occasionally I put something in––

usually on my way out…

when I have some small change left over from shopping.

But, to be perfectly honest, mostly I don’t.

I certainly don’t if the person holding the tin rattles it atme as I approach.

I refuse to give out of a sense of guilt;

or because the collector is clearly attempting some less-than-subtle guilt manipulation.

And yet, in walking past––

in trying to look disinterested and impassionate––

there are still pangs of guilt nonetheless.

So it’s not uncommon for me to say to myself something like…

“how rude”––

in an effort to assuage my conscience;

and I remind myself that I already support a number of charities in a significant way…

and I can’t be expected to give to all of them…

can I?

But it isn’t easy.

After all, I’m a fairly compassionate person…

and I have a very strong sense of social justice.

want to help those in need…

those marginalised by our society.

But I can’t give to everyone in need––

can’t help them all.

I have to draw the line somewhere.

And yet, no matter how many times I repeat that––

no matter how many times I try to convince myself of that–– 

the pangs of guilt still linger.

And none of that is helped by certain sayings and passages in the New Testament––

and especially in the Gospel of Luke––

like the one that we heard read this morning:

Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.

 

Notwithstanding all of the stories in the Gospels that are troubling on a metaphysical level––

or on a historical level––

this is one of the more difficult sayings in the Gospels…

simply because it’s so black-and-white.

It’s both demanding and confronting in its apparent absoluteness.

Sell your possessions…

give the money to the poor…

and you’ll have spiritual brownie points in heaven.

Really?

Sell all of it?

But what will I live on then?

Clearly, if we take it quite literally, it’s just plain ridiculous.

It has to be metaphorical, doesn’t it?

The author can’t really expect us––

allof us––

to sell everything that we own… 

to give the money to the poor… 

and to become destitute ourselves…

all in the hope of some sort of “pie-in-the-sky-when-you die” reward?

 

Well, no, he doesn’t.

As I have said many times before, context is crucial.

This saying comes at the end of a lengthy section about “possessions”, critiquing the wealthy.

As such, this is also addressed to the wealthy in the first century…

not to the average peasant.

And when the author has Jesus say, “sell your possessions”…

the original Greek refers to “the things that you have earned or acquired”.

And, back then, that actually wouldn’t have been all that shocking.

Back then, the wealthy used their power to acquire more wealth…

so that they could give it away to acquire more power.

Economically, theirs was a world that worked in terms of balanced reciprocity.

For example, if you invited someone to dinner…

they were obligated to invite you in return…

and to give you the equivalent of what you had given them…

or else, they would lose face.

If someone gave you a gift…

you had to give them a gift of equal value…

or you would lose face.

And, if you couldn’t…

then you became indebted and you remained indebted.

Ultimately, that’s exactly what the wealthy wanted.

They made philanthropic donations to groups…

who then become indebted to them––

a marker that they could call in when and how it suited them.

They gave charitable gifts…

which placed a needy person in their debt––

a debt that the average person could never repay…

so that they were, in effect, indebted for life.

That’s how their world and their society worked.

There was only one exception––

and that was in regards to family.

Family relationships weren’t governed by balanced reciprocity.

If someone needed something you simply gave it…

because they were family.

If they asked, you gave––

end of story.

To give without any expectation that the person would reciprocate was characteristic of kin…

and only kin.

And yet, that’s what Jesus asks of the wealthy here.

Sell your possessions…

give the money to the poor…

and treat the poor as if they were your family––

enter into an on-going, non-specific relationship with them…

that involves generalised not balanced reciprocity.

Sure, there’s the promise of “spiritual brownie points in heaven”… 

but that’s really like saying… 

the family patriarch would be well disposed to you for being a good member of the family.

Such a demand would have been totally and utterly shocking in the first century.

It was contrary to the whole order of things.

It flew in the face of conventional wisdom.

It overturned everything that they believed and valued… 

everything for which they strived… 

everything that shaped their world and their world-view. 

Little wonder, then, that the author has Jesus preface all of this with, “fear not”

 

Selling what we have acquired and giving it to charity isn’t an option for us, today.

And yet, that’s not what this saying is encouraging us to do.

In fact, it’s challenging us to do something far more radical.

It’s inviting us to contemplate the nature of our world and the values that it espouses–– 

values which, often, we imbibe uncritically;

and it’s inviting us to reassess those values…

to reconsider many of the things that we take for granted…

many of the things for which we strive––

the way that we use the things that we have…

and the way that we relate to those around us.

In response to voices that remind us that the world is a fearful place––

and which encourage us to seek security at all cost––

we’re told, “fear not!”

In response to voices that encourage us to pursue success…

and that try to persuade us that happiness and fulfilment can be found in acquiring more things…

we’re told, “no they can’t!”

In response to voices that encourage latent xenophobia…

racial or religious stereotypes…

or any of our other ideologically-justified prejudices…

we’re told, “be gracious and generous!”

In response to voices–– 

often subconscious–– 

that encourage us to find meaning, and worth, and self-esteem at the expense of others…

we’re told, “no you won’t!”

And, in response to shrill voices that pander to our fear of the unknown…

our fear of death…

our fear of losing everything, including our very selves…

we’re told, “I have come that you might have life…

life as it was meant to be…

full, authentic life…

risky, vulnerable life”.

And, it’s only by shutting out that cacophony of ultimately life-denying voices…

and listening, instead, for the still, small voice of this topsy-turvy, world-up-turning God…

that we discover who we really are…

and find what… 

and where… 

our real treasure is.

 

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