For those who have been astute you will have noticed that the past few months, liturgies have been designed for a season at a time with one bulletin for the three weeks: the past three weeks were focused on thanksgiving. When looking at November I realized one liturgy would not fit all – today being special because of All Saints, the 22nd because of confirmation -- so I went looking for something to link everything together; and I found two bulletins from an old stewardship series. The series focused on stewardship as a way of life lived from the Source -God- the creator and sustainer of life. Today’s stewardship theme and bulletin cover is “living generously.”
Often
when I read scripture, I come to it with an open a mind as possible. Once
settled, I read the words of the selected Bible passage and see what grabs my
attention and consider how the text speaks to me in that moment. Myself and others
did that this week when contributing to the two-bit Bible study.
Another way to approach the text is with a theme in mind and see what the text says in regards to the theme. With ‘living generously’ as a direction to add to the text – what a treasure trove!
GENEROUS: a great multitude that no one could count; from every nation, all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne
GENEROUS:
see what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of
God
In
recent months, I have felt a little weird. I am an introvert and enjoy my
bubble very much. I have enjoyed not going out to meetings and groups, and not
running around picking up or delivering things here and there and everywhere. What I find disconcerting is that avenues
through which I have been generous -beyond financial gifts- have been put on
hold or discontinued entirely. There was no baking of muffins for the Phoenix
drop in centre, no quilting for CLWR; I have not made any prayer shawls; no
volunteering to lead worship at Northwood, Bible Study at the Gladstone, and so
on. Outside of tithes and financial
donations, what does it mean to live generously in a time of pandemic?
Years
ago stewardship resources printed a story that many of you will have heard. The story goes that a woman phoned her local
church asking if they were accepting frozen turkeys to put in their holiday
hamper outreach program. The church was and the woman dropped off the turkey –
only for the church to find the sales tag still on it. The turkey was 23 years old!
Not
the best example of living generously.
GERNEROUS
- This is All Saints Sunday, a day we remember those who have died in the past
year and keep in our prayers those who continue to grieve. Many of those
remembered today are people for whom you are grieving, only a couple of the
names here are people who I personally knew and loved. Living generously we create a space to hold
each other: generously allowing freedom for tears, naming, remembering, being
okay and not okay. Where else in the world can we share our inner griefs, mess
of emotions, and dare to hope, drawing on the hope and faith of the community?
If
we take a moment to consider the lives of our loved ones being honoured today,
I imagine there lives shared a wealth of generosity; maybe not all the time but
moments, in passions – generous in love, generous in friendship, generous
perhaps in wisdom, humour, a helping hand.
One
of the examples experienced at Resurrection -of a life living generosity- was
that of John Labelle.
Consider
the generosity of time, generosity of patience, generosity of passion,
generosity of energy- to fight for veteran rights and pensions. Living
generosity was taking what had been given to him and using it to make whole a
section of God’s reign.; giving not for ones
own sake but for the sake of others.
GENEROUS: a great multitude that no one could count;
from every nation, all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the
throne
Living
generously is an attitude as expressed in Revelation chapter 7. It is accepting and promoting, fighting for and
supporting; understanding in the heart - that we are from every nation, tribe,
people, language – all beautiful, all included, siblings of each other. Living generously
is living out the attitude in thought, word, and deed; in whatever form is
necessary.
GENEROUS:
see what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of
God
Living
generously is part of our DNA as expressed in the letter of John. Belonging, being children of God, being loved
--- there is an expectation that we live from this love, generously sharing
love with the whole of God’s creation.
GENEROUS:
the Blessed are-s -the Beatitudes- are... a generosity of living in spirit,
heart, humbleness, patience, peace, faithfulness. This is living generously as described in the
gospel of Matthew.
And
perhaps here is the nitty-gritty, the how-to, of living generously.
As
generosity goes, the list of Beatitudes, is rather short, but each one can be
defined in so many ways. For centuries
commentators, theologians, and preachers have expounded on the meaning of each
item in the list. By no means do I consider the list of beatitudes a complete
list – I see them as an approach to life. When living into even just one of the
blessed are-s, one is opened to an abundance of generosity.
Recently
Reader’s Digest magazine collected stories about generosity – many are lovely
instances of people living generously during COVID – delivering groceries, acts
of kindness, supporting others. Some of the stories were older:
In August 2016, Cari and Lauri Ryding came home to find their rainbow flag had been stolen and their house egged. Anti-homosexual vandalism wasn’t at all what they expected in their close-knit Natick, Massachusetts, neighborhood. As it turned out, it also wasn’t what their neighbors expected. “We said, ‘Why don’t we all have the flags? They can’t take them from all of us,’” Denis Gaughan told the Boston Globe. Within days, the rainbow flag—the symbol of gay pride—was flying in solidarity with the Rydings on over 40 other homes in this family-friendly area. “One person’s act of fear and maliciousness created such a powerful statement of love,” said Lauri. “Love wins. We win.” Source: The Boston Globe
GENEROUS – living generously is LOVE, love incarnate, love alive, God’s love - love for all, in all, though all. As we look in to a continued time of ‘weird,’ take some time to reflect on living generously. At the heart of being generous is love. Love those with whom you live – be generous in patience, in understanding, in forgiveness. Love those whom you know – be generous in keeping in touch, in checking in. Love those you meet – be generous in following COVID protocols, in politeness, in kindness. Love those whom you do not know – be generous in prayer, in action, in sharing the passion and gifts you have.
St. Ignatius of Loyola, a Counter-reformer within the Catholic church of the 16th century, developed a practice of Spiritual Exercises. The exercises were based on the Gospels and focused on experiencing and living God. Ignatius wrote a prayer of generosity - that I ask we pray for ourselves and for our community - that we may live generously:
Stewardship is a way of life, lived from the Source – God- the creator and sustainer of life. Today’s text concludes with one more piece of generous living.
GENEROUS
– in praise-
Amen!
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen
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