Generous Gumption

Robert E. Hall
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

October 4, 2009

Text: Matthew 7: 24-27 & II Corinthians 9: 6-10

The dictionary defines gumption as “sound, practical judgment.” A person with gumption makes decisions that will benefit themselves and not get themselves in needless trouble.

And one of the consistent teachings in the Bible is that people with sound, practical judgment are generous. It is good for us to be generous toward God and toward the neighbor.

You could call the First Testament Book of Proverbs “The Book of Gumption”.  It is comprised mostly of advice to young people on how to act wisely and resist being a fool. One of the bits of advice has to do with not being stingy but being generous.

 For example: “Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due and only suffer want.”

“A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water.”

“Those who trust in their riches will wither, but the righteous will flourish like green leaves.”

“Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but one who turns a blind eye will get many a curse.” (Proverbs 11:24-25, 28, 28:27

The prophet Isaiah says it this way:

“If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom shall be as noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things…..and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” (58: 10-11)

Or consider Psalm 41: “Blessed is the one who considers the poor! The Lord delivers them in the day of trouble….”

And Psalm 1: “Blessed is the person who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, not stands in the way of sinners, not sits in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on this law they meditate day and night. They are like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.”

And the words of wisdom from Deuteronomy 4:39:

“So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath: there is no other [god]. Keep God’s statutes and commandments, which I am commanding you this day for your own well-being and that of your descendents after you, so that you may remain long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

And lest we think that such admonitions to gumption are restricted to the Old Testament, remember these words of Jesus from Matthew 6: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal….You cannot serve God and riches….Seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness,” and you will have what you truly need to live.

And do you remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar? Who was wiser in the long run? Lazarus, whom the rich man passed by every day without even seeing him! (See Luke 16: 19-31)

There is a personally beneficial reason for being generous toward God and toward neighbor. And there is a practical reason for not being stingy toward God and your neighbor. One path leads to contentment; the other to misery. We are created by God to open our hands and hearts toward others.

Though I have not had time to read the book, I picked up an interview recently of Frans de Waal, author of The Age of Empathy. He has done extensive research on the behaviors of primates. What he is discovering is that empathy and solidarity are survival skills. Animals not only live by the law of the jungle, so called. They are observed to help each other and even to show tenderness to each other, even when there is no immediate reward for doing so. Could it be that generous behaviors are hard-wired into us, too?

So when the apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian Christians about being generous in giving to the needs of the poor in the church in Jerusalem, he is tapping into a rich biblical tradition. He wrote:

“The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully….He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness [or benevolence].”

In the words of Victor Paul Furnish: “Those who give generously to others are rewarded by the multiplication of their own resources.”

But this is somewhat disturbing! This sounds like we are asked to give so that we will get. Gab it, grab it, as the old saying goes. If you are good (generous), God is good to you.
But this message cuts off at the knees so much of what Jesus said and demonstrated. After all, Jesus gave generously of himself to others---and he was crucified. And we know that Jesus, God’s ultimate gift of love for us, died for us when we were sinners, not because we were already worthy of such love.

Various versions of this are preached every week in some places.
But we know from experience that many people give generously of themselves and their resources to God and neighbor and never get rich. And some of the most generous people we know have bad things which happen to them.

So is the apostle Paul stretching a point just to get the Christians in Corinth to be generous in their offering?

As I read him,  Paul is making is not writing that they should do good so they will do well. His point is that “God [who is always generous before we are and infinitely more so] will provide the means to be generous---- that one can sow [generously] (which means fully and cheerfully) in the confidence that God will bestow a liberal harvest…..An abundant harvest.is described as a benefit or grace given by God, not a payment for services rendered……

“And, the benefit which is provided by God’s grace is bestowed not for the enjoyment of those who have given generously but in order that they may abound in every good work…..God will provide them everything they need…..not so they can be independent of others…..but enough resources to be able to help other people, to be able to affirm one’s community [solidarity] with others by contributing to those in need……

“Because liberal sowing leads to a liberal harvest, one may expect progressively larger harvests as there is ever more seed available for sowing in the next season. If the Corinthians will contribute generously to the collection, they will see how God can multiply their resources for yet more generous giving.” (Victor Paul Furnish, Second Corinthians, pages 447-449)

I have seen it over and over through the years: members and friends who gave generously (fully and cheerfully, not under compulsion) of themselves and their resources for the love of God and neighbor.

They were happier and more contented than others. Some of these generous people are wealthy, some are poor, others are in the middle somewhere. Their generosity is not correlated with their economic status.

Pearl Robertson, living on a hard scrabble farm in Young County with her handicapped husband, distributed the produce of her garden to numerous families in Graham who did not have enough----including her preacher! “This is just what you do,” she would say.

A retired minister, one who lived on very little while he was pastoring churches, was the first clergy to send in a generous contribution when we were asking clergy to commit to helping start new churches.

An extended family in Wichita Falls, blessed with great wealth, who have over the past three generations, given generously to my seminary alma mater.

Charles Moline, who, for a very little paycheck, built up the choir at FUMC in Mineral Wells, making beautiful music with meager talent.

So many of you here today who are exemplars of generosity in serving the needs of the poor and the hurting and opening doors of hope for people on the edge.

What is the common denominator of generous people?

The first thing that must be said is that they do not consider themselves “saints.” They simply trust God, and in that trusting they had a healthy self-regard.  They want to invest themselves and their resources in works of mercy and justice. They want to be witnesses of God’s generous love.

And God wants more generous people around.

Now the point I am making is this: Generosity as a way of living comes from trusting that “bread cast upon the waters” does come back a hundred-fold. (This is a powerful image from, of all places, gloomy old Ecclesiastes, 11:1, his point being that, since life is uncertain, we must take satisfaction in doing what is right. To wait for certainty would be not to live at all. See RSV Annotated Notes)

We can’t out give God. But seeds we broadcast (the gifts we give), God blesses, and the harvest is multiplied in just this way:

 Others come to know and love the Lord and serve their neighbors----and become more generous--- because we are generous. And to be a partner in this work is life at its best, as it was meant to be lived. We feel God’s blessing because our lives are hid with Christ in God!

This is where Jesus’ parable about building your house on sand or rock comes in.  The wise person knows what will last, what will endure the storms. So strive to live a Sermon on the Mount life, for such striving shows that we know what’s good for us.

So where is the gospel in all this?

Surely all this striving is hard work! But what God requires, God also makes possible. Unless we come to see the outpouring love of God for us, our striving can turn quickly into drudgery. Without grace, giving can seem like paying another bill, whose balance is infinite. With grace, our giving is an answering love, an act of joyful obedience, an aspiration to live more like Christ.

Generosity comes easier to some than to others. But all can practice generosity, day by day, month by month, year by year.  

“Jesus portrays God as One who demands all but also gives all. Jesus offers a life of partnership with him as together we bear the yoke his grace makes easy….We are assured that God will care for our needs, that there is no need for anxiety, that success does not depend on others’ acceptance of us. Jesus will be with us always…..To embrace these assurances is to be wise.” It is to have the gumption to be generous with ourselves and our gifts as God enables us to do so. (McKenzie, Preaching Wisdom in a Self-Help Age, page 194)