Giving Tuesday

Acts 20:35: "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, for he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.''

In the frenzied pace of shopping for gifts...battling for the prize item at a sale, we forget to GIVE what matters most.  We have become accustomed to a consumption driven life style, taking without pause to think about the cost.  Even in the act giving presents, it is driven by money, versus the act of giving.  In this model, giving itself is a selfish act, meant to prop up the ego of the giver, instead of a selfless act of care and concern, love and hope without expectation of reciprocity.  It is and eye for an eye instead of grace.

In this cycle of unquenchable consumption we are driven into an unsustainable pattern.  Not only do we lose sight of giving with altruistic motives, in turn we neglect to receive, the pure GIFT of Christ's grace.

The core truth of 'Holiday giving' isn't about the most expensive, high-tech or beating out 'the Joneses' - it is about giving with a pure heart, with love and selflessness, thought and concern.  A new movement has declared December 3 as 'Giving Tuesday,' a time to volunteer time and give donations to nonprofits and those in need.  Giving shouldn't be a designated afterthought tagged on the tail end of Black Friday to Cyber Monday.  Like Thanksgiving, 'Giving Tuesday,' should be a premise we follow in our daily lives.  It should become part of the fabric of our character. 

Yes, we have obligations and responsibilities that prevent us from allotting as much time or money as we'd like to help those in need.  This often becomes a crutch, better phrased an 'excuse,' for not doing anything at all. "What point is $5 to the battered women's center, or a bag of cat food to the local animal shelter - what good will that really do?"  The truth is, a little goes a long way. We are called to action by Christ and HIS example by the HIS Father, to give.  That doesn't mean we throw caution to the wind, but that we choose to actively value people and life more than possessions, hope more than despair.   When we rely on holding close to desires of the flesh (money, the biggest TV, a car that is well beyond our means merely for status - not because we have an interest in cars, etc...) instead of relying on God we are wandering a dark road.  The possessions and treasures of this life we come to value and use as our foundation, actually become a burden, wearing us down. 

Even the least among us can give up a moment in prayer for our neighbor, knowing that God can uplift the lowly and tends our needs.

The old adage 'it is better to give than receive,' holds salt.  I have never felt more spiritually satisfied than when I volunteer or I forfeit an unnecessary material item, donating that money to a non-profit or a neighbor in need.

In Nashville, while attending Belmont University, I worked forty hour weeks in addition to school to pay bills.  I didn't have much money, but I found I could donate a few hours a week to help at the Nashville Humane Center and the FRIST Center for the Visual Arts.  I joined advocacy groups.  I used spare change towards assisting non-profits in need.  It wasn't much on paper, but I helped place fifty cats in homes, that were rescued from high-kill shelters.  I bonded with the animals and helped abate their fear of being alone and caged, awaiting a forever home.

In this period of waiting to for the birth of Christ, lift one another up.  We may be weak and possessed by fear and greed, but the light of Christ can obliterate darkness and overcome the cancer it creates.  We can be vessels of Christ, calling our neighbors out of the darkness to embrace the light of our LORD.  This time of preparation calls us to repent and to rejoice for our coming Savior.  It is not time to squander our light, let the light of Christ shine through us as beacons of love and hope.

Give the gift of Christ's hope by acts of mercy and compassion, give up a part of yourself for the benefit of the other.  Put creatures (people, animals, plants and our earth) above material things.  This is part of the preparation for the coming of Christ, for we need to let go of all the negative energies taking up space, commanding us towards selfishness.  This ego might give you worldly possessions or influence, but it leaves a dark void that only the light of Christ can fill.  Until you let go of the burden of clutching onto everything, 'me, me, me mentality,'  you will never find satisfaction.  You will search for the prize gift, never to receive the one that truly matters.  Give so that you may receive the glory of Christ in his coming.

Scriptural 'Food' for Thought:
'The Parable of the Rich Fool.'
Luke 12: 15-21
And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."  Then he told them a parable: "the land of a rich man produced abundantly.  And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?'  Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul you have ample goods laid up for many years: relax, eat, drink, be merry.'  But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you.  And the things you have prepared whose will they be?'  So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God."

Matthew 6:1-4:
"Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  "So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Matthew 6: 19-21
'Concerning Treasures'
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Acts 20: 32-36:
And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and give you the inheritances among all who are sanctified.  I coveted no one's silver or gold or clothing.  You know for yourselves that I worked with my own hands to support myself and my companions.  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, for he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.