Weekly Reflection
Dear Friends,
“You Can’t Out-Give God!” That’s what a friend of mine’s Father always told him, from the time he was a little boy, and trying to decide how much of his allowance he should put in the offering plate at church – to the day he breathed his last breath on this earth – “You Can’t Out-give God!”
Rarely a day passes that I don’t think of those words – when I’m tired at the end of a long day, and I just want to go home, and relax before going to bed, rather than making a few phone calls to check on people – when I’m depositing my paycheck, and deciding what bills to pay – when I’m invited to make a contribution to something after I’ve already written my tithe check to the church. I think of those words – “You Can’t Out-give God!”
We’re in the middle of the “Season of Generosity” in our church this month, and we’re being invited to share with the Board of Business and Finance our “Estimate of Giving” for 2025. I’ve been thinking about the future of the church, and the question, “How do we nurture generosity in a culture that is fearful of scarcity.” For decades now, congregations have wrestled with “The Myth of Scarcity amid the Reality of Abundance.” Much of the media, and perhaps our own financial advisors would have us focus on our fears of running out of money, or not having “enough,” and that can make it really difficult to focus our attention on the God of Abundance that all of our scriptures bear witness to.
I say “for decades” we’ve been wrestling with this problem, but really, it’s a problem that is practically as old as God’s people. Walter Brueggemann, noted UCC Old Testament scholar and theologian, reminds us that the fear that there will not be enough has been a prevalent response throughout the history of the Christian experience, and is directly linked to our history as a Biblical people. But whereas fear and anxiety mark our response as human beings, the God behind all of creation is one of overwhelming, breathtaking abundance and generosity!
In an article titled, “The Liturgy of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity,” Brueggemann tells us that “the Bible starts out with a liturgy of abundance. Genesis 1 is a song of praise for God’s generosity. It tells how well the world is ordered. It keeps saying, ‘It is good, it is good, it is good, it is very good.’ It declares that God blesses the plants and the animals and the fish and the birds and humankind. It is this sense of fruitfulness and abundance that dominates Genesis all the way from the 1st until the 47th chapter.
“It is in that 47th chapter,” Brueggeman tells us that “Pharaoh dreams that there will be a famine in the land. So Pharaoh gets organized to administer, control and monopolize the food supply. Pharaoh introduces the principle of scarcity into the world economy. For the first time in the Bible, someone says, ‘there’s not enough. Let’s get everything.’” The notion of scarcity has been introduced into biblical faith. The Book of Exodus records the contest between the liturgy of generosity and the myth of scarcity – a contest that still tears us apart today “ (Christian Century, March 24-31, 1999, pp. 342-343)
“In the memory of Israel,” Brueggemann continues, “Pharaoh is famine-driven, always worried about lack of crops and loss of food, always gathering and storing to have enough.” Pharaoh is afraid that there won’t be enough! But in response, God says to the Israelites and to us, “I am the God who defeated Pharaoh, who eliminated the policies of the Pharaoh, who overcame the scarcity of Pharaoh, and who nullified the anxiety of Pharaoh. The choice for Israel (and us) is the either of Pharaoh or the God of manna” – the God who provided just enough manna to feed the Hebrews in the wilderness and promises to always provide enough for us all. (The Word That Redescribes the World, W. Brueggemann, pp. 159-160)
In this Season of Generosity, let us reflect on all the blessings and abundance of our lives, and remember that “You Can’t Out-Give God!”
With thanksgiving,
Pastor Denise