Generously

             Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. (II Corinthians  9:6)

 

This is one of those passages that sends me screaming. Oh, I love the idea of reaping generously, but giving generously? Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been known to give so generously that it physically harmed me. I’ve been known to give what wasn’t sought or without the person to whom I gave ever knowing that I (or anyone) did so. I’ve been known to give unwisely. But this is one of those areas where definitions and “Not Good Enough” often come into play. What does it mean to give generously? And, keeping in mind that the passage doesn’t say “give” but “sow,” what is the difference between them?

Again, I want to be able to put generously up on a table. What percentage of my income counts as generous? The answer is that no amount of my income counts as generous. It’s not about the amount, it’s about the attitude. To give generously, then, involves giving without expectation of reward and with the focus on the one to whom it is given. To sow generously involves sowing more than statistically enough to produce what you want to reap, you’re likely to get more than you wanted to reap and be able to give to others without harming yourself.

This is irritating. I am trying to figure out how much of this or that plant to sow into my garden to reap a sufficient harvest, first for myself (including preserves of whatever sort), then for my neighbor and friends, and lastly for a food pantry. I want to know how much do I need to have before I can be generous? And, of course, that’s not the right attitude. That’s not generous.

There’s another item we need to keep in mind. Since we’re talking about sowing – not giving – how many seeds do you tend to eat? Perhaps more importantly, how many seeds can you not afford to not eat? Last fall, when I harvested my Lamb’s Quarters, I pressed the stem between thumb and finger and stripped seeds from the branch. Maybe someone knows how to use the seeds as food, but I don’t. The only use I had for them was to leave them in the garden to produce this summer’s crops. I’m sure I dropped thousands of seeds, and I suspect my neighbor might not be happy about it. There are generally 150 to 300 seeds in at least some types of tomato. Since my fondness for tomatoes is for their flesh, the idea of putting a good number of seeds aside is not a big deal.

But if we’re not talking about tomatoes, but about kindness, or the gospel, or some intangible seed, what then? The reality is that we can be even more generous. You can’t run out of kindness. You can only run into attitude. Giving the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ costs you nothing, except perhaps your ego. Giving of time, energy, or other resources costs you, and you need to be wise about it, but giving of what costs you nothing? In that case, not giving is the only thing that costs you.