Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. (I Chronicles 29:13-16)
As
I said yesterday, now it’s time to look at what David said, keeping in mind that
he was a poet/songwriter. On the one side, there’s God, who gives us
everything we have. Then there is we[1],
who are foreigners and strangers with insubstantial lives and without hope.
We
like to congratulate ourselves on things. We pride ourselves on tiny aspects of
who we are: race, gender, education, age, attractiveness, income, power, and on
what we believe are our virtues. Generosity is included in the list.
The
problem is that our generosity isn’t charitable. Often, it isn’t given freely.
People get agitated because they didn’t receive a thank you note or a
sufficient thank you note. I’ll readily grant that children need to be taught
to express gratitude. Still, some people have expressed resentment to the point of
not wanting to give gifts to someone anymore because the gift isn’t
reciprocated with sufficient words of appreciation and enthusiasm. It’s not a
gift, it’s a bargaining chip. In a book about the Civil Rights movement, Shelby
Steele wrote of a conversation in which a white advocate expressed irritated anticipation
of black people showing more gratitude for all whites had done for them. (Don’t
screech at me, I didn’t say it and I’m not approving, I’m reporting.)
But
David recognized that everything Israel had and had become was because God had
arranged it. People weren’t happy with President Obama when he said “Somebody
helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed
you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a
business, you didn't build that.” (July 13, 2012, Roanoke, VA) But it’s true.
Even if you’re a solo act, you didn’t create yourself. Others produced you, provided
for you, raised you, educated you, raised or mined the raw materials you use
(made by God), and in many cases crafted them into some useful form. Others bought your product or service, otherwise, you wouldn’t have a
business. I don’t agree with the implications and conclusions drawn from this
fact, but he’s right. And beneath, behind, around, and through all those others
is God. The Jews gave generously, but God provided what they were giving. We
get to be generous because God was generous.
One
of the irritating things about this is that it feels as if we are left out – as
if we don’t matter. It’s like when we were kids, and our parents gave us money
with which to buy Christmas or birthday presents for them. Somehow, it just doesn’t
feel like generosity.
At
the same time, there’s a great feeling – the helper’s high – when we are able
to contribute to a worthy cause. Our challenges are to receive gratefully (and gracefully) and give generously. The alternative is to be Scrooge.
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