Betty Owens Geary; member Gene Decker Study Class, past chair Board of Stewards 

Proverbs 11:24-25, 28; CEB
24 Those who give generously receive more,
    but those who are stingy with what is appropriate will grow needy.
25 Generous persons will prosper;
    those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

….

28 Those who trust in their wealth will wither,
    but the righteous will thrive like leafy trees.

Reflection:
How much is enough?  Some years ago, the two famous authors, Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller, were attending a party given by a billionaire in Long Island. Vonnegut told Heller that the host had made more money in a single day than Heller’s book Catch 22 had earned since its publication. Heller replied, “Yes, but I have something he will never have . . . Enough.”

There were times in my life—graduate school, beginning teacher—when I probably felt like I didn’t have enough.  And I did live very thriftily for a while.  A $5 takeout pizza was a big splurge!  But of course I really always did have enough.

Proverbs 11 encourages us to appreciate the abundance in our lives by repeating the same thought three times, with slight variations.  But we must read these verses carefully.  Does verse 24 really say that if we give generously we will actually gain more material goods?  No; that would be contrary to what the rest of the Bible says.  The Message translates this verse a little differently:  “The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.” If we are stingy, we never feel like we have enough, and so we become needy and focus on acquiring more.  If we are confident that God will provide, we can be generous with whatever we have.  In verse 25, to prosper does not mean to increase our material wealth.  Other translations say the generous will be enriched, or abundantly blessed.  We can certainly be abundantly blessed without acquiring more and more.  Verse 28 warns against trusting in our wealth, rather than in God.  The Message contrasts a life devoted to things with a flourishing, God-shaped life.

John Wesley famously said:  earn all you can, save all you can, then give all you can.  Similarly, he said, “Money never stays with me. It would burn me if it did. I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible, lest it should find its way into my heart.”  Wesley focused less on what we acquire than on what we do with it, and what we should do with it, he said, is give it away.  

Generosity is an act of faith. When we give things away, we are expressing the faith that God will provide. We are recognizing that we have enough.

Prayer:
Dearest Lord, Give us this day our daily bread. Open our hearts to share our blessings with others. Make us truly thankful for all your many blessings. Amen.