Summer is coming and many of us will take to the road. We drive to the beach and the mountains and points beyond. One of my favorite summer driving stories is told by Dan Matthews, the former rector of Trinity Church on Wall Street.
Dan was driving into Manhattan in a long line of cars backed up on the Triborough Bridge. The line inched along and drivers were hot and frustrated. Not only did they have a long wait, they were going to have a steep toll to pay in order to get off that bridge. When the rector finally got to the toll booth, he handed a large bill to the clerk and said, “This is for my fare and for the car behind me.” The toll clerk looked at the money and looked at Dan, and then he looked at the money and looked at Dan again. He was completely dumbfounded. The rector just smiled and waved as he drove away.
Dan says that the real fun began as he watched the next car and the toll clerk in his rear view mirror. There were large gestures and pointing, back and forth. Then heads shook, shoulders shrugged, and a surprised driver rolled past the toll booth. Meanwhile, Dan Matthews sailed on in to town, grinning from ear to ear.
Now, why did he do that? Why would anyone pay for a complete stranger on the Triborough Bridge? Why would we take the money we earn and pay someone else’s way? Come to think of it, why did other people take the money they earned and pay for our way as we crossed the bridge into adulthood? We, too, have enjoyed the benefit of others’ generosity in our lives. Imagine them looking back in their rear view mirror at us, smiling as we move ahead. Generosity is a win-win situation for everyone.
It is clear from the stories we read in the Bible that God cherishes generosity. The Judeo-Christian story begins with a generous Creator giving a garden to Adam and Eve. It moves on through a long history of God’s generous relationship with humanity. Our reading from the Hebrew Scriptures this morning is a double lesson in generosity.
We have heard the famous account of the widow and the prophet Elijah. At that time in the 9th century before the Common Era, Israel was in terrible shape in a severe drought and was oppressed by a corrupt ruler. The situation was hopeless, especially for marginalized people like a woman who was both a foreigner and a widow. As an outsider with no means of support, she was at the bottom of the social and economic scale. So why did God command Elijah to go to this woman in her pitiful situation and ask for hospitality? Surely there were better candidates.
It is easy to question God’s choice of the poor widow until you keep reading. It turns out that the widow’s generosity to Elijah blessed her as well as the prophet. He was fed and she and her son continued to eat as their pantry was miraculously replenished. The widow received long after she gave and her hospitality turned into a blessing for her household.
This theme is repeated throughout the Bible. Abraham offered hospitality to three strangers who were God’s messengers and they offered him an amazing future. A young boy gave his loaf of bread and two fish to Jesus to feed a huge crowd and ended up with baskets of food left over. Generosity is a catalyst for God’s abundance and it ripples throughout the community.
It was this catalytic power that drew the crowds to Jesus. The people experienced him as a prophet, as a preacher, as a healer, and a teacher. The power of God poured through Jesus and into the people around him.
We see this in our gospel lesson today which tells another story of a widow and her son in the first century. Once again, a woman’s life was dissolving, this time through the death of her only son. In addition to her terrible loss, the widow was on a fast track to destitution. A woman only had security and status in the community through a male member of her family. Once these relationships were gone, women essentially became outsiders and even beggars in the street.
Jesus was deeply moved by the widow’s situation and reached out to her and her son. He broke religious taboos when he stopped the pall bearers and touched the stretcher they carried. And while the miracle of this story is that the young man sat up and began to speak at Jesus’ command, the climax comes when Jesus gives him back to his mother.
God’s generosity at work through Jesus transcended the boundaries of life and death and changed the profile of an entire neighborhood. A young man regained his life. A woman was restored to her beloved son, her home, and her community.
Today we come to church in search of God, looking for spiritual nourishment and meaning in the modern world. The pace of life moves much faster now. Many of us have been competing all week, for work, for wealth, and for parking spaces. We need to inhale the peace and presence of Christ before we exhale and begin it all over again.
As we open our hearts and minds, we are presented with these ancient stories about God’s generosity. They are invitations for us to reflect upon the surprising generosity of God in our lives now. It is God’s delight to nourish and sustain us as we move through each day. Our spirits are replenished when we feel empty and our lives are restored when we experience great loss. Drink deeply of this blessing.
Our scriptures also draw our attention to those on the margins who are precious in God’s eyes. Here is an invitation for us to see those who are slipping beyond our sight.
We are given a new awareness of those whom we might otherwise overlook and who may be a source of blessing to us.
The widows and orphans of the scriptures are today’s single parent families courageously living below the poverty level. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that more than 38 million people live in poverty in this country. That number rises steadily, especially among children under the age of 18. Many of us hear about them, but we don’t always see them. They live all around us on the edges, beyond our line of vision.
You may recall that when I arrived in Boston last fall, I was on crutches due to an accident. I hopped around Copley Square as best as I could, moving more slowly than I ever have in my life. Because I was slow and had to look down rather than up and out, I saw people on the street differently.
The poor were sitting down, resting in the shade. They looked at me on my crutches, and then they actually looked into my eyes. Some nodded slowly with understanding. I found that I was part of a silent, mystical fellowship of those who understand what it means to be impeded, to be the constant victim of one’s limits.
I will never forget the day when I graduated from crutches to a walking cast and a cane. As I passed an elderly woman who was a regular on the street, she grinned and gave me a thumbs-up. It was the most powerful commencement service I have ever experienced.
But eventually when I regained my footing, the camaraderie disappeared. I never saw that woman again, and the others no longer make eye contact as I walk swiftly across the Square. For a little while, I saw them eye to eye. For a little while I received their hospitality and it was a great blessing.
The Bible lifts the invisible ones up for our full, unobstructed view through the stories of those who are fed and healed. The Christ we follow was filled with God’s generosity and it spilled over everywhere he went. We are learning that generosity is not a straight line but a circle that is continually renewed by God’s love at work in us.
Every time we are generous, we are blessed and we receive more than we give. Our spirits are replenished and we are nourished over and over again. Winston Churchill once said, We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
May your life be filled with grace as you share God’s generosity with the world around you.
AMEN |
