Preaching Generosity 2022 archive
June 2022
How do we explain God’s generosity to others?
“Return to your home and declare how much God has done for you.” (Luke 8.39). Jesus tells the man who had been possessed by demons to tell of God’s generosity. Generosity of healing in this case. When God is generous to us, what is our response to that generosity? Do we tell others of the great gifts that have been bestowed on us, or do we keep quiet about it? If we do tell others, how do we choose to go about it? The method we choose may differ according to the gifts and talents that we have. Some may be called to be teachers, some may be gifted as healers, some may be skilled as listeners. We all have been given gifts, how can we use them to tell others of God’s generosity towards all of His creation? Our generous use of our talents in response to God’s generosity to all.
Trevor Marshall is Priest in Charge at Tangmere and Oving in the Diocese of Chichester, and National Giving Ministry Advisor.For freedom Christ has set us free.
When we are ‘in Christ’ nothing can ultimately constrain us; we are the freest people in the world. When we are captivated by Christ we sing his song and dance his dance, even if outward circumstances are hard, as they are at times for all of us.
That inner freedom hopefully unleashes an outer freedom too – a freedom to be generous in every area of our lives. Nelson Mandela said, ‘To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.’ In other words, real freedom focuses not on our own ability to do what we like, but on our desire to make a difference to the wellbeing of others.
Those opportunities comes many times every day. We just have to notice when they arrive.
John Pritchard is a former Bishop of Oxford and author of many popular books.
July 2022
We prosper when we respond to the generous heart of God
There can be a temptation to think of prosperity only in terms of money, and ‘prosperity’ can have negative connotations for some. But in God’s economy, prosperity is a sign of the breaking in of God’s presence and God’s kingdom. All around us creation prospers, in the annual harvest, but also in the renewing of what is broken or damaged. Notice how quickly weeds appear when you think you have cleared the ground. Creation prospers. We prosper when we respond to the generous heart of God, receive of God’s generosity and overflow in sharing it, like a healthy river, or with the energy the disciples had for their missional activity. Those who are close to the heart of God cannot but be generous because God is all generous. We respond to the generosity of God when our service, whatever that might be, is freely offered for the benefit of others and the glory of God.
Jane Winter is Assistant Director of Formation and Ministry in the Diocese of Rochester.They are precious because of what God has done for them
‘To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ…’ (Col. 1.2) What a very nice way to be addressed. No doubt the church in Colossae was not perfect. Their need for moral instruction (later in the letter) bears witness to this. Yet Paul chose to address them in the most favourable way he could – acknowledging their status in Christ. He reminds himself, as he reminds his recipients, that they are precious because of what God has done for them in Christ. He allows that generosity of status to be the perspective from which he offers them any other teaching or counsel. Can that be an example today: that we think of, and even address, our fellow Christians in the most favourable way we can?
Simon Stocks is Senior Tutor at St Augustine’s College of Theology
God gives without hope of gain
“does not lend money in the hope of gain. … Whoever does these things shall never fall.” (Psalm 15:5). One of the nicest gifts my family ever gave me was an account with ‘Lendwithcare’. There was £25 in the account. Not an earth shattering amount of money, but it does mean that I can lend money without the hope of gain. The money that I have loaned out has been used to buy land for a subsistence farmer to expand his farm, meaning that he can afford to send his children to school. A relatively small thing on my part has been life changing for his family. If I don’t get the money back, I can ask myself if losing the money has had a negative impact on my life. And the answer is “no”. God gives without hope of gain. He sets us an example to follow.
Trevor Marshall is Priest in Charge at Tangmere and Oving in the Diocese of Chichester, and National Giving Ministry Advisor.
Forgiveness is generous
(Genesis 18.20-32) Imagine the conversation between Abraham and God, bartering at its best, God smiling as Abraham tries his luck time and again. How far dare he push God for the sake of wicked Sodom? Forgiveness is a generous act, not because we forgive but because of the amazing way that God forgives. Given the slightest opportunity, God lavishes forgiveness on us and desires His children to receive good things in abundance.
Forgiveness doesn’t come easy. It is generous but it is costly. It cost the cross. It costs us. To let go of what has hurt us and forgive requires that we abound in the goodness of God’s generosity. We may easily put cash in the charity bucket or tap the card reader but it’s much more demanding to forgive. Welcoming and loving those who have hurt us with the welcome and love God offers – that is generosity, the way of the kingdom of God.
Jane Winter is Assistant Director of Formation and Ministry in the Diocese of Rochester.
‘Your life is hidden with Christ in God.’
…and therefore ‘Christ is our life.’ (v 4). We are united with Christ in the way that a sponge is united with water – it’s immersed in that which at the same time flows through it. The great illusion is to think that Christ is absent and we have to go and find him. Our union with Christ doesn’t so much have to be acquired as to be recognised.
This gives us a new perspective on life. We have been raised with Christ and therefore seek the things that are above, in particular the self-giving character of Christ. If Christ is our life we’re bound to want to share and express those attractive qualities of Christ that drew us to him for ourselves – the generosity, grace, and unconditional love that in his lifetime made him so popular in Galilee, and so threatening in Jerusalem.
A new perspective, a new love.
John Pritchard is a former Bishop of Oxford and author of many popular books.
August 2022
No-one is forgotten
‘He watches all the inhabitants of the earth’ (Ps 33.14) It is quite common to use the phrase ‘blinkered’ in a negative sense: being too narrow in what is seen. Conversely, getting the ‘big picture’ or taking the ‘long view’ are often seen as good. It can be helpful to ‘stand back’ and to ‘put things in context’. The verse from the psalm no doubt was intended to convey the totality of God’s perspective. But perhaps we can read in it a sense of God’s willingness to take everyone into account, with all their varied needs and desires. If so, it can encourage us to be generous and take as broad a view of things as we can. Are there people who are beyond the scope of our perspective? How might we extend our vision, so that no-one is forgotten?
Simon Stocks is Senior Tutor, St Augustine’s College of Theology
What is important?
“Let us also lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us”(Hebrews 12.1). So many times in life, I have been distracted by what I thought was success. When our children were growing up, my well paid job meant that I was always late home, tired and stressed. It was only when a wise mentor of mine advised me to write down what was important that I realised the relentless pursuit of wealth meant that my ability to be generous with time for my family was limited. A written list of what was actually important meant that whenever I was given a choice, I knew what I was aiming for. As a church responding to God, we can write down what is important and then make sure that we persevere in being generous in those areas.
Trevor Marshall is Priest in Charge at Tangmere and Oving in the Diocese of Chichester, and National Giving Ministry Advisor.
We are released
Bound, burdened and bowed down are not words easily associated with generosity. They are though the experience for so many of us when things beyond our control affect physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. We may have had the experience of being laid low and know how it can affect our ability to live well. Scriptures flow with the story of freedom for individuals and communities, a freedom that releases a heartfelt natural response of generosity towards God. True worship is not bound by rules and conditions it is a spontaneous outpouring of gratitude and praise. The single greatest act of generosity we offer God is worship. The delight of sabbath worship which brings rest and restoration, and worship that drives our Christian activity of meeting the needs of others. From bowed down, burdened and bound we are released to worship with generosity of mind, body and spirit.
Jane Winter is Assistant Director of Formation and Ministry in the Diocese of Rochester.
Every good thing was made available
‘I brought you into a plentiful land …. my people have forsaken me’ (Jer 2.7,13) The bounty of God in dealing with His people is two-fold here. Through Jeremiah, God first recounts the bounty that He bestowed on the people of Israel. Every good thing was made available for them. That was God’s generous initiative, through no merit or action of their own. In the context of the passage, that gift is a memory, for the people have since abandoned their thankful devotion to God and are facing the consequences. But God has not abandoned them! God has not walked away. Instead, God is still there, addressing the people, giving them chance to change their ways. For all their rejection, God will not give up on them utterly, but keeps warning them and trying to bring them back to their right minds. This is bountiful forbearance in the face of stubbornness.
Simon Stocks is Senior Tutor, St Augustine’s College of Theology
September 2022
First sit down and estimate the cost
Counting the cost of a venture is a sound first step. There is a cost to discipleship, says Jesus, and it means putting Christ ahead even of family loyalties. Sometimes it will feel like carrying a cross to a seriously bad place. So count the cost before you leap in.
This has surprisingly practical implications. I remember at university my church rector teaching about giving, which to a poor student wasn’t an enticing prospect. So, he said, count the cost, think what you can afford – and then double it! That was the challenge of the gospel, not to be wise simply in a worldly way but to be wise in a heavenly way, and to trust that God would make up the difference.
Surprisingly (or not) it works!
John Pritchard is a former Bishop of Oxford and author of many popular books.
He will not abandon us
“I have not relented nor will I turn back” (Jeremiah 4.28) This passage reminds us that although we can be foolish in God’s eyes, He will not abandon us in our time of need. This leads me to wonder how often we are tempted to abandon God when we are in our time of need? There are times when responding to God can be difficult. When He calls us, we may be laden with troubles and distractions. When we set out on our personal journey to love God and respond to that generous love, will we relent or turn back because of worldly concerns? Are there times when our worldly needs get in the way of our generosity? Our generosity can be relentless, not turning back when the going gets hard because we know God will never abandon us.
Trevor Marshall is Priest in Charge at Tangmere and Oving in the Diocese of Chichester, and National Giving Ministry Advisor.
All wealth is of God
Few of us would want to own up to being a slave of money, but we’re all aware of the song, ‘Money makes the world go around’. We depend on the movement of money individually and as societies, and although once just the tool to enable the flow of trade, now money is itself the object of trade. Being part of the economy though need not mean the same as ‘serving’ money. If we chose to serve God then we live by a different economic standard, one that requires the flourishing of everyone, one that calls out bad practice and challenges the misuse of wealth. A standard of generosity that does not count the cost but recognises that all wealth is of God. A gift even if hard earned and a gift with responsibility to use it for the growth of God’s kingdom not our own. Who will we serve?
Jane Winter is Assistant Director of Formation and Ministry in the Diocese of Rochester.
We have received – not earned or won
‘You received your good things’ (Lk 16.25) This simple expression belies its significance. ‘You received.’ You did not earn, or gather, or win, or produce. You received. The implication is that every person’s lot in life is, in some sense, from God. There is an element of mystery about why Lazarus should have received a bad lot. But the message of the parable is clear: God will recompense those who receive a bad lot, and God places expectations on those who receive good things. For those with good things, how much easier it is to share when we recognise them as things received – not earned or gathered or won or produced. And for those who receive a bad lot – there is surely good to come.
Simon Stocks is Senior Tutor, St Augustine’s College of Theology
October 2022
‘Faith the size of a mustard seed.’
Most of us haven’t tried telling a mulberry tree to go and plant itself in the sea. But the challenge to trust God to go way beyond the call of duty is a serious question for all of us. When we prayerfully take a real need to God how far will our faith stretch?
The tales of miraculous provision are too numerous to recount – the only problem being that they don’t seem to happen to us very often! Is God arbitrary? How does God answer prayer? How does God work in the world anyway? All these are legitimate questions for the right time and place.
But when we’re faced with something dear to our heart this isn’t the time to do our philosophical exploration. This is the time to emulate the acrobat who gathers herself above the hushed crowd, breathes deeply, and then launches herself into empty space, gloriously free and utterly trusting that the hands of her colleague will be waiting to catch her.
Will we trust the Catcher?
John Pritchard is a former Bishop of Oxford and author of many popular books.
Thankfulness overflows into generosity
Like a pool springboard above sparkling water, gratitude is the most marvellous launchpad for generosity. A heart overflowing with thankfulness will joyfully spring into thrilling cascades of generous giving.
Jesus healed ten lepers. All ten obediently beetled off for priestly inspection. Only one – who knew the additional life-long exclusion of being a despised foreigner – spun round on his clean-skinned heels once he realised that he was cleansed. Overwhelmed with gratitude, he rushed back to praise and thank Jesus. He was blessed with an even deeper healing.
Nine lives were restored to normal; one life was utterly transformed. We can only begin to grasp the extent of God’s love and blessings, but an attitude of gratitude will catalyse generosity. I’m pretty sure that the tenth man will have gone on to transform his community, launching amazing support networks for outcasts, sharing the good news of God’s Kingdom, and changing lives.
Clare Masters was Lay Minister at Bidborough, St Lawrence and Southborough, St Peter in the Diocese of Rochester.
Thankfulness overflows into generosity
Like a pool springboard above sparkling water, gratitude is the most marvellous launchpad for generosity. A heart overflowing with thankfulness will joyfully spring into thrilling cascades of generous giving.
Jesus healed ten lepers. All ten obediently beetled off for priestly inspection. Only one – who knew the additional life-long exclusion of being a despised foreigner – spun round on his clean-skinned heels once he realised that he was cleansed. Overwhelmed with gratitude, he rushed back to praise and thank Jesus. He was blessed with an even deeper healing.
Nine lives were restored to normal; one life was utterly transformed. We can only begin to grasp the extent of God’s love and blessings, but an attitude of gratitude will catalyse generosity. I’m pretty sure that the tenth man will have gone on to transform his community, launching amazing support networks for outcasts, sharing the good news of God’s Kingdom, and changing lives.
Clare Masters was Lay Minister at Bidborough, St Lawrence and Southborough, St Peter in the Diocese of Rochester.
God will respond with power to the prayers of his people
We live generously, because we believe God is generous, amazingly and inexhaustibly. Yet alongside that belief, we can hold onto other pictures of God, hidden away in our hearts and minds. God as reluctant to give, detached, remote, uncaring.
In the Gospel reading for today, Jesus shares a parable about prayer, in which he describes a needy person asking for help from a figure of authority and influence who is indeed detached, remote, uncaring – and yet ultimately gives the help that she asks for. How much more, he says, will God respond with power to the prayers of his people.
Do we still carry with us pictures of God that detract from the truth of divine generosity? If we are to live from that truth day by day, then spending time day by day in prayer will be important. Prayer in which we remember who God truly is.
Jeremy Worthen is Team Rector of Ashford Town Parish in the Diocese of Canterbury.
We support others just as we have been nurtured and supported
Today is Bible Sunday and the richness of scripture and the threads of hope and God’s glory are brought together in Paul’s letter. He quotes Psalm 69 here, telling how Christ followed the Psalmist in taking the insults directed to others on to himself. The Christian life is one lived in relationship with God and with others. There is a vital, corporate dimension to faith, in which we support others just as we have been nurtured and supported ourselves by people who have been patient with us when we have been weak and selfish. It is reminiscent of David’s prayer “For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.” How we treat others then flows out of how Christ has treated us, with freely given compassion and patience.
Pamela Ive is Parish Deacon in Capel, Tudeley & Five Oak Green, and Diocesan Director of Ordinands in the Diocese of Rochester.
How do we respond to God’s generosity?
‘And all who saw it began to grumble’, there is a challenge in our Gospel reading today for all of us who have eyes to see God’s generosity at work in the lives of others. The tightly-worded description of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus sets before us a fascinating example of an individual meeting with God’s grace and responding positively. Zacchaeus, hiding up the tree, has the hand of divine friendship held out to him as Jesus’ human hand beckons him down; ‘I must stay at your house today’. His response is true repentance, that is, he accepts the gift and then turns his life around. Zacchaeus mirrors Jesus’ generosity to him, by vowing to live as generously to others in future. But what of the crowds, and what of us? When we observe the good things that God is doing for people around us, what is our response?
Alison Fulford is Vicar of Audlem, Wybunbury and Doddington, and also Rural Dean of Nantwich in the Diocese of Chester.
November 2022
Our hearts will be strengthened by Jesus himself
Every gift, every act of service, has a cost. From noticing the need, through aligning our hearts with the responsibility to make a difference, to signing over portions of our own resources (time, money, skills) for the purpose of blessing others – it’s costly work. Even when it’s Spirit-prompted, if it’s done in our own strength, giving can easily morph from generous to grudging.
The end of this chapter reminds us of God’s enabling love and grace, his eternal encouragement and good hope. These will power us up for the life-task set before us of good deeds and words. What a wonderful encouragement – that our hearts will be strengthened by Jesus himself for this life of generous service.
The deeds of Kingdom mercy that we enact in God’s strength are a foretaste of the rhythm of heaven, the first fruits of a greater glory. It’s going to be good. So good.
Clare Masters is Lay Minister at Bidborough, St Lawrence and Southborough, St Peter in the Diocese of Rochester.
Be generous with gifts, skills and energy
What does generosity have to do with work? Perhaps it depends if we think generosity should be somehow effortless.
In 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul might sometimes sound ungenerous: ‘Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.’ Yet he also writes about working day and night so that ‘so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate.’
Paul’s ‘example’ was – at least – twofold. First, it was an example of being generous with gifts, skills and energy, in doing whatever work God has called us to. That is an essential dimension of living generously. Second, it was an example of not always claiming our ‘right’, our entitlement. Generosity may sometimes not be about what we do, but about what we hold back from doing, to give space for other people and other things.
Jeremy Worthen is Team Rector of Ashford Town Parish in the Diocese of Canterbury.
How do we use our power?
Whenever I read this passage an image which comes to mind of the deep blue window in the Church of Reconciliation in Taizé where the Ascended Christ cradles the world tenderly in his lap. The cross is also in that window, a reminder that Christ first gave up his power in order for the world to be reconciled to its creator. How we use our power, in all its guises, builds up or destroys. We can audit the power we have been given and consider how we use it. As we face an increasing threat of climate change and the effects which that has, particularly on the world’s most vulnerable, we can carry this image, the tender cradling of life by a risen and ascended Jesus, calling us to follow Him, the Servant King, as we reflect on the power we hold in making decisions about how we live.
Pamela Ive is Parish Deacon in Capel, Tudeley & Five Oak Green, and Diocesan Director of Ordinands in the Diocese of Rochester.
The coming Kingdom is of justice, mercy and peace.
Have you ever woken up from an ‘exam-dream’? The sort of dream where you experience anxiety because you are going to face a test and you just aren’t ready? Our New Testament readings for Advent Sunday can seem to induce an exam-dream mentality within us. They impress upon us the urgency of being ready for the return of Jesus, and the coming of the Kingdom. The writers, however, are communicating this urgency not because they want us to be caught out, but to enable us to prepare as well as we can. So, let us do the necessary revision, and remember what we have already learnt: the coming Kingdom is one of justice, mercy and peace. In short, the good things of God, shared generously with all. In following Jesus, and being transformed into his likeness, we seek to practice these things in the here and now. It is this that makes us ready for his glorious return.
Alison Fulford is Vicar of Audlem, Wybunbury and Doddington, and also Rural Dean of Nantwich in the Diocese of Chester.
December 2022
Prosperity and justice are inextricably linked.
The images of flourishing and abundance, fruitful hills and drenched fields, fill our hearts with a longing for security and plenty, indeed a longing for heaven itself. As in many Psalms, the identity of the kingly subject seems to shift. Is this a prayer for an earthly king, or a celebration of a perfect Messiah King? Either way, this Psalm reminds us that prosperity and justice are inextricably linked.
Achieving justice for the afflicted, defending the vulnerable from oppression, rescuing children from poverty… these are the criteria which define true kingship. If our hearts are seeking after God’s ways, these kingdom imperatives will stir up a desire for justice which is as urgent as our obligation to give generously to those in material need.
Prosperity can only truly abound when every citizen is able to share the blessings. Is God calling you to an extraordinary generosity of justice-seeking action?
Clare Masters was Lay Minister at Bidborough, St Lawrence and Southborough, St Peter in the Diocese of Rochester.
Are we ready to rejoice in signs of God’s generous love?
‘Blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me’ (Matthew 11.6). Why would anyone take offence at Jesus and the miracles of divine deliverance unfolding around him?
Jesus’ response to John’s question connects what he is doing with the great promises of Israel’s prophets about the abundant life to be released by God’s salvation, in passages like our Old Testament reading. Perhaps some were offended that a preacher from Galilee should imagine that he could be the focus for the fulfilment of these promises. Perhaps some were offended he could claim any fulfilment when the fullness of that prophetic vision still seemed a world away, with continuing Roman occupation and so much injustice around them.
Living generously as a follower of Jesus means being ready to rejoice in signs of God’s generous love in our midst, even if at the same time we are also painfully aware of the obstacles that prevent its full expression.
Jeremy Worthen is Team Rector of Ashford Town Parish in the Diocese of Canterbury.
We are called to receive the Christ Child with joy and trust
“God loves a cheerful giver!” Give cheerfully not with bad grace, but there’s a flip side to that coin. God also loves us to be a joyful receiver. Ahaz, being promised peace by God, is offered the opportunity to receive a sign to assure him to put his trust in God not armies. But he grumpily and with false piety turns down that generous offer. Instead, Ahaz was to put his trust in the King of Assyria to save his kingdom. It turned out to be a bad choice. God gave his sign anyway.
To us the promise of a child, Immanuel, God with us, speaks of Jesus, who God gave to save the world with his overwhelming generosity and at great cost. Ahaz’s story is a reminder that we are called to receive the Christ Child with joy and trust, the one whose love then compels us to give in a similar fashion.
Pamela Ive is Parish Deacon in Capel, Tudeley & Five Oak Green, and Diocesan Director of Ordinands in the Diocese of Rochester.