It was tense at my grandmother’s funeral luncheon. She had left a significant estate, and no one knew how it was to be distributed. Some thought my sister Barb, a lawyer, had written grandmother’s will and left everything to our family. It didn’t help that grandmother had left a note to my mother that was to be read at the funeral luncheon.
My mother read the letter. In it my grandmother said, “I have been blessed all my life, never truly in want. I know that all my children and grandchildren have been well provided for. I have decided that my estate will be given to organizations that help families and children who have not been as fortunate and blessed as we have been.”
My grandmother’s generosity towards others shouldn’t have surprised anyone. Even while raising six children in the heart of the depression, word went out among travelers and migrants, that she was a kind woman who would offer food and a place to sleep. She trusted there would always be enough.
I never asked grandmother what made her so generous. I just know that her gift of generosity was given to me as well. And for me, my generosity is grounded in God’s generosity.
As the writer of Ephesians notes, God is rich in mercy, great love, and grace. This is all seen in Jesus Christ. His life, ministry, death, and resurrection show us the immeasurable riches of God’s grace, given freely to us. As Christians our lives are rooted in God’s saving action through Jesus Christ. Knowing that our salvation comes out of the abundance of God’s grace and mercy, and not the scarcity of my efforts and works, frees me to bear witness to the Gospel to a world in need of healing, to be generous and to share God’s abundant love and mercy.
The writer of Ephesians reminds us that God has created us in Christ Jesus for good works, and that these good works are to be our way of life. For me generosity is not just a good work, but a spiritual practice. Knowing God as a gracious, abundant giver, I try to imitate Christ in my own giving and gratitude. Recognizing Christ’s call to love God and neighbor, I know that love is more than a feeling. I can show my love through my giving, even to those I may never meet in person. Generosity also helps me to trusting God, rather than money or security. And it moves me to gratitude for all that God has given us.
During our Lenten journey we move toward the greatest example of God’s abundant love and the immeasurable riches of God’s grace, the cross. It is that concrete gift of God’s abundant and gracious love that calls us to generosity as well.
