Many years ago, when my wife and I were both in our last semester of graduate school, I decided to spend a little time on a Saturday afternoon balancing our checkbook.
I had been putting off the job all week. Back then, I kept my financial records on a Commodore 64 computer. I sat down in front of the little green screen and worked my way through the bills that I had paid, entered the amounts of the groceries my wife had bought and so on. Very quickly, I came to a painful discovery.
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Assuming I hadn’t missed any checks, we had 17 cents left in our account; and we had no paychecks coming for a week or more. We had a credit card, so I knew we wouldn’t go hungry … but the feeling of being completely broke was a new and troubling experience. We had saved what seemed like a great deal of money to get us through our training for ministry, but it was all gone.
The next day, another young couple came over after church for a previously scheduled lunch. As we were starting to clear the dishes, the husband said, “We want to talk to you about something.” He proceeded to tell us that God had been good to them, and that they knew that getting through seminary was tough — so, they wanted to give us $500 that day and give us a little bit each month until we graduated.
When they left, my wife and I both had tears in our eyes. We were thankful to our friends — and even more thankful to a God who prompts his people to help one another.
A few months later, we left school to come here to Maryland to launch a new church from scratch. More than 20 years later, we have watched our young church become a community of “extravagant generosity.”
I have seen our members pay bills for others who were struggling. I’ve been grateful to learn that our men put a new roof on the home of a single mom at their own expense. This spring, folks from our church will travel to an undeveloped island in the Bahamas to tear down and then rebuild a home for an elderly stroke victim who is living in utter squalor. They will pay their own way and also assist in providing the funds for the materials.
The headlines this weekend are full of nothing but bad news about our uncertain financial times. Many people are suffering, and nearly everyone is scared.
The Bible provides two steps that anyone can take to alleviate the fear of an uncertain financial future. The first is to become deeply involved in a “household of faith.” Though not the primary reason for doing so, this will connect you with a family that, according to the sixth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians, will “bear one another’s burdens” and will be committed to “do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
In this nation and around the world, the church has always been the safety net for those both inside and outside its walls who have financial needs. The second step that anyone can take, regardless of his or her spiritual convictions, is to practice extravagant generosity. Whether you are a person of faith, agnostic or atheist, you can notice neighbors who are facing hard times and buy them a bag of groceries, or offer to get an oil change for their car, or buy them a gift certificate to your favorite restaurant to give them a break from the burdens of the day.
The Bible teaches that we sow what we reap, so investing by giving to others in need is always a sound financial strategy, especially in times like these.
