It Is More Blessed To Give Than To Receive

If a four-year-old understands the blessing that comes with giving why don't we?

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Paul uttered these words in today’s lesson from the Acts of the Apostles. He said them before he left the people of Ephesus. Of course, these are not Paul’s words, they are Jesus’. And, I bet we have all heard them before.

Sometimes we say Jesus’ words slightly differently though, as we pronounce, “It’s better to give than to receive.” This saying pops up when we talk to children about Christmas or a sibling’s birthday. While it’s only one slight difference, changing this part of the sentence matters critically. Jesus said it’s more blessed to give, and we say it’s better to give. We could simply say Jesus was right because he was Jesus, but there is more to the difference than that.

Being better is not a bad thing. We seek to become better all the time in our lives; however, a competition-driven worldview that seeks only betterment misses the mark. This was not what Jesus said. Instead he spoke of the grander blessing, which comes from giving.

Blessings do not always make us feel good. And, in truth when we give, it’s not about us having a positive emotion. Instead, it’s about participating in the Divine life. It’s about God having more of a stake in our lives. God gives us everything we have, so if we are to be like God we too must give. This is the blessing of which Jesus spoke. But, what does this look like?

There are many, many examples in our world. Despite what we see on the evening news about the greed of politicians, corporations, and even many churches, the blessing of giving continues all around us. Here are a couple of examples from the last couple weeks.

In South Carolina a teenager’s act of kindness was caught on video and it went viral. Sofi Cruz Turner surprised her classmate Jahiem by buying him new shoes. Jahiem had hinted that he needed a pair of sneakers, so Sofi used money from her job to give a gift to her friend and classmate. If you think it is profound that a high schooler understands Jesus’ words clearly, just wait.

A four-year-old boy in Birmingham, AL named Austin Perine thinks it’s his superpower to feed the homeless. Austin, or President Austin when he is in his super alter ego, decided that he does not want any toys or gifts or allowance for himself. Instead, after hearing that there are homeless people in the world, he has asked his parents to designate those funds to buying food—food that he will hand out to people who often go without. When he passes out the sandwiches he always has the same line, “Don’t forget to show love.” Wow!

What’s striking about these examples are the responses from all involved. It’s more blessed to give than to receive. When we say this, we attest that a blessing comes from giving, but there is more. What I see in these gifting moments is that those who give freely are transformed by giving—and so are those who receive freely. Why is that?

When we give, we are actively being like God. God gives us all that we have.  When we give what we have away, we are acting like God and I believe we are transformed more and more into the likeness of God. Now we don’t have to do this for God to love us, but when we are gracious and generous we are blessed because we are being like God. So what are some ways we might practice this?

There are a multitude of ways to feel the blessing of giving. We can give time to others by volunteering with outreach partners like the Free Clinic, the Neighborhood Christian Center, or the Committee for Church Cooperation. We can give talent by using our skills to serve on non-profit boards, to help with our youth or children, or to serve on a guild that assists with worship. We can give our treasure to the work of God in this world whether it is here at St. John’s or another organization that is building up God’s Kingdom. And, there is a profound campaign that makes me think of the transformational power of both giving and receiving.

The new Poor People’s Campaign has garnered some attention over the last few days. The intention of this movement relates to the blessing of Jesus and the vision of God’s economy. For too long poor people have suffered in this country, unable to get out of a cycle of poverty. For too long those who live in economically depressed areas have not had ample opportunities to make a living wage. For too long people of all different backgrounds have struggled to attain vocational or job-related education. For people of color and women this has been even worse. As they have had to work twice as hard to get half as far. This Poor People’s campaign asks us as people of privilege to receive the blessing of giving as we offer our voice to the voiceless.

If we truly believe it is more blessed to give than to receive, if we trust Jesus, then we must move away from the idea of scarcity and all out competition at every turn. Jesus bids us to see in his words and his example that hoarding things and dollars and opportunities leads to a shriveled up existence. This way does not lead to blessings. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Because when we do we are like Our God who is always generous, gracious, and giving.

We all know it is better to give than to receive, but Jesus tells us the deeper truth: it is more blessed to give than to receive. How will you give of what God has given you? How will you experience the blessing that is being like Our God? How will you help God to create a society and an economy that is based not on scarcity, but on giving?