Reaping richly

Good News ReflectionWednesday of the 11th Week in Ordinary TimeJune 17, 2009
Today's Readings:2 Cor 3:4-11Ps 99:5-9Matt 5:17-19http://www.usccb.org/nab/061709.shtmlAudio:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_06_17.mp3
Reaping richly
In today's first reading, we're given a very important spiritual principle: What you sow is what you reap. Those who repeatedly sin against us, sowing pain (the key word being "repeatedly"), need to reap pain if they're ever going to realize that they should stop. I know this sounds harsh, but if we truly love them, we do not enable their sins. We do not make it easy for them to continue in their sins.
Likewise, by sowing our lives with good seeds, we'll reap God's abundance so that we have an abundance to share with others. Even in today's bad economy! ESPECIALLY in today's bad economy. We cannot out-do God in generosity. So, why are we so afraid to be generous? Why wouldn't God give us more so that we can help others more?
Ralph and I lived through many years of barely affording life's minimal expenses. When we heard teachings in church about sacrificial giving and tithing (which scripturally means donating 10% of our income), we were sure that we could not afford to give more than a dollar or two a week. That was 30 years ago, and despite the dollar being worth so much less now, this is still what many people donate.
Then someone told us: "If you really want to know whom or what you love and serve, look at your checkbook."
There's a big difference between serving our finances and making our finances serve the Lord. Ralph and I decided to ignore our fears about being generous and to trust God more. Soon after, this was put to the test. As we prepared to move to another state for Ralph's new job, we wanted to sell one of our cars. It was worth $200 (a huge amount at that time), but we gave it to a man who needed a car so he could find a get a job. And then our house sold for $2000 more than expected!
Tithing is more reliable than the stock market, but it isn't an investment plan that we contribute to for the sake of getting back more than we put in. Tithing is God's investment in us. He wants us to realize that he's in charge of our finances. He wants us to know that he's the provider, the source of everything we need. Our time, our talents, and our ability to earn money are all gifts that God has given us so that we may have all that we need AND a surplus for good works, to share the wealth.
We're all rich in various ways, gifted by God. Whether you have money or not, you have much to give, much to sow.
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus tells us that serving God is done for love of God, not personal gain. Generosity is to be done with humility, not for our own glory, and not with expectations of reward. God is not into get-rich-quick schemes. God's into love! And perfect love is abundantly generous.
When we sow generously in order to reap abundantly, we're being self-centered. But when we sow generously because we love others, we reap from God's generosity. Love is the answer to overcoming the fear of being generous. Love is what frees us to be cheerful givers.
For more on this, please see http://wordbytes.org/finances/tithing.htm.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
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