Don’t Just Give, Be Generous!

                          “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these

brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Mt. 25:40

“If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple of mine, I assure you, he will not go unrewarded.” Mt. 10:42

This is what I believe.

“You can give without being generous, but you cannot be generous without giving.”

Now you ask. Is there any difference between generosity and giving?

My answer; yes there is! Actually there’s a handful of them but for now let me give you one.

Giving is something you do for yourself and others.

While generosity is something you do for God.

I’m not sure if you will believe me because I can’t believe it either in the first instance.  Honestly, it takes me two weeks to be able to put this inspiration into paper and until now I’m still surprise that many of my 'givings' are not really forms of generosity. So if ever you find yourself in the same situation, don’t be so sad. Giving is already a 'good' act. However, what I would like to share here is that we can put this into a higher level. I mean translating this 'good' act into something 'better', or from something better into something 'best', or from something best into something 'excellent', or from something excellent into something 'infinite'.

Three Occasions of Giving

Now, what makes 'giving' generous? How can we transform our 'giving' into something better or into something 'infinite?'  Let us start by reading the three occasions of giving described by Jesus in Mt. 10:41-42. For our discussion, we will refer to these occasions as statements 1, 2 and 3. Here they are.

Statement 1: “Whoever welcomes a prophet because He’s a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet.

Statement 2: Whoever welcomes a just man because he’s a just man will receive the reward of a just man.

Statement 3: “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple of mine, I assure you, he will not go unrewarded.”

All these statements are acts of giving, but only one shows real generosity. If you noticed, statement no. 1 speaks of welcoming a prophet; a very generous act.  Welcoming a prophet before, during and after the time of Jesus is a very noble act (by the way, etymologically speaking, generosity means ‘of noble birth’) for it means being accommodating to the needs of a prophet particularly his meals and resting place. (cf. Gen.18:1-5, 2 Kings 4:10 Lk. 10: 38-40). Although this act may look like generosity, it’s not. Why? Because of the intention. What’s the intention of the doer? Yes, he welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet.  It is like welcoming a doctor, because he’s a doctor, or welcoming a priest because he’s a priest. Again, welcoming someone because of his stature is not bad but we can make this better.

Statement no.2 is almost the same; the only difference is that the recipient of the act (a just man) is a bit lower in stature compared to the first (a prophet).  Here the giver welcomes the just man because he is a just man. Again, this is a good act however, like the first; we can raise it into something better. Something truly generous.

When You Give, Choose the Least

Obviously, we have only one statement left; statement no 3. And obviously, this statement speaks of true generosity. Why? Let us discover three things- the recipient, intention and the reward of the giver.

The Recipient. Compared to the first two, the last recipient (Jesus’ disciples) is the least. This is obvious because Jesus regarded them as such and for He knows they will not be treated like prophets or even a just man of their community (in fact many of them were considered treat to the community and so they died martyrs).

Here lies the first criterion of generosity. It should be a loving service directed to the very ‘least’ of the community. Literally, this speaks of the poorest of the poor, sick, elderly, differently able, abandoned, abused, prisoners, children and marginalized. But they’re not all. The ‘least’ also speaks of individuals who want to be free from corruption and sin, meaning those treated by our community as “sinners”. This includes corrupt public and private officials, those in the middle class or even billionaires who are controlled by their selfish ambitions. Remember, Jesus invites us also to be generous to them (cf. Lk. 5:32, Mk. 2:17).

As a whole, the ‘least’ (who should be the subject most of our giving) is composed of anyone who needs physical, emotional or spiritual care.

When You Give, Choose Your Intention

The Intention. If you noticed, looking only at the ‘recipient’, everyone can be a subject of generosity (although it prioritizes those considered ‘least’ by the community). Now to make it more clear, we need to look into the intention of the ‘giver.’

The first two givers gave because of the “status” of the recipients (the prophet, and the just man). Again, there is nothing wrong here, particularly if it’s pure and not self motivated. However, in the last example of Jesus, He acclaimed, “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple of mine, I assure you, he will not go unrewarded.”

What I would like you to see here is that for our ‘giving’ to be generous; the act should be done in the ‘name of the Jesus’ or because of Jesus and not just because of the capability of the giver or of the condition of the recipient.

For this is what I discovered, true generosity points and leads to Christ. When our giving points and leads only to us or even only to the recipient, there’s something lacking. Again, all generosity, to become real, should be motivated because of our love of God and the love of God for us.

There are many wonderful things that can and will happen to us when God is the reason for our giving, though for now, I will not deal with them for this will be the subject of our sharing next time. Now, what would be the reward when we become truly generous?

When You Give, Choose Your Reward

The Reward. I’m sure you already heard this many times “When you give, don’t expect something in return.” This is true, for a generous act is always a selfless or better say self-full act. However, this “something in return” should not be equated with the “reward”.  Because Jesus himself assures us that when we give generously, we will be rewarded. (Although, this should not be our main concern, because it’s our Father’s concern)

Now, the only question is what kind of “reward” we are after. In the first two occasions of giving, the one who welcomed the prophet received the reward of a prophet. And the one who welcomes a just man, received a reward of a just man. Now look at the third giver, what did he received? Yes, the answer is not obvious, but let me show it to you.

Before Jesus spoke of these three occasions of giving, He said:

"Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Mt. 10:40

Now, if you remember, the third giver welcomed the least, and in welcoming the least, according to Jesus, he also welcomed Him. (Remember also that he gave water because of Jesus) Consequently, Jesus continues that anyone who welcomed Him will also welcome the one who sent Him, His Father.  And so the answer and the great news is this – the third giver’s (though he only gave a cup of water, not like that of the one who accommodate a prophet or a just man) reward is the Father Himself.  What a great reward!

Indeed, God Himself is our “infinite” reward when we give generously. This is far more important than those fading and momentarily rewards that we usually gain when we just give for material gains. And so this is the reason why I told you at the beginning that when we give generously (meaning when we prioritize the least and when we give because of Jesus) we transform giving from something ‘good’ into something ‘infinite’.

So now let me ask you. How is your giving? Is it directed toward the least?

Why do you usually give? Is it because you have the capacity to give or is it a must? Or is it primarily because you want to give to Jesus? You want to love God?

Why was Mother Teresa Considered the Living Saint?

There’s so much to learn in giving until we become truly generous. But don’t be afraid, the great thing is that Jesus is always with us helping us to become more generous. And so let us always learn from Him through his words and pray that we learn to give to everyone we meet, not just because they are individuals who longs to be received but because we see Jesus in them. That when we look and help the oppressed and the poor, we look and help them because of Jesus and not for anything else. I assure you, like Jesus assured us; we will never go unrewarded.

Now, I would like to end by sharing an excerpt of one of the last interviews with Mother Teresa by Edward W. Desmond for Time magazine.  In one point of the conversation, this is what the world discovered-

Time: What is God's greatest gift to you?

Mother Teresa: The poor people.

Time: How are they a gift?

Mother Teresa: I have an opportunity to be with Jesus 24 hours a day.

Let us now be generous like Mother Theresa. Let us all see and give to people around us as if we see and give to Jesus. For the more we see Jesus in them, the more we can welcome Him.  And the more we welcome Jesus, the more we welcome His Father.  The more we welcome His Father, the more we will receive the Father.

Now, don’t just give; give to the least, give because of Jesus. 
Be generous!