The Big Idea of Generosity
The Widow's Mite: The Economics of Generosity
February 4, 2024 • Rev. James M. Holland • Luke 20:24—21:4
Jayber Crow is a novel by Wendell Berry that I have been thinking about recently, as I ponder generosity and building a new addition which will include a playground, pavilion and kitchen at St. Patrick. It is a story of a boy orphaned at age 10. After his parents die, Jayber is sent to an orphanage. He grows up rootless and placeless. When he leaves to make his way in the world, he tries preaching but drops out of seminary because he doesn’t really believe all the religious nonsense they are teaching him. Thirteen years later, he winds up back to his hometown which, though he was born there, holds no memory to him. By default, Jayber Crow becomes the town barber and part-time grave-digger for the town. He comes as a stranger but winds up finding himself, as he is generously taken into the community of Port Williams, a small rural town in Kentucky. In later years, he speaks of what that felt like: “There are moments when the heart is generous, and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here, one with one another and with the place and all the living things.” (Wendell Berry, https://stpatrickpres.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ba3413bb6fa020132a4bc21a5&id=3a9436cc62&e=b77c6e6023) That really is what generosity is all about—welcoming people into a space where we find belonging. As you will read in Strands tomorrow and in a brochure you’ll receive on Sunday, our dream is to build that space at St. Patrick, with a large beautiful pavilion for feasting, a landscaped playground for our children, and a fully functioning kitchen. A place where strangers find welcome, the least of these have a place to play, and hungry bodies are fed. That is why we are talking about generosity. It will take an investment from all of us, so this week we are talking about the widow’s mite—it really is about the economics of generosity. I can’t wait to explore it with you this Sunday.
The Big Idea of Generosity
January 28, 2024 • Rev. James M. Holland • 2 Corinthians 8:1–12
That we will be talking about generosity for the next three weeks after a couple of weeks of extreme neediness is not lost on me. As I have turned my attention to our subject, I feel like one who has been bathed and marinated in generosity. My family is blessed beyond measure, and our hearts are full of gratitude for the overwhelming outpouring of love during the time of my father’s convalescence and death. Cards, notes, texts, phone calls, food, flowers—so many people I have yet to thank keep popping into my head. Words are too cheap to express how thankful all of Daddy’s family are to the folk at St. Patrick for doing a lot of heavy lifting during this time and for giving us space to be present and remember. A priceless gift. One of the marks of discipleship—that is, a disciple that loves God, loves people and loves life—is and must be a life of generosity. We exist in a playground of good things because at the center of the Holy Trinity is generosity—a God who lavishes his people with good things and then, when it was defiled and broken by sin, gave himself to save it. God is the most generous, and if there is one theme playing in the Bible from the first promise to Abraham, to the cross, and until Jesus comes back, it is this: the kingdom Jesus is building is founded on deep generosity. Alas, we do not come out of the womb generous; rather, generosity is a work of God’s grace in our lives, as we live more and more into the reality of God’s grace to us. We are going to be talking about it for a few weeks because history suggests that this virtue is hard won and joy is on the other side of death. But we best get with it, and in our generosity bring the music and dance of another world into time and space. I want more of that! A reminder, Sunday School starts back this week. There is something for everyone! Check the website for the different ways you can get your family involved.