In 1874 Francis Ridley Havergal wrote the hymn “Take My Life and Let It Be” and sent it to a friend and essentially forgot about — until she saw it in a magazine four years later. She read it again for the first time in four years and was caught by the stanza, “take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold.”
She felt convicted because she had just received as an inheritance a substantial collection of fine jewelry. That day she packed all but six sentimental mementos and sent them to a mission organization, along with a check to cover the value of the mementos she kept. “I never packed a box with such joy,” she later commented. The jewels were hers to do with as she pleased, and she pleased to give them to God for His glory.
That story does not mandate that every believer needs to give away every gift he receives. But it does illustrate some Biblical principles that Havergal employed in her own life. Three of those are suggested in a verse from today’s reading.
“And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.” (Acts 11:29; NASB)
When you give, give according to your ability. That is, give an amount that is proportional to your income. Stated most simply, the principle is that the more one makes, not only should the amount increase, but so should the percentage. When God gives us more “disposable” income He does not intend for it to be disposed on our own pleasures, but on His pleasures and for His glory. C. S. Lewis had it right when he said,
I do not know how much you ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditures on comforts, luxuries, and amusements are up to the standards common among others with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little.
When you give, give according to the need. These believers in Antioch were responding to a prophecy of the coming of a severe famine, which they evidently understood would be particularly severe in Jerusalem (which it indeed was in 48-49 A.D.). Their immediate response was to send resources to meet the coming need of that church. In fact, these believers were merely practicing what had been inaugurated by the apostles at the beginning of the church (Acts 2:45; 4:35). When there is a need that we know, and God has provided us the means to meet it, it is our joy to give to it, which suggests the third principle.
When you give, give joyfully. In his reflection on this gift, Paul wrote that it was a pleasure for them to give to the church in Jerusalem (Rom. 15:27). I have laughed and then cried several times over a “Dear Abby” letter I read a few years ago: “Is it considered proper to make change from the offering plate when it’s passed at church? A member of our family says it’s not ok. I say it’s better than not putting anything in.” That question comes from a begrudging attitude towards giving: “I feel guilty, so I better give something, but I don’t want to give too much.”
How did these believers cultivate pleasure in giving? Again, from Romans (15:27): “Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.” Their pleasure in giving arose from their realization that they had received from God through these other believers spiritual benefit that far outweighed their material gift — and in fact that there were spiritually indebted to the Jerusalem believers
Joy and generosity in giving is a result of knowing that what we have received an eternal gift that far outweighs anything that we might give back to God on earth. That is what prompted the generosity of the believers in Antioch in the first century and Francis Havergal in the nineteenth century. And it also is what will prompt our own generosity as we approach the 21st century.
Words of Grace 