Extravagant Generosity

Thought I would use the concept of an abstract to help conceptualize my sermon for Sunday. So here goes:

Extravagant Generosity

Abstract:

Generosity may not be what you think. Generosity is not just digging into your wallet and handing over money to a needy cause. Generosity is about living in such a way that is generous to the planet and thus others. Generosity is about building new community that shares life and sustains life. Generosity is a spiritual condition that is fed by the extravagance of God’s generosity. Generosity is a means of grace, a spiritual discipline. Generosity is the mother of forgiveness, mercy and offering. Generosity is at times spontaneous but mostly it is a sacrifice of the will.

What do Oprah Madonna and Irena Sendlerowa have in common?

I got quite emotional over the last week reading different articles in “The Witness” (local rag). The one article was an obituary of a 98 year old woman by the name of Irena Sendlerowa. There is a very small and seemingly insignificant photo of her but looks are deceiving. This lady was a Polish resistance fighter during the Second World War who organized the rescue of 2500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation. She smuggled these children through sewers, in ambulances, under her skirt and she hid them in monasteries, with foster parents and in orphanages. She was later arrested and tortured by the Gestapo, but never gave details of the resistance movements work, nor revealed the children’s name. She was saved on the day over scheduled execution. I also read an article about Madonna the pop star diva who plans to build a multi-million- dollar girl’s school in Malawi for underprivileged children this year. It is on the same scale of what Oprah Winfrey has done in South Africa. Which boasts a state of the art facilities, laboratories, a yoga studio and beauty salon. The latter took my breath away for a moment as I tried to see the importance of a Yoga Studio and Beauty Salon for underprivileged children, but maybe I am way too Methodist! The question is – Who gave the most? The answer is quite obvious in my eyes – the one who sacrificed the most.

Somebody needs it

John 12:7,8 Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

The table is set for extravagant love. Who would not host the most expensive meal for the one who gave you back your life. Jesus had wept over the death of this man Lazarus, tears more precious than expensive perfume. Tears of life. The costs of things are the discussion at this table. The cost of showing your love through tears, fragrance and abandonment of action. There is no wisdom when appreciating others completely. Surely the poor should get the benefits of a luxurious aroma sold for cash and hard cold coin. Not so with love, its costs are priceless and its timing is divine. This story helps us take the most and give it away to somebody. It is not an exchange for faceless cash in an envelope to be sent to names called poor. Those who we are through guilt made conscious of. Where can I break open the bottle of perfume today. On whose feet will it fall and what will be my excuse not to do it? Who will dissuade me from extravagant love? May our hearts rule.