Reflections: Why Should we Give?

Why should we donate things to the church? I’ve been thinking about that as we finish up our annual donations to the School Tools Drive.  Why should it matter that we purchase school supplies for kids in the St. Paul Area?

There are those times when I wonder if any of this makes a difference.  Does it matter if we collect pet food to give to a food shelf? Is all of this donating just a band-aid to real problems? 

On some level, our donations, be it money or items can amount to a band-aid to issues like hunger or homelessness, or poverty.  The items help people in that instance, but it doesn’t really relieve the problem.  So, why should we do something that doesn’t address the root causes?

At the end of Acts 4, we get a brief snippet of what the early church was like. They shared their possessions with the wider church and some even sold land to give to the church.  The short passage ends with a man named Joseph who sold his land and gave the money to the church.  That man, Joseph was given another name, Barnabas who would later become a missionary with Paul.  Barnabas started by giving the proceeds from the sale of land to support the church and to give his whole life to Christ by becoming a missionary.

Oh, and that new name of Barnabas means “son of encouragement.” Barnabas became a follower who encouraged people in word and deed.

Why do we donate?  We give of our money and items because at some level it is God who gives it to us.  We give in an expression of gratitude, knowing that everything comes from God and we give back to God in this expression of thanks.

But giving also makes a difference in the lives of those who receive our gifts of gratitude.  The singer Ray Bolz had a huge hit on his hands in the late 80s with his song “Thank You” where a man visits heaven and meets the people who were affected by his giving to God in the form of offerings.  I will admit that the song was rather corny and Bolz has probably disavowed the song after he came out of the closet a few years ago. However, that song still remains somewhat true: our donations given in the Spirit of God can make a huge difference in people we may never meet.

Is it going to change the world?  Probably not. And none of this means we don’t focus on the bigger systemic issues that can cause homelessness or poverty.  We should be asking our local, state, and federal governments to do more in addressing and solving these important issues. 

So, when you go to the store this weekend to find school supplies, I hope you will remember that our giving is an expression of thanks to God, the one who has saved us, the one who made a difference in our lives.  Let us in thanks make a difference in the lives of others.