Momentum (Christ – centred, Spirit – empowered, Mission – focused)
A few days before Christmas, I was walking through the local shopping mall with my grandson, Jordan. In the center of the mall were two very common scenes during the Christmas season. One was the Santa display, complete with flashing lights, music, reindeer, elves, and of course, a very jolly Santa. Right next to this elaborate display was an older gentleman standing beside a familiar, round kettle receiving donations for the Salvation Army. As we walked between the two sights, my grandson looked at me and said, “Grandpa, I want to do that.”
My first thought was that he wanted to sit on Santa’s knee and present his list of wants for Christmas, but he floored me when he pointed to the Salvation Army kettle. We walk over and he pulled out his little wallet where he stores everything most precious to him. He pulled out a dime and eagerly deposited it into the hanging kettle.
I smiled and praised him, “Way to go, Jordan!”
As I motioned to leave, he said, “No Grandpa, I want to give all of it!”
For the next five minutes, we stood in front of the kettle as he meticulously dug into every corner of his wallet and extracted another coin. As we walked away, I was deeply humbled by his expression of radical generosity. His little face beamed with joy as he experienced the release of God’s pleasure in his soul.
In the book of Acts, we see a powerful expression of radical generosity that was a result of a Spirit-saturated church, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need” (Acts 2:44-45).
When the Holy Spirit possessed these believers, their possessions became available for Kingdom purposes. Radical generosity is joyfully giving all of one’s time, talent, and treasures for the sake of God’s Kingdom without expecting any (earthly) return on investment. Could it be that this kind of radical sacrifice opens us up to receive even greater spiritual blessings from God?
Luke 16:11 says, “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”
We are accustomed to the biblical message that we should trust God. But in this verse, we are being challenged to contemplate if God can trust us. If we are not faithful with money, or “worldly wealth,” how will God entrust us with the true, spiritual riches? If we can’t handle worldly possessions wisely, why would God put far more precious things into our hands?
Today, we pray for revival, but are we living lives of radical generosity in the same manner that our forbearers did? Put another way, is true revival stifled by our comfort and affluence?
Every day, I am faced with choices that force me to ask, “How will I invest my time, talents, and money?” It is like walking through the shopping mall and being caught between Santa and the Salvation Army. I find myself deeply challenged by the little boy who said, “No Grandpa, I want to give all of it!”
Please find the original version in C&MA website