Aristotle, on being censured by his fellows for giving alms to a renegade character, replied, "I did not give it to the man, I gave it to humanity." This is basically the true interpretation of all gifts, a genuine dedication of service to humanity in the name of Him who gave everything for us.
It is said that there are seven types of givers: The auto givers, who give spontaneously and generously—but only to themselves; the occasional givers, who on rare impulses thoughtlessly give without any high motive; the penitential givers, who give as a species of atonement for their evil as a sop to their conscience and self-esteem; the theatrical givers, who give as a matter of display to win public applause for their generosity; the conventional givers, who give grudgingly because others give or because they are expected to give, or because they would be ashamed not to give; the moral givers, who give from a sense of duty; and the Christlike givers, who give in the spirit of Jesus, because they love to give as far as they are able to do so, to help both God and man.
How wonderful it is to fellowship and share with those who have caught the spirit of Christlike giving in His worthy and dynamic cause. To really give in the Christ spirit is to really live.
Forever the sun is pouring its gold
On a hundred worlds that beg and borrow;
His warmth he squandered on summits cold,
His wealth on the homes of want and sorrow;
(To withhold his largeness of precious light
Is to bury himself in eternal night).
To give Is to live.
—Selected
"Freely ye have received, freely give."—Jesus.
There are two sides to life's ledger: the receiving side and the giving side. Everything good and worthwhile that we enjoy in this life was given to us freely by God, through Christ, who freely gave His wealth, His talents, His time, His life, His all for us. No gifts of man can repay God for what He has given and continues to give to us: but "as the plan of redemption begins and ends with a gift, so it is to be carried forward" (Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 730).
"For giving is living," the angel said,
"Go speed to the hungry sweet charity's bread."
"And must I keep giving again and again?"
My selfish and querulous answer rang;
"Oh no!" said the angel, piercing me through,
"Just give till the Master stops giving to you."
The world missions program of the Adventist Church is calling for more and more of our means as we approach the coming of our Lord and the great year of jubilee. There is a necessity of giving for our own sakes as well as for the sake of God's cause, for "constant, self-denying benevolence is God's remedy for the cankering sins of selfishness and covetousness" (ibid., vol. 3, p. 548). "God planned the system of beneficence in order that man might become, like his Creator, benevolent and unselfish in character" (ibid., vol. 4, p. 473).
But never before has the necessity of giving for the salvation of a lost and dying world, in need of Christ and eternal life, been so great as it is now.
"God in His wise plans has made the advancement of His cause dependent upon the personal efforts of His people and upon their freewill offerings. By accepting the co-operation of man in the great plan of redemption, He has placed a signal honor upon him" (ibid., p. 464). His cause—the only winning cause in the world, the only eternally safe investment—with increasing urgency calls for our efforts and our freewill offerings. The God of the universe has so signally honored us as to give us the privilege of putting our investments side by side with those of Christ for the salvation of man.
When Andrew Fuller went into his native town to collect funds for the cause of missions, one of his old acquaintances greeted him with: "Well, Andrew, I'll give five pounds, seeing it is for you."
"No," replied Andrew, as he handed back the money, "I can't take anything for this cause, seeing it's for me." Immediately his friend responded: "Andrew, you are right; here are ten pounds, seeing it is for the Lord Jesus Christ."
The true Christian gives as though he were putting the money into the pierced hand of the Master. He will give all he can, seeing it is for the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His all for him in the atonement.
The Sacrificial Spirit
The New Testament believers were sacrifice-conscious. Before the first century closed, Clement of Rome wrote of Christian sacrifice far beyond any we have been called upon to make in our day. "Many," writes Clement, "have delivered themselves to slavery, and provided food for others with the price they have received for themselves."
Sacrifice will play a very real part in the lives of God's people, so much so that the psalmist of old pictured Jesus coming especially for "those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice" (Ps. 50:5). Heaven's eternal rewards are for those who have shared with Jesus in the tremendous cost of the salvation of man.
This is the Adventist hour of history, and time's rapid passing presses home the growing challenge of God's world mission program. It calls upon God's people to be willing in the day of His power, and to attempt greater things for God than ever before.
God will repay every prayer, every effort, and every gift that shares with Jesus the plan of saving lost man, and our happiness will be enhanced in proportion to our individual sharing in the unselfish self-sacrificing ministry of Christ.
Eternal Dividends
Baron James de Rothschild once posed as a beggar in the studio of Ary Scheffer, the artist. As the great financier sat attired in rags, another friend of the artist entered, and believing the baron to be a veritable beggar, quietly went to him and slipped a coin in his hand. The baron, being accustomed to receiving money, took the coin and put it into his pocket. Ten years later the man who had put his small coin in the hands of the great financier was more than surprised to receive a money order on the baron's office for 10,000 francs, and with it the following letter:
SIR—You one day gave a louis to the Baron Rothschild in the studio of Ary Scheffer. He has employed it and today sends you the little capital with which you entrusted him, together with the interest. A good action always brings good fortune.
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD.
The unusual way in which this small gift swelled into a large sum is a very feeble comparison to the great eternal dividends God pays to all His people who place their gifts in the hands of Christ. On all funds deposited in His cause for the salvation of those for whom He died, and for whom He lives, which are given with a liberal heart for the spiritual and temporal needs of the human race, the Master inscribes, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." On these gifts Heaven's bank will pay tremendous dividends all through eternity.
How vain the endeavor to measure with mathematical rules, time, money, and love against a love and sacrifice that is measureless and incomputable! Tithes for Christ! Oh, meager pittance, shameful recompense for that which cost so much!—Ibid., pp. 119, 120.
There is nothing too precious for us to give to Jesus. If we return to Him the talents of means which He has entrusted to our keeping, He will give more into our hands. Every effort we make for Christ will be rewarded by Him, and every duty we perform in His name will minister to our own happiness.—Ibid, p. 19.
Dean Swift, in a charity sermon in St. Patrick's in Dublin, read as his text: "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again" (Prov. 19:17), and then added: "Now, my beloved brethren, you hear the terms of this loan; if you like the security, down with your gold." The quaintness of the appeal brought an unusual offering. In these unusual times, more than ever before, the needs of God's world program call for the liberal response of God's people. Infinitely great are the spiritual needs of the human race. Eternal interests are at stake. Our own souls are at stake. Let us respond now, and let us—
Always Remember That the Bank of Heaven Pays the Highest Dividends! and It Pays Them Throughout Al! Eternity!
J. A. B.
