Give to the most high, as he has given to you

Sermon preached at St Mary the Virgin, Lapworth at 11am Coral Mattins on Sunday 24th October 2010. A shorter version of this sermon was preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist and at Evensong at 3pm St Michael’s, Baddesley Clinton.
Last Sunday after Trinity (Also Bible Sunday) – Year C

Readings: Ecclesiasticus 35: 12-17, Luke 18: 9-14

(outline notes only)

I now put Sunday scripture readings in the Parish Magazine.
- people can read them before or after worship
- this helps the scriptures to sink into our hearts

But maybe people had trouble finding Ecclesiasticus
– deuterocanonical / apocrypha book
- There are 7 such deutrocanonical books (plus bits of Daniel and Ester)
- they are in Greek Septuagint version of Old Testament (used by early church)
- they are not in Hebrew Bible (put together by 1st century Jews)

What books are included in the bible is called the “Canon”. Canon means ruler for measurement, a standard, an authority. The Canon is the list of books which the church regards as authoritative, which are treated as Holy Scripture.

Disputes about the Canon mainly settled at Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, which took the Greek Septuagint to be the Old Testament. At Reformation, Luther and reformers took the Hebrew Bible to be the Old Testament. Seven books left in an ambiguous state. Protestant Bibles sometimes include them in “The Apocrypha”.

It is interesting to reflect on bible history on Bible Sunday. Note that we often think of the church gaining its authority from the bible, which sets its standards and norms. But it is also true that the bible gets its authority from the church, which wrote the NT and defined the Canon.

The key text today from Ecclesiasticus 35:

Give to the most high as he has given to you.
Be generous
For the Lord repays – sevenfold.

Giving, generosity – Paula Gooder (lay canon biblical scholar at Birmingham Cathedral described the ethic of giving/generosity as the central ethic of the NT.
Not thinking just of financial giving, or even gifts like those we exchange at Christmas
Rather thinking of living for the good of other – loving the other person as I love myself.
More routinely than money or gifts, the things that we are called to give might be:
a smile
encouragement
give the time necessary to deal properly with people
give real attention when listening
give forgiveness
give help making use of our knowledge, skills or experience
give by being patient with someone who is exasperating
Generosity with time and money and gifts, is also part of this. Note that everything that is given, is given always for the good of the other.
(Sometimes the good of the other demands us to give something that they may not like – give a child a good telling off, give food to a drunkard rather than money or drink. Our attitude is still one of giving – still working for the good of the other – not judging or criticising or dominating.)

Now if we are to give generously we have to have the ability to give.
You can’t give what you don’t have.
We must have first received from God, and from others before we have anything to give.
Ideal situation – we are always receiving and always giving – cycles of mutual giving.

How can we build up that those healthy cycles of receiving and giving. How can work towards a position where we freely give all the time.
- practice generosity, it’s a virtue, a skill that grows with practice
- develop our awareness and our trust in God’s giving to us
- use prayer and mediation to build our awareness of God’s love for us
- use thanksgiving to be more aware of God’s love for us
- meet with other Christians in worship, in groups and socially to receive
- hold our shortcomings and our needs before God in prayer
- don’t hide them away, or pretend not there.
- if possible discuss them with other Christians
- remember the promises of God, e.g.
- give and there will be gifts for you – a full measure shaken down and overflowing (Luke 6: 38)
- Peter said – what about us who have left everything to follow you. (Mark 10: 28ff) Jesus said – what you have given up for me and for the gospel, you will receive 100 times as much in the present age and in the future age – eternal life.

Example of the gifts of God – I remember cycling round Lapworth years ago thinking it would be a lovely place to live. I had forgotten that – but lo and behold – I now live here!