|
|
Journeyman
A Journal for the Inquiring Christian
Vol. 1, No. 3, March 2002
Of Mites and Minae
| Overview: Has our western emphasis on salvation caused us to miss a clear lesson on the value of almsgiving? |
“He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.” — Proverbs 19:17
One of the great scandals of American, prime time religion is the theology of money. No explanation seems adequate for the intersection of money and piety. Because of the frauds from Tetzel to Tilton, the Church will always provoke a suspicious gaze from secular culture, which can't understand how the moral teachings of Jesus translate into giving to a local parish. But if the broader culture has a severe disconnect between Christ and tithing, many Christians have a similar disconnect between money and blessing. The unfortunate influx of health-wealth “gospel” broadcasting forces some Christian bodies to marginalize, or outright reject, any association between blessing and giving. While no church will discourage giving (especially to that parish), the extremely disproportionate amount of giving in the average church body is indicative, I believe, of a poorly taught and understood theology of giving. And ironically this overwhelmingly ignored category of Christian asceticism is not at all ignored in Scripture.
Giving as the Supreme Divine Act
To understand this connection between giving and blessing, we should unpack some of the theological significance of giving. Scripture paints a picture of God as the great giver of all things. Indeed our Catholic Creed speaks of the Holy Spirit as the “Lord and Giver of life.” The New Testament tells us repeatedly how Christ “gave Himself” for us, even to death on the cross. The beloved John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.” Giving is undoubtedly the incarnation of the theological virtue of charity, and this is perhaps why Paul can say, “God loves a cheerful giver.”
The gratuitous nature of this giving is expressed as easily in the Old Testament as it is in the New. From the very beginning we see God giving mankind all of creation to be subject to his use and pleasure, to rule and reign over the earthly paradise — even after the fall (Gen. 9:2). The animals of the earth are spoken of as receiving nourishment and satisfaction from God's opened hand (Psalm 104:24-28), the universal sign of radical generosity.
With the rich and abundant language in Sacred Scripture about God giving freely we can rightly speculate that the supreme Divine act is that of giving. The goodness of God, the thing that makes us realize His goodness, is His generous and abundant donation to fulfill the needs of His dependent creatures. Furthermore, God's lovingkindness is amplified by virtue of His extending such gifts to a fallen humanity in the light of His holiness. It is no small thing, therefore, to find in Scripture that what is most like God is what imitates God in giving. Some of the gravest reproofs found in Scripture are related to how we as Christians fail to conform to the image of Christ in this very specific arena of giving. As St. John writes, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? “ (I John 3:17)
The Idea of Atonement
The concept of atonement is inherent in Christian (and ancient Judaist) theology. A boiled down definition of atonement is the offering up of something to avert the effects of Divine justice, and make peace with God. In the Torah we see ceremonial and moral infractions were dealt with (by Divine prescription) through various animal sacrifices.
It comes as somewhat a surprise (or offense) to some, when discussing charitable giving, that God also regards such giving as a kind of atonement. The theology of giving in relationship to atonement can be a difficult thing to juggle if we are not careful to qualify and set limits on it. In other words, as it is with all of theology, there are heretical and orthodox expressions of the same idea.
One of the first instances we find in Scripture of atonement by money is in Exodus 30:11-16, which reads:
Then the Lord said to Moses, "When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, [2] according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord . The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives. Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord , making atonement for your lives."
Though this category of giving is under the auspices of obligatory donation, it shows the flexibility God has in the idea of atonement. The shedding of blood does not seem to be the sine qua non of all atonement in Old Testament theology.
For example, when the Israelites sin by making a golden calf for themselves, Moses responds by saying he'll go up to the Lord and “perhaps make atonement” for their sin (Exodus 32:30) — presumably to plead on their behalf as he customarily did. We also find Moses commanding Aaron to avert a divinely sent plague (because of Korah's rebellion), hence “making atonement for the people,” by burning incense using the fire from the altar (Numbers 16:45-47). The idea of making peace with God on terms other than animal sacrifice, again, is particularly interesting because of the implications it has for New Testament atonement theology, which we will touch upon momentarily.
Atonement Through Giving
What do we do, in the mean time, with passages like Ecclesiasticus 3:30, which tell us almsgiving makes atonement for sin? Can God's goodness be bought through giving to the poor? Do we “make” God merciful to us by shelling out so much money to the less fortunate? The apparent difficulties subside once we broaden our view of atonement beyond what is commonly accepted in much of Protestant theology. The substance of atonement can be viewed as offering what is pleasing to God over against what displeases Him. We can make some sense of this idea if we allow ourselves to view atonement outside the juridical box it is often contained in. There is a greater theme underlying the concept that bears some explanation — if not a bit of pious speculation on my part.
Giving to those who are without and are in need best expresses what is most like God, and therefore what best characterizes His Kingdom on earth. The society of the Kingdom of Heaven is one in which mercy is synonymous with forgiveness, and mercy freely given is mercy freely received. There is a joyous reciprocation inherent in this godly act of merciful giving. But why is this so? Doesn't the concept encroach upon the freedom of God's gift of mercy if He is merely responding to human kindness? Not necessarily. From God's point of view, ingratitude for His mercy is tantamount to unbelief, because such ingratitude does not accept the goal of the freedom of God's mercy, namely, to be like God. Ingratitude plays off the benefits of such mercy, yet continues in unrighteousness — which incurs a greater judgment. When Jesus says in Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy,” there is no thought here implying that God is waiting to do something good for us only when we do something selfless for others. Rather, the implication is that God is so good to us, that to withhold mercy from any is in effect to show a rather unthankful disposition for the kindness God has already shown. Conversely, granting mercy to those in greatest need becomes the offering up (the atonement) to God that pleases Him. In a very real way, when Christians give their goods and mercy to those in need, they are in effect accepting God's pleasure in granting mercy for their own sin. This is perhaps best illustrated in Luke's Gospel(6:30-38), recounting Christ's words:
Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."
Though the term atonement is not explicitly mentioned here, the idea is the same. Christ is associating divine mercy, and its various expressions (viz., absence of judgment, no condemnation, forgiveness of sin) to Christian charity. Most Christians would readily accept Jesus' cause-and-effect teaching without a hitch. Perhaps now it will be easier to explain some of the more perplexing Old Testament passages.
We find in the book of Tobit numerous references to God's blessing upon almsgiving. Here are some of them:
Give alms from your possessions to all who live uprightly, and do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you make it. Do not turn your face away from any poor man, and the face of God will not be turned away from you. (4:7)
Prayer is good when accompanied by fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with wrongdoing. It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold. For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin. Those who perform deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fulness of life (12:8, 9)
So now, my children, consider what almsgiving accomplishes and how righteousness delivers.” (14:11a)
A simplified comparison between these verses and the Lucan account reveal that God stores up blessing for almsgiving. Clearly Christ Himself spoke of storing up heavenly treasure for ourselves, which moth and rust cannot destroy; and likewise we see in these passages that God stores up remembrance of these charitable, righteous acts against the day of calamity and judgment. Such an idea is not only contained in the so-called Apocryphal books, but the Psalmist himself urges God to consider his righteousness, “Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High” (Psalm 7:8; also cf., Ps. 25:21; 41:12; 78:72). Now naturally our Christian instincts tell us, as well as Scripture, that we are saved because of His mercy and not because of our righteousness, which leads us to ask, Does not this notion of atonement by almsgiving contradict the fact that we're saved by grace alone, apart from something we can boast in, namely, our own works? Because the term salvation is such a broad concept, made up of many facets, we must be careful to distinguish Christian atonement through almsgiving from Christ's Atonement, through sacrificing His life for the life of the world.
Almsgiving and Salvation
One way to think about this is in terms of the Kingdom of God in miniature, versus the Kingdom of God in its eschatological sense. The Cross of Christ foundationally crushes death and undoes the curse of the Law. The ungodly were “without strength” (Rom. 5:6), so Christ came and suffered for them. No mere man can duplicate the peace made through Christ's own passion. But if man is, through Baptism, inducted into the life of Christ, His heavenly Kingdom (the Church), then there is a real participation in the work of Jesus. Not only do we receive, as His covenantal people, all the graces from God upon our initial justification; but also now working out our salvation means we make good use of the riches He lavishes upon us in Christ. The reality is that we are militant members of Christ's church, sojourning here by grace, but nevertheless in a fight with the world, the flesh, and the devil, so that we do not lose so great a salvation. And the way we fight is through works of faith. Almsgiving is a mercy that shows how merciful God is to us, inculcating thanksgiving. It builds in us the virtues of faith, hope, and love. Faith, because by it we are reminded of Christ Himself as our Heavenly bread when we were beggars; hope, because by it we are reminded of our reward to come, who is Christ; and love, because by it we see Jesus before the eschaton at work in us through such acts.
The forgiveness we obtain daily through confession and penitential acts is freely given through faith; and the same faith that gives freely to others in need, perpetuates this Kingdom ethic, and God Himself enters the contest to outdo us in charity. Yet oddly enough, we are invited into this Heavenly contest, though without a doubt we will “lose” to God, who will not be (to coin a phony term) out-mercied.
Proverbs 19:17 puts it this way: “He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay his good deed.” God assumes the role of the debtor in works of mercy towards those who are without because Jesus makes it emphatically clear that His identity with this world is in the weak and despised things (“I was hungry, and you gave Me food.” Cf., Matthew 25:31-44). So in giving to the poor, one is really giving to God, who is borrowing “our” resources, and He willingly gives back a reward for fidelity to this Kingdom ethic, which is love in action.
Pitfalls to Avoid
Naturally there is much more that could be said. There are many more verses that address this topic, not to mention the many Church Fathers who speak of the blessings of almsgiving, but it would be more helpful to close on a note of caution. Almsgiving is principally a function of faith. It does not substitute for repentance and faith in Christ — it is a means of protecting oneself from the wiles of the devil, growing in virtue, and gaining a greater vision of Christ. It should go without saying that almsgiving is not the fix-all solution to trials and tribulations. Sometimes we will not see the heavenly treasure and reward in this life. The Old Testament saints had an incomplete picture of the life to come (and we still have quite a blurred picture), so they naturally expected God's reward of almsgiving with blessing in their immediate lifetime. We shouldn't shun such expectations, but we should also be willing to accept that God will make us wait for some of these blessings. Neither should be skeptical about the immediacy of God's favor returned to us for works of faith in giving. It's trusting God that He will openly reward us for our secret acts of charity, and whenever He deems best to do so. Almsgiving, if viewed as a form of perpetual repentance and gratitude, does secure us atonement in the appropriate sense. We can expect God to show us up in mercy, in His good wisdom.
In the mean time, we should see almsgiving as a supreme gift to the Church. It's our opportunity to give away the mercy of Christ to a suffering world who doesn't know Christ is in their midst, beckoning us to come and feed Him, clothe Him, and visit Him in His affliction.
|
|