True generosity

The eyes of all wait upon thee; 

and thou givest them their meat in due season.

Thou openest thine hand, 

and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

--Psalm 145:15-16 (King James version)

(It's all Nathan's fault. That's right. I am blaming my church choir director for this post. Take it up with him.)

Last week during choir rehearsal, we were working on a piece for worship in a couple weeks. It's a beautiful piece, and you can hear it here. 

And darn it all, it made me think. It started rolling around in my brain when Nathan pointed out that he had learned that this is the one place in Scripture where David writes about Yahweh's grand gesture of provision, giving his people meat. Solid sustenance. 

Well, sort of. 

First of all, only the King James version actually calls it "meat." Everywhere else, it's just "food." The king must have really had a thing for meat, so the translators obliged him. 

Nevertheless, whatever one calls it, the imagery here is of an amazingly generous God who provides for his children in ways they cannot imagine. And as I sat with these verses, my mind wandered back to another place in Scripture that offers similar imagery, Exodus 16. 

The Israelites have departed Egypt with Moses in the lead. They are at once nervous and excited, eager to be out from under Pharaoh's cruel command. And as they travel, they are led by the Lord and lift their eyes to watch for him, seeking him in a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13). They seek his light, his guiding presence-- and it's kind of hard to miss those. 

But as the journey grows longer and more tedious, as the reality of the wilderness sets in, they cry out to God for provision. 

And God provides. Manna and quail. Mystery and meat. 

And how do they respond? They whine and complain. 

"Meat? We are so tired of meat. In Egypt we had veggies! Veggies and slavery would be better than wilderness with nothing but meat and manna!" 

Good grief. They sound-- just like me. 

How often have I whined and complained because God's most generous provision isn't what I want? How often have I chosen to step aside from the goodness God offers, and return, instead, to those enticing, alluring things that enslave me? (Be honest. I am not alone here, am I? I didn't think so.)

We have this habit of thinking we have The Very Best Plans, and we sure would like it if God would just sanction our ideas. We can get so caught up in believing we need more that we fail to see how much we already have, how generously the Almighty has provided for us-- in ways we didn't even have to ask for!

* * * * *

For many churches, November marks the time of year when we undertake a stewardship campaign and talk about the mundane, business side of running a church. Sometimes, in thinking and talking about the financial side of church, we forget that stewardship is about so much more than money. Because we have so much more to offer in service to the Kingdom than what's in our wallets.

I believe the whole point is this: everything I have and everything I am is a generous gift from God. And everything we have and everything we are is given us, so that we, as the Body of Christ, might use who we are to bless others.

What if the Lord is now choosing to use us to provide meat/ food to those who hunger? What if we are called to shine like a pillar of light in the darkness, pointing towards the goodness and mercy of the One True God?

Stranger things have happened.

Most Generous Lord, help us to be generous, to offer with open hand all that we have and all that we are, in loving obedience and service to you. Amen