A Cup of Generosity
Pastor Dana Karen Reardon
I was naked and you gave me clothing, , I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison
and you visited me.’ Matthew 25: 36
My dad was a drunk. Not a mean drunk but maybe a cynical one. Then he got sober. And
God changed him more than I knew.
About ten years after he got sober he called me and told me that one of the “kids” I was
confirmed with had been arrested for dealing heroin. Now mind you I was probably forty at
the time. I was sure he was going to go on to tell me something negative about my
generation that I didn’t want to hear. I almost hung up, but I didn’t.
He paused for a moment and then said, “I went to jail to visit him. I went to tell him how
badly I had messed up my life and that God had been there for me. I went to tell him that
Jesus loves him.” He put some money in the man’s canteen account. This was who God had
redeemed my father to be. When he died so many people told us how he had touched their
lives by his time and his wisdom.
Everything good we do comes from God. We are generous because God has been generous
to us. When people tell me that stewardship is not just about money I often figure they are
trying to get out of giving what they know they should. Nevertheless they speak the
truth. We tend to break it down to time, talent and treasure but to me it is an all
encompassing attitude of generosity, a way of looking at the world and seeing where we can
give of ourselves.
When dad got sober he started going to church and reading the bible daily. He was often an
usher and took up the offering and said thank you to each person. The children in that church
called him, “The man who says thank you.” I like to think of
him that way because he was truly thankful for what God had
done for him.
Let us pray.
Lord, we give you thanks for all the ways that you are here for
us in all the times of our lives. Surround us with your love so
that our cups overflow and your love flows upon all those
around us. Amen
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