Happy Gift Day to God

 

Once upon a time, in one of the poorer areas of town, a woman was getting ready for church.  Money was tight as her partner had left many years ago, leaving her to bring up their children alone.  Knowing that God loved her was what she believed got her through this time.   She remembered this again as she looked for her purse for money for the collection.   So what could she give?  There were just 2  coins to get her through to pension day and she wanted to put money in her regular envelope and have something for Gift Day too.  She was in no doubt – this year at least both coins would be given.

 

In other parts of town different people were also preparing for Gift Day.  There was a bit of rivalry in certain quarters, as some hoped the  Treasurer, Vicar and anyone else they could get to take notice would find out how much they were giving and realise they were Important People... and then, maybe, take more notice of their views about how church should be run. 

 

In the original version of this story in the gospels (that of the widow and her two tiny coins) I often wonder why Jesus let the widow give all she had and why he didn't stop her, or send round the social workers of the day.  But so far as we know  he didn't, because it seems he didn't want this story to be about wisdom in handling money or even about caring for ones family (that comes elsewhere in his teaching), but instead to be about giving out of love and in response to the greatest love of all, the love of God.  Those giving large amounts in comparison were giving for all the wrong reasons.

 

So why am I writing this just now?  Well, having just looked at our regular giving as part of our stewardship campaign we are approaching our Gift Day.  St Paul makes it very clear that we are not to give to make ourselves as poor as those we may give to but instead to give what we can afford whether rich or poor, according to the way God has loved us.  I've come to think of gift day as being a sort of Christmas gift to God.  We give friends and family what they need all year in regular amounts and according to the situation.  But at Christmas we save up and spend an extra sum on them, just out of love.  Working to figures and percentages can be constricting and lead to unnecessary hardship on one hand or turning a blind eye to possibilities for giving on the other.  Instead let us remember just how much we are loved and wish God a very happy Gift Day

 

 

Joy Pope

 

Conflict of Interest:  Joy is a member of St Peter's, Bolton Parish Church and sits on the PCC where finances may be discussed.  However, she was not on the Stewardship Team and is never likely to be on the Finance Committee as her mental arithmetic is dodgy.  She has been given firm assurances that despite what the people in the story  hoped for, the amount in each envelope given is known only by the covenant (envelopes) secretary.  It is never  passed on to treasurer,  vicar or any other person.