The joy of giving

I learn so much every time I go to church. And I go often. I follow Jesus and he went every week. I learn something of value each time.

For example, one of the highest aspects of following Jesus is a life of joy.

Now this is not the same as happiness. Happiness depends on things going good for you. Joy can be there even when you are in pain, being rejected, and amidst other kinds of suffering. I talk with people in church every week who have troubles of various sorts but who have an underlying joy.

And remember that religion is mostly about how to escape suffering of various kinds. In fact, one could say that almost all human efforts are directed at keeping suffering at bay. Even boredom is a type of suffering. People chasing good times, playboy escapades, getting money or power or fame comes down to avoiding suffering in its various forms.

Secular people, too, try to have a nice life as long as they can until the grave opens up to swallow them. Religious people try to keep bad karma at bay or to escape the hurly-burly of life through meditation and other techniques. Or they hope to be good enough to earn a good place in the afterlife or maybe buy off the gods.

But Jesus said to the religious people of his time that they had to make God their sole priority, since God does not settle for a mere part of our hearts. Either we love him totally and forsake all else or we are really worshiping gods of our own imagining. This is tough stuff. Most of his followers gave up on him. Why? Because he asks for much more than religious people are willing to give. For example, he tells the guy with money and a good reputation to give it all to the poor and follow him. Of course, the guy doesn’t do it. He just cannot be that committed.

We really cannot grasp how radical Jesus teaching is unless we read the Gospels and the other writings of those who heard him say and do what he said and did. But, amazingly, most who call themselves Christians have not studied the words of this man—the most important single human who ever lived. In fact, most have not even read his teaching even once with an adult mind.

Here’s an example of what taking Jesus seriously means.

Today at our church we honored another group of lay people as they launch an effort to help the orphans in Africa. Now these are all lay people who conceived, organized, and are now executing this. They call their group Kulea—an African term for “take care of the children.” They formed a non-profit in New Hampshire last December so they can raise money to build orphanages in Tanzania and Kenya.

The HIV-AIDs epidemic has left millions of orphans there. The governments are corrupt and do nothing for them. (Read the latest National Geographic for the plight of women who spend almost all their time fetching water in the drought areas of Kenya and Ethiopia with no help from their government.)

Another example. Last week eight men—mostly electricians— from Common Ground went off to Honduras to build an airstrip for a tribe of 25,000 who have no medical care whatsoever. The goal is to fly in doctors to an abandoned Sandinista era clinic, since there are no roads to these villages. (Common Ground is a fellowship of Christian men from the Merrimack Valley who get together to make a difference where they can.)

Consider these facts.

* One-third of our fellow humans (two billion people) spend all their time trying to get food and water for the day. Among these people 33,000 children die each day from easily preventable diseases due to bad water and sanitation.

* Another two billion are surviving, but on the edge, living on $2 a day on average. A study by researchers showed that women in these areas wanted only two things: their babies to survive and for their kids to have an education—two things we don’t even think about for our kids. They know that if their children can read and write they have a chance to use their power to change things. That’s why the Taliban, by the way, destroyed hundreds of schools for girls. It is hard to dominate people who can get information. (Even China is having a tough time controlling their people now that the Internet is there.)

* The 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have a combined GDP comparable to the city of Chicago. Or put it this way—the combined economies of these 48 nations are less than the assets of the three richest people in the world. (Think Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and some guy from India.)

Now the answer to this, in my view, is not merely political—or even mostly political, even though a key element is corrupt politicians in these nations. Nor is it the United Nations. The main remedy is folks like you and me—as the people starting Kulea—doing what we can directly.

I am a philosophy professor on a pension—not a lot of assets. But I, like you, am among the 1% of the richest people on the planet. One of my greatest joys is going overseas as a volunteer to help educate people in Africa and India and to raise money for other projects like Kulea.

As a follower of Jesus my heart is filled with joy at helping out. Every week I hear about something that makes me reach a little deeper into my wallet. And it is a blast!

But none of this is going to earn me points with God. Reading the writings of St. Paul and St. John I realize that God’s love for me is a total gift given free. My efforts to make a difference are the result of God’s grace, not the cause. Just like my blessing my grandkids is not given to them because they try to please me so they can earn my love. My blessing is given just because I love them. And that love causes their love to flow back to me. Love like that is unconditional. And it creates love in return because it changes the relationship to one of joy, not one of “I better give a nod to Grandpa or he will cut me out of his will.” It's true. It is more fun to give than to receive.

This is why the ideas of Jesus were—and are—so revolutionary. God gave everything to us first. We simply accept it. That changes us so profoundly it is like being born all over again as a different person—a person like Jesus.