Luke 19:1–10; 2 Corinthians 8:3–4; 1 John 3:16–18

Bible Studies for Life
Assistant Professor of Religion, Department of Religion, Samford University

Why Be Generous?
Luke 19:1–10; 2 Corinthians 8:3–4; 1 John 3:16–18
This is the last lesson I will write from Israel. As I sit on the front terrace of the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem, I cannot help but think of the generosity that our group has received from Jews, Christians and Muslims alike in this country. Indeed we get it so constantly that we have come to expect it, which means that the freshness of the surprise has worn a bit. It’s nice to see the delight register with new students and volunteers. We accept every generous act from anyone as a gift from God. In this week’s passages, we see a common thread: We should be generous so that we become more like God.

Grace Compels Generosity (Luke 19:1–10)
Two things stand out in the story of Zacchaeus. The first is that it is Jesus’ enthusiastic followers who block Him from Zacchaeus’ view. This can serve as a powerful metaphor for how our actions (say a lack of generosity) can make it more difficult for nonbelievers to “see” Jesus. If Jesus’ followers lack generosity, then how will other people come to understand God’s generous grace?

I encountered this idea one morning at the 6:30 Latin Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. I, two other professors and some students worshiped with a group made up largely of Catholics, but with a few Baptists like me thrown in. The celebrant pronounced Christ’s peace upon us and we responded in kind, we confessed our sins together, we were offered and received the Lord’s Supper and we were dismissed with a blessing. We then had to vacate the premises for the Greek Orthodox Mass. The space in front of the sepulcher that had just welcomed us was now blocked off by metal barriers, and none of us was allowed to partake in the Greek service. Our group felt decidedly unwelcome by this turn of events, so we left for other open parts of the church.

The second part of Zacchaeus’ story that stands out is his response to Jesus. Zacchaeus seems to say, “You wish to eat with me?” (Yes willingness to break bread together is a universal sign of acceptance and generosity.) He immediately responded with a generous act of his own. He not only felt gratitude toward Jesus (an intensely personal reaction) but, like a good Jew, also acted out that gratitude by giving generously (half of what he owned) to the poor and offering four times what he owed to anyone he had cheated. Contrary to the stereotype of the toll collector, Zacchaeus responded to Jesus’ generosity by becoming generous himself.

Love Requires Generosity (1 John 3:16–18)
Even the biblical authors who are the most famous for emphasizing faith (Paul, John and the author of 1 John, to name three) never abandoned the centrality of actions, probably because Jesus talked about both (see Matthew 21:21–22; 25:31–46). The author of 1 John talked about practicing righteousness (2:29), and here he did some clarifying: We love when we lay down our lives through generous acts of giving to brothers and sisters in need. How do we know that this is love? Because Jesus showed what love is by laying down His life (by both ministering and dying).

Ministry Is Fueled by Generosity (2 Cor. 8:3–4)
Notice in verse 1 how Paul called the Macedonian churches’ acts of generosity “grace” that God had given to them. When they supported the “ministry of the saints,” the churches were enacting God’s own generosity.

Have you seen the tornado relief happening in our state? Who is doing the bulk of it? Neither the National Guard nor government agencies but people from Alabama and all over our country who simply responded to God’s prompting to give graciously.

This is how it has always worked. The ministers and directors of missions have never been able to do all the work themselves, nor can they support it monetarily. They have always required believers to enact God’s grace and say, “We will give,” “We will come” and “We will pray.”