The joy of giving

https://odb.org/2025/02/26/the-joy-of-giving-2

Acts 9:36–43 (NIV): 36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” 39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived, he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. 40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Pete, she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

The natural tendency of us humans is self-preservation, and that includes keeping rather than giving. In terms of money, we save up to keep for the future. If we are young, we save up to pay for a large purchase like a home or to prepare for a wedding. If we are older, like at my stage of life near retirement, we save for our old age when we will no longer be earning. It is fortunate that in Malaysia, we have the Employees Provident Fund that forces us by law to save for our old age the moment we start working. We may not have much liability to carry when we reach 60, as hopefully we would have paid off our mortgages and settled our children’s education needs. But on top of the day to day living, there is the question of the delayed gratification of starting to see more of the world or travelling more for missions. Then we may also want to give a headstart to our children by helping them buy their first property or prepare for married life or start a family.

As much as we pay our tithes and offerings and help out people with cash gifts when prompted by the Holy Spirit, the point this morning is that giving is not only about money. Thus, when we retire and don’t earn as much anymore (some of us may have passive income), we could start using our time (no longer bound by office hours) to give by blessing others. Tabitha (or her name in Greek, Dorcas) used her tailoring skills to make clothes for others. So when she died as recorded in Acts 9, those who were previously blessed by her, the widows, were really grieved and asked Peter, who was nearby, to come and see her body. They showed him the robes and clothing made by her. The generosity and generous giving and helpful nature of Tabitha shone through, although the thrust of the passage was Peter’s first raising of someone from the dead. It was Lazarus reenacted! Only this time, it is Peter and not our Lord Jesus Christ!

Giving our money to someone in need as prompted by the Holy Spirit is indeed joyful and is an excellent way to use our earthly resources to store up our treasure in heaven. But the joy of giving is not limited to money only. Spending an hour with someone hearing about his struggles in life could be our way of giving. Or, like Tabitha, we could make things and bless people with the things we make. We could grow plants and give them away, or if we have fruit trees, we could give away the fruits to bless others.

I guess, most of the time, if we could, we want to catch up on our sleep, especially as we grow older. That’s true of me! 😀😀😀…. But I trust God will surely appreciate and be very happy with us if we resist the temptation to sleep and make the effort to go bless someone with something. That is the joy of giving!