ALMSGIVING
‘Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.’
Sermons on almsgiving aim at setting forth the rationale of giving to God; and they are not so frequent as they ought to be, considering the prominence given to the subject in Holy Scripture; because (a) they are unpopular. People who never forget themselves are apt to do so when asked for money. (b) There is a dread lest by preaching upon almsgiving the preacher should not appear to be preaching the Gospel; lest he should seem to attribute efficacy to something else besides the blood of Jesus.
I. Let us appeal to Holy Scripture.—Our Lord taught this duty indirectly by parables, e.g. Dives and Lazarus; the steward; directly, ‘Give alms of such things as ye have’ (Luke 11:41). ‘Sell that ye have and give alms’ (Luke 11:33). In the Sermon on the Mount He alludes to it as an acknowledged duty. St. Paul says, ‘Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered him’ (1 Corinthians 16:2). ‘He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. God loveth a cheerful giver’ (2 Corinthians 9:6-7; Ephesians 4:28). ‘Charge them that are rich in this world that they do good, that they be rich in good works, read to distribute’ (1 Timothy 6:17-18; Hebrews 6:10; Hebrews 13:16). Also, in solemn pictures of the Last Judgment, the virtue of showing mercy, sympathy, unselfishness, that is, in its broadest sense, almsgiving, is extolled by our Lord, and contrasted with its opposite, the vice of selfishness. From these passages we gather three things:—
(a) Our Lord does not command us to give alms, He assumes it as a duty: to assume is stronger than to command, for to command presupposes an indisposition to do what is commanded. ‘ When ye do your alms’; ‘ When ye pray’; ‘ When ye fast’; He assumes these duties and puts forward the pure motive for doing them.
(b) Almsgiving and prayer are mentioned side by side. ‘When ye do your alms’ and ‘When ye pray’; ‘Thy prayers and thine alms’: not the one without the other, but the one as the correlative of the other, the alms as one wing of the prayers.
(c) A certain spiritual force is attributed to almsgiving.—‘Break off thine iniquities by showing mercy’ (Daniel 4:27); ‘Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven’ (Matthew 6:20); ‘Give alms of such things as ye have, and behold all things are clean unto you’ (Luke 11:41); ‘Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens which faileth not,’ (Luke 12:33); ‘God loveth a cheerful giver’ (2 Corinthians 9:7); ‘With such sacrifices God is well pleased’ (Hebrews 13:16); ‘Charge them that are rich, laying up for themselves a good foundation’ (1 Timothy 6:19); ‘The prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God’ (Acts 10:4). Thus almsgiving is spoken of as pleasing to God, and had in remembrance by Him, ‘Inasmuch as ye have done it, or inasmuch as ye have not done it, ye have done it or not done it unto Me,’ (Matthew 25:40; Matthew 25:45).
II. How shall I give?—Moved by strong appeals or by personal interest, we give; but why, as a rule, is it necessary to resort to bazaars, entertainments, charity dinners and sermons to raise money for Christian objects? Because too many require to be amused, attracted, aroused, provided with something in return for their money, before they will give.
(a) We must give on principle and not on impulse. We must give systematically.
(b) What rule then shall we adopt in our almsgiving? We ought to give a fixed proportion of our income every year. This proportion will vary according to a man’s means; to his own Master each of us must stand or fall.
(c) How shall I distribute my alms?—First of all, poor relations; then sick and poor in your own parish; then the parochial funds, the Church fund; then the missions of the Church at home and abroad. Then the support of those institutions of the land which care for those who are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other infirmity.
There are two ways by which we can best carry out the duty of almsgiving: through the offertory, in secret, so that our left hand knows not what our right is doing; and by subscriptions, that we may exert the power of example, and stimulate those who are not giving as they should, and induce them to do so when they see our good works.
III. Practise self-examination on this point.—Compare the alacrity with which we buy a new book, a season ticket at the opera, go for a trip abroad, with the halting spirit in which we give to God. There are special needs for almsgiving at the present day. Luxury all round is on the increase. Culture and refinement are to be encouraged, but luxury uncontrolled produces selfishness; its best restraining influence is systematic almsgiving.
—Prebendary J. Storrs.