Blessed are the Givers
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BLESSED ARE THE GIVERS
The Rev. J. Donald Waring
Grace Church in New York
All Saints’ Sunday + November 3, 2024
Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:7-9)
The official name of today on the church calendar is All Saints’ Sunday. But here in Grace Church it is also Pledge Sunday, as you might have guessed by the tastefully arranged brochures in your pews. Also, today is the Sunday before Election Day, a uniquely anxious time for the whole country. Throughout this week, as I’ve been thinking and praying about what to say that might do justice to all these themes, I remembered a story I’ve told you before from one of my visits to Iceland. Iceland, as you know, is an island nation in the north Atlantic. It is full of natural wonders, many of them waterfalls.
One waterfall in particular has a fascinating legend behind its name. The year was approximately 1000 AD, and Iceland was on the brink of civil war. Those who followed the old Norse gods had different laws and customs than those who followed the newer faith taking root in the land: Christianity. The Law Speakers of the two factions – Hallur the Christian and Thorgeir the pagan – were both wise old men who knew that the people needed to unite, if for no other reason than to fend off Viking raids. To make a long story short, Hallur the Christian voluntarily resigned his position and placed the decision in the hands of Thorgeir the pagan. The question was this: should the land be Christian or continue in the ways of the Norse gods?
Surprisingly, after a period of meditation and consulting the signs, Thorgeir decided for Christianity. Everyone should turn to Jesus Christ, and those not already baptized should submit to the rite at their earliest opportunity. Thorgeir also practiced the art of compromise, allowing certain pagan customs to continue, so long as their adherents did so privately. But Thorgeir himself, who was a pagan priest, would become a Christian through and through. He went down into the water of baptism, and arose as a follower of Jesus. Then, Thorgeir took all the symbols of his pagan practice, including statues of the Norse gods, and threw them over the thunderous falls. In time the falls came to be known as Godafoss, which being interpreted means, “Waterfall of the gods.”
I don’t know if Hallur or Thorgeir ever made it onto the Icelandic calendar of saints, but if not, they should both be there. They were saints. Each one in his own way laid down his life for the good of others. Who are the saints? In today’s reading from the mysterious Book of Ecclesiasticus (44:1ff), otherwise known as Sirach, the writer encourages us to sing the praises of famous people who ruled in their kingdoms. They gave counsel because they were intelligent. They spoke in prophetic oracles. They were wise in their words of instruction. They were rich people endowed with resources. They composed musical tunes and put verses in writing. If you’re not overly fond of Sirach’s list of saints, take heart. Ecclesiasticus didn’t make the cut into the Old Testament. It’s in the intertestamental books called the Apocrypha.
Besides, we’ve heard in the Gospel of Matthew (5:1-12) how Jesus sang the praises of another sort: the meek, the righteous, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. Let’s not forget the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the persecuted, and the reviled who can rejoice and be glad because their reward in heaven is great. Blessed are they. Yes, but it all seems to play into the popular conception we have of saints: that they are inaccessible figures with spiritual powers and abilities far beyond the reach of mere mortals.
Well, even though we feebly struggle, the purpose of today is to remind us that sainthood is not out of our reach. The saints of God are just folk like you and me, proclaims the hymn. You can meet them anywhere. The New Testament identifies any Christian who is striving after Jesus to be a saint. The list of names that we publish for All Saints’ is generated by all of us – the people of Grace Church. It includes the names of those who gave of themselves for us. They were not perfect people, but they laid down their lives – some a little bit at a time, others all at once – and the light of Christ shone through them. For this reason we light candles in their honor today, trusting that life in Christ is eternal, and love is immortal. Life in Christ begins with baptism, as it did long ago for Thorgeir, and today for Georgina and Mila. What is more, when the rest of us chime in with the Baptismal Covenant, what we are saying is that we mean to continue our journey to sainthood. We mean to be saints too, even resembling Jesus.
Last Thursday night when the nearby Halloween parade was in full swing, I thought I would take a little walk for a glimpse of what was happening. I did not see anyone resembling Jesus, as in wearing a Jesus costume. But you’ll never guess who I did see. I saw Herman Munster from the classic 1960s TV series. That’s right, not Frankenstein, but a big guy in a Herman Munster costume. The sight of Herman Munster got me to thinking about, well, Herman Munster, and one of my favorite scenes in all of TV history. The Munsters decide that their niece, Marilyn, needs a car. So Herman goes to a used car lot called Fair Deal Dan, and meets Dan. Dan deftly guides Herman to an old convertible, but lets him know it isn’t available. Cary Grant wants it. To make a long story short, Herman shrewdly argues himself into the car, gives up all his money, and drives off the lot with a clunker.[1]
Why, on All Saints’ Sunday, am I telling you about Fair Deal Dan, the used-car salesman? Perhaps because my assignment today is to sell you on some ideas that the world might judge to be clunkers. You might go so far as to call me Fair Deal Don. The first clunker of an idea might be sainthood itself. Lay down your life? Blessed are the reviled, the persecuted, and those who mourn? It doesn’t sound like much fun. Indeed, Billy Joel sings, “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, because sinners are much more fun. You know that only the good die young.” Life is short, and a nagging notion troubles us: that striving after sainthood may result only in missing the party before it’s lights out. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great? It sounds a bit suspicious to me.
The second idea that may come straight from Fair Deal Dan’s used-car lot is the life of giving and sharing. Yes, I am trying to sell you on generosity. The fear on this front is that we live in a closed system, where one person’s gain must come at another person’s loss. If I give something away, it simply means that someone else now has it, and I do not. Yet every Sunday, before passing around the offering plates, we remember the words of Jesus, how he said “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” Are the words true, or is Fair Deal Don just trying to unload a clunker on you?
Obviously, we are making the slight pivot here from celebrating the saints to launching the 2025 Annual Campaign for Grace Church. Have I got a deal for you: make a pledge, be a saint! To make the pitch I could spend time talking about what your pledges pay for: the ministries of Grace Church. I love talking about the ministries of Grace Church because, in all modesty, I think we are responding to the call of Christ. We are living, teaching, celebrating, and sharing the Christian faith. It happens when a small group gathers to discuss a difficult Biblical passage and awakens to the Spirit of Jesus in their midst. It happens when a chorister learns the words and the notes of a great sacred anthem, and through it steps into a thin place in the veil between heaven and earth. It happens when a person on the margins comes to the Red Door Place and enjoys a hot meal prepared by Grace Church parishioners. It happens anytime anyone comes through the Broadway door and finds peace. Our annual giving supports all this and more.
Lest you think that the annual campaign is all about blessing the budget of Grace Church, let me be clear: it is about much, much more than the budget. I believe that the pledge campaign first blesses you and me, the givers. It comes as an annual opportunity to learn the counter-intuitive joy of giving. The first parish I served after seminary is called Christ Church Cranbrook, in Bloomfield Hills, MI. The building is a great, gothic structure that was built entirely from the gift of one man, George Booth. Booth was a wealthy Detroit industrialist whose personal motto was:
The only way to have is to give.
The only way to keep is to share.
And the only thing worth finding is opportunity.
Booth’s credo has always struck me as a beautiful summary of the paradox at the heart of Christian living. It is more blessed to give than to receive. I’ve discovered it to be true myself: the more I give, the more I seem to have, and the less anxious I am. Conversely, the more I strive after earthly treasures and cling to possessions, the less I seem to have, the more I seem to need, and the more anxious I become. The words of Jesus are counter-intuitive, and they are paradoxical, and they are true. The pledge campaign is an opportunity to find out for ourselves: to have life more abundantly precisely by giving some of it away and sharing it. It is the opportunity to be a saint.
Let me tell you about a time when I learned a counter-intuitive lesson about giving and receiving. Years ago my two sons, James and Luke, and I would enjoy going to the East River Fields for batting practice. One day I noticed that a lone figure was sitting in the bleachers watching us play. Based on the man’s disheveled appearance and shopping cart full of possessions, my guess was that he was a homeless person. At one point he called to me. He reached into the shopping cart, pulled out a baseball, and threw it to me. It was clear that he wanted me to have it. A few moments later he called to me again, and this time he held up what appeared to be a brand new ball. He threw it out to me. It was indeed a nearly new, Rawlings Official Major League baseball. I thanked him warmly, but he waved me off and continued watching us play.
When we had finished and were packing up I asked the man if he intended for us to keep the baseballs. He waved me off again. I must say that I felt the weight of the wallet in my pocket. I thought that this fellow could probably use a meal. I asked if I could give him some money for the baseballs. Believe me when I say that the look on his face was not that of joy and gladness. Rather, his expression showed hurt and disappointment, even resignation. For a final time he waved me off without ever saying a word, and we parted company.
Why was he upset? I have thought long and hard about my encounter with the man, and what I’ve realized is that I trampled on his attempt to be a person of worth who had something to give. He had something of value to bring to the game and freely share. He had found an opportunity. He wanted to be a giver, not a receiver. But by offering to pay for his gift, I locked him into the role of perpetual receiver. I conveyed that I saw him as just a beggar after all. In so doing I completely disrespected him. The man taught me a valuable lesson that day. People yearn to be givers. To be a giver is to resemble Jesus. It is more blessed to give than it is to receive.
The world needs more saints these days. The world needs more people like Hallur and Thorgeir, who gave up power and possessions for the good of the people in their land. The world needs more people like the man at the East River Fields, who found an opportunity to give, and wanted to bless others with what he had. The world needs more people like you and me to risk believing and to dare living that the only way to have is to give. The only way to keep is to share. And the only thing worth finding is opportunity. Blessed are the givers. Blessed are you who follow in the way of Jesus, and shine like the saints in light.
[1] You can watch the whole 25-minute episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxUChBd7Idk&t=1392s