You know what happens when the worship service doesn’t go as planned.
People whisper. They shift uncomfortably. They don’t know what to expect.
That’s been happening at my church the last few weeks while our pastor has been in Africa. Sit or stand? Sing or pray? Shake hands or go make more coffee?
The first week, we completely missed giving the offering.
The second week, something amazing happened.
We began to worship by singing. After a few songs, I heard a little shuffle towards the back. One of the guys was walking up the aisle. I kept watching out of the corner of my eye. No one was there to meet him for prayer. I wondered why he was coming forward.
He walked right up to the offering basket that was sitting on the front table and dropped something in. Then, he turned and whispered to me, “I’m not sure if this is the time for giving, but I wanted to give.”
I didn’t even have time to reply before he melted back into the huddle of people in the back of the room. We kept singing, but then, I heard more shuffling.
Another man brought his offering forward. A little girl brought a handful of coins. Then, the whole church worshiped by giving. One by one, they came, quietly singing, and dropped their offerings in the basket.
It wasn’t in order or scheduled. It wasn’t coerced or mandatory. It had been completely skipped the week before, but the Holy Spirit prompted one man to be generous, and then, the whole church followed suit.
I don’t remember the totals or amounts from that day. It doesn’t matter. Simply watching a generous God prompt generosity in His people was humbling. The church was so full of the goodness of God that it overflowed in their giving.
‘Tis the season of Thanksgiving when people volunteer at soup kitchens, busy themselves with every manner of holiday activity, and try to put warm fuzzy feelings over everything like gravy.
The Holy Spirit working through the church to demonstrate His own generosity is more than sentimental feeling. It is a demonstration of His own character.
The Apostle Paul told others about the churches in Macedonia: “Their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part…” a wealth that only came from knowing Jesus.
The very next day, the generous man who had first gone forward was in Walmart, deciding what groceries he could buy with what money he had left. He, like the poor widow, had given out of his poverty.
Another Christian brother ran into him and asked how he was doing. After a short conversation, this brother took some money out of his wallet and gave it to the generous man as a gift.
The dividends of God’s generosity continued to multiply as the man from my church later told me this story. Then, we agreed with the Psalmist who wrote, “Truly, God is good,” and James, who said, “He gives generously to all without reproach.”
