40 Words of Lent: Generous (2/25/2021)

 

Do you live with a sense of Scarcity or Abundance 

In an article by theologian Walter Brueggemann (The Liturgy of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity), he shares how throughout the Biblical story we hear about the abundance of life that God shares with his people again and again.  

And yet , "We who are now the richest nation are today's main coveters. We never feel that we have enough; we have to have more and more, and this insatiable desire destroys us. Whether we are liberal or conservative Christians, we must confess that the central problem of our lives is that we are torn apart by the conflict between our attraction to the good news of God's abundance and the power of our belief in scarcity -- a belief that makes us greedy, mean and unneighborly. We spend our lives trying to sort out that ambiguity.

The conflict between the narratives of abundance and of scarcity is the defining problem confronting us at the turn of the millennium. The gospel story of abundance asserts that we originated in the magnificent, inexplicable love of a God who loved the world into generous being. The baptismal service declares that each of us has been miraculously loved into existence by God. And the story of abundance says that our lives will end in God, and that this well-being cannot be taken from us. In the words of St. Paul, neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor things -- nothing can separate us from God." 

(full article: https://www.religion-online.org/article/the-liturgy-of-abundance-the-myth-of-scarcity/

We are told that we don't  have enough, that we are missing out, that we need more and to "keep up with the (proverbial) Jones"  We are subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) encouraged to "win", to have or be more than another person or group.  In these messages, we hear that we are not enough, that we are lacking, that the "other" will take it away so that we will be even less than.

Part of this is based in our consumer culture, but it is also about power and control.  If people live in fear and with a sense of scarcity, they will see others as enemies or competition.  They will live with a sense of pre-judgment or bias as they compare their lives to the other.

Yet, God is a God of generosity and abundance.  From creation when God provided all that we need to live fully to the abundant outpouring of love and grace on the cross.  God provides all that we need so that our cup overflows (Psalm 23) to the point that we share out of our abundance rather than out of fear or even obligation.

I invite you to read the following Bible passages to reflect on the generosity of God.  May you know of the true abundance of life given to you through Christ this day.

Exodus 16:4-8
Psalm 104 
Matthew 6:25-34
John 3:16-17