Active GenerositySample

Two brothers stood before God, closer in time and space to the tangible presence of God than any human being save their mother and father. The only stories they knew were God stories. The only goodness they’d known was from him. And as they brought their gifts to him, their response to all this was written on their faces. Abel brought the best he could find, no off-cuts, but the prime rib, the finest cut, the first fruits. Cain, however, brought some leftovers from the back of the cupboard.

‘The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering’ (Genesis 4:4), but Cain’s, predictably, did not go down well. The question on God’s lips must have been: what’s this really worth to you? This relationship with me – are you really bothered? Cain was apparently not. But Abel had caught the attention of heaven.

Jesus tells us to ‘give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you’ (Luke 6:38). In case we’re wondering what giving to the Lord looks like today (apart from the baseline of tithing), it’s clear from the rest of Jesus’ words that our gifts to the poor form an incredible part of how God calls us to give. A few books later, the Lord speaks to an outsider, not even part of the people of Israel at the time, and says: ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God’ (Acts 10:4). Just after, the Lord tells him that he’s to become part of the story of God in a powerful way. His gifts to the poor had made a way for him (Proverbs 18:16). His gifts caught the gaze of God.

For us, it’s not just a case of God saying, ‘Show me your spending and I’ll show you your heart.’ The Lord is saying, ‘Show me your spending and I’ll show you what catches my heart.’