Sharing and caring
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
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Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise (Luke 3:11).
Read Luke 3:7–18
There’s nothing better than the warmth of a good woollen overcoat when the chill breezes are blowing. When I was a university student, I had a duffel coat, which was not uncommon back then. It was purchased from an army surplus store and served me well during my student years. When I graduated, I moved to Adelaide and became involved with Jacob’s Ladder – a coffee shop and outreach program in the city run by Lutheran Student Fellowship student types. During one of my times there, I was challenged to give my duffel coat to one of the people who attended Jacob’s Ladder. Sharing my spare coat wasn’t easy (I had a much more conservative, grown-up overcoat that fitted my newly emerging professional image). The faithful duffel held a lot of memories of my student days. I still remember it fondly.
Was I acting like the kind of person for whom John was advocating? I was somewhat happy to share my ‘wealth’, but was I really the sort of cheerful giver God loves? (See 2 Corinthians 9:6,7.)
I have learnt a lot about giving from my dad. He was the sort of guy who would help whoever he could, and he loved to give to the church. Dad was a member of the then Finance Council of the District. I am told that he and the others in the group would sit and discuss the needs of the wider church (often until one or two o’clock in the morning). It was not unusual that they would then fund the required initiatives. When my dad died, we were intrigued to read some of the tributes that came to us, and we have never heard the story about why he was remembered by some people.
To me, that is the kind of giving advocated in the New Testament – abundant generosity given selflessly and quietly, with no need for public acknowledgement or adulation. It is the sort of generosity I witnessed many times when I was the director at Lutheran Community Care – people giving significant amounts anonymously, others giving numerically small donations that represented a significant part of their income, or the person who faithfully sent a cheque every month, and all we ever knew about them was their name and post office box number. What a privilege it was to acknowledge these cheerful givers!
What a fitting reminder on the third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday or the Sunday for rejoicing. Let’s rejoice together in the opportunities we have to give and in all we have been given.
Generous God, thank you for giving us your Son. Open our hearts, so we can give generously to glorify you and help our fellow people. Amen.
Colleen lives in Adelaide with her husband, John. She enjoys reading, writing and keeping in touch with friends and family in Australia and overseas. After growing up in rural New South Wales, Colleen attended university in Sydney and then moved to Adelaide for two years in 1974. After meeting and marrying her husband, she has never left.
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