Lord, teach me to be generous.
I would like to start my reflection on today’s readings with the Prayer of Generosity.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve,
To give and not count the cost,
To fight and not to heed the wounds,
To toil and not seek for rest,
To labor and not seek reward,
Except that of knowing that I do your will.
In both the readings and my reflection, you will see several of the same concepts as used in this prayer.
These three readings speak to me in many ways. First and foremost, I must love, worship and “serve the Lord as he deserves.” We do not do this seeking material blessing, but my reward will be knowing that I do His will. As we read, part of His will is that we serve and help our fellow man. We are to remove from our midst, oppression and malicious speech; to feed the hungry, help the afflicted.
In this time of the pandemic and social unrest, opportunities abound for us to lend a helping hand to our neighbors. People without jobs, food, money and hope. People who have been marginalized, discriminated against, left without hope. As the Prayer of Generosity says, “We are to be generous, to give and not count the cost, to fight and not heed the wounds.” We do this not seeking reward. Yet the Lord says he will guide us, strengthen us, give us plenty.
This “reward” is not a material reward but one of grace, peace and better communities. “Repairer of the breach, they shall call you, Restorer of ruined homesteads.”
In a study called the Termin Study, an ongoing 90-year-old study from Stanford University, one of the most interesting things that was found was that it is not what people/friends do for you that counts most. The people that lived happier, longer, healthier, more fulfilled lives where the ones who gave the most to their communities, those that always lent a helping hand, those that others always turned to for help.
It is by this attitude; it is by these means that we can serve the Lord as he deserves. It is by doing God’s will, living Christ like lives, being a servant leader, that we can lead others to the understanding of, to the peace of, to the love and grace offered by Jesus Christ. So, let us not hesitate in serving God as he deserves, in doing what is good and right within our communities, leading others unto Christ.
I will conclude with this thought: Some 2000 years ago, the Greek statesman, Pericles, had this to say, “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone mountains (wins, medals, etc.) but what is woven into the lives of others.” The question then is “Am I serving God and my fellow man in a way that delights the Lord?”
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” (Matt. 5:16)
Author: Charlie DeLong, Athletic Department
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