No Season for Stinginess
We are exhorting against three particularly offensive advent sins. Impatience misses the point of waiting practice. And the sin of stinginess is also especially out of season.
The book of Proverbs provides wisdom that promotes generosity.
The liberal soul shall be made fat:
and he that waters shall be watered also himself.
(Proverbs 11:25 bibrefproverbs11 bibrefproverbs11v25 KJV)
This is not merely wishful thinking, it’s the “deeper magic” (as Lewis called it) built into the cosmos.
Why is God so great? He is heavy with glory for many reasons, including that He is so lavish with gifts (see James 1:17 bibrefjames1 bibrefjames1v17; 1 Corinthians 4:7 bibref1corinthians4 bibref1corinthians4v7). No one is as great a giver as the Father. None has given Him anything; everything under heaven is His (Job 41:11 bibrefjob41 bibrefjob41v11).
Why is God’s Son so great? He also took in order to spend. He was born a man in order to give Himself for men, put to death in the flesh that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18 bibref1peter3 bibref1peter3v18).
It’s one of the laws for how things work on earth.
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. (2 Corinthians 9:6 bibref2corinthians9 bibref2corinthians9v6 ESV)
This came in the context of helping those in need, but has application beyond.
The problem with Scrooge was not just that he had a bad attitude, it’s the he was grumpy because of his greed. His tight fist was fruit of his hoarding heart.
Instead, Jesus taught His disciples, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap” (Luke 6:38 bibrefluke6 bibrefluke6v38). This is a season for giving; “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.”