LICC - Connecting with Culture - National Giving Week

I used to cross the road to avoid beggars. These days, however, with 'charity muggers' (those hardy folk with clipboards and a permanent smile who ask, "Sir, do you have a moment to help starving children?") clogging our streets, I'd rather risk having to buy a cup of tea for a tramp. All of which persuades me that I've still some way to go to live up to the immortal words of Jesus, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Here's a question for the next charity fund-raising quiz night: Which Gospel recordsJesus saying this? A: None. Paul cites the words in Acts 20.35.)

Jesus' dictum implies that there is blessing in both giving and receiving, and some of us, perhaps, need to learn the art of receiving graciously, as well as giving abundantly. But giving remains the priority in a world of such obvious need. The Bible exhorts us at almost every turn to be generous to the poor, and reminds us that if we give to those who need our help, then we're giving to the Lord. How generous are we - really - towards the God who gave us so much in the first place, and forgave us the greatest of debts? Charitable giving has, perhaps surprisingly in our buoyant economy, fallen over the last 10 years by a staggering 25 per cent. That's why, presumably, the Charities Aid Foundation has declared next week 'National Giving Week' - to encourage us to give more, to plan our giving more carefully and to makeit more tax-efficient.

Giving to charity can be like trying to heal cancer with a sticking plaster. We still have to fight the systems that perpetuate the gap between rich and poor. But if we're not careful, we can end up neither giving nor fighting, leaving it all instead to the few who, through their generosity of spirit, can truly be bothered. Next week is a chance to re-consider how much we give, to whom and how regularly. We might also think about what else we can offer - such as our time or our talent. But as we seek, daily, to turn our faith into action, we cannot let the charity mugger be our sole inspiration for crossing to the other side of the road. God loves a cheerful giver. Freely we have received; freely, then, we should give it a try.

Brian Draper