Generous Receivers
“It is better to give than to receive.” This biblical sentence is an option given for the Offertory Sentences in Holy Communion. We hear the words as a call to give generously, and this is true; we are called to give generously. However, I think we overlook the other side of the coin presented in the sentence; there is goodness in receiving, too. Giving may be better, but receiving is also good. The generosity of giving often overshadows the generosity of receiving. Those who have developed the gift of giving are often the worst receivers. They are the ones who will be sure to be at your door if you ever need anything. They work in the shadows and behind the scenes, making sure things run smoothly. The Lord bless them for their generous spirits. But let us never forget to learn the spiritual gift of receiving. To receive not in expectation or because you think you deserve it.
Some people, I think, expect to get to heaven and show God their six wounds and the number of Christ’s lashes plus one. As though not only must they give everything they have to earn their salvation, but they must win out over Christ too; rather than knowing that we enter only through the work of Christ, that we must receive the gift of salvation, as just that, a gift. Can we receive the grace of God as a gift, or do you feel as though you must compete for the gift of salvation and compete with Christ, receiving one more wound and one more lashing?
Out of the overflow of God’s love, he gives all good gifts from the earth. However, in our state of being bad receivers, we see a sunny day and say, “Make hay while the sun shines”. We see the rain on the fields, and we can only think, “Come rain or shine,” we have things to do. We should, of course, be good stewards of what God has given us, but do we take the time to receive these good gifts for what they are? Or must we try to earn them and use them to achieve something by the works of our own hands?
I heard a story about these two friends who traveled up to a castle. The road and walls were crooked. Commenting on it to his friend, the other man responded that “Sometimes, when dealing with beautiful things, the straight way is the crooked way.” Yet, so often we spend all our time building a facade of straight roads and walls within our souls, while behind the walls are crooked paths that are hidden. We feel as though we must show God that our souls are straight paths; we have destroyed our lower nature and come to him perfect and clean. In the dispensing of our lower nature, we chose to only live out of our higher, spiritual nature. Yet, the greatest and deadliest sins are those that stem from our higher nature. It is pride, spiritual abuse, and those actions done in the name of Christ or out of a self-perceived holiness that have the most lasting effects. To receive the gift of God, we must receive it not just in our higher or lower nature; we must receive it in all that we are, knowing that even our best efforts can do the most damage. We are crooked, yet we offer it to God and accept his grace to us.
As the Psalmist says, “Hither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” God knows our crookedness, and it is only when we come to him as we are, crooked and all that we can see, that it has led us to him. I am not saying “sin boldly;” I am saying we must all find ourselves at the foot of the cross, having walked the crookedness of the Via Dolorosa and find that Christ has met us there, in the depths of our own hell.
In the Communion service, we must accept his grace in who we are, and it is here that we begin that winding and crooked road to the altar. And as we walk the winding aisle of our souls to the rail, we find ourselves joined to the Christ who walked the crooked streets to Golgotha, and whom we receive in the sacrament. Let us be gracious receivers of him who gives himself for us. And out of the overflow of gratitude for the grace that we have received, let us give to others. And in this generosity for what Christ has done for us, the fullness of us, we can learn to be generous receivers.
God's Peace,
Fr. Aaron