Alms Giving

ALMS GIVING
By Dennis Ginoza April 17, 2010

From time to time, within us, there is an awakening, a new understanding. This occurred to me in Taxco, often known as the silver City, Mexico.

When my wife and I were on a trip through Mexico, we stopped to visit Taxco where a silver mine was discovered. The Roman Catholic Church built a cathedral over this site. Along the large square, there were many shops where souvenir items could be purchased. My wife was shopping and I was just walking along to people watch.

I came across a woman who reached out to me with her open hand, seeking alms. She was several feet away so I just by passed her and moved on. Then a man approached me, in my face, with his hand open for a handout. To satisfy the moment, I reached in my pocket and gave him a peso.

As I walked on, I happen to turn toward the woman, the one I bypassed. She had tears dripping from her eyes. I had helped the other, because he was straight forward, but not that woman. I felt inside of me the hurt I had caused by not reaching out to her in the same way. This was for me, a changing moment. Ever since then, I always carried pesos in my pocket for alms giving. I realized the point, alms giving helps the poor retain their dignity. Small as this gesture might seem, its deeper touch is sustaining the poorest in our society to retain their self-worth, their sense of dignity.

Years later, as I served the Calexico United Methodist Church located in a border town in southern California, I remembered that incident in Taxco. I was teaching a class in Spanish in Mexicali, Mexico across the border, a course entitled, “The Life and Teachings of Jesus,” to seven rehabilitated drug addicts now preparing for the Christian ministry. As I walked the streets of Mexicali to the class, I always had pesos in my pocket to give alms, especially women in the streets with their children, waiting and hoping for the smallest assistance. Little as this might seem, bothersome as it may appear, alms giving is God’s way of touching the heart of the poor.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:1-4, Jesus teaches us to give alms, quietly, without sounding trumpets and calling attention to ourselves. He derided the hypocrites who did this in the synagogues and the streets. Jesus teaches: “But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

This teaching goes beyond alms giving. It is intended to shed light on giving. A few years ago, as I was serving a church, I received a call from the bank president. He said, “Rev. Ginoza, I have a check here for your church, for the amount of $4,000. I asked him, “Who is it from?” He said, “I can’t tell you. It’s anonymous.” “Is it from a member or someone from the community”? “I can’t tell you,” he said. It was the week of Thanksgivng.

Before I went to the bank to receive that anonymous gift, I wrote a letter to thank that person for that generous gift and how much it was appreciated. I mentioned that this was true giving and quoted Jesus’ saying, in giving “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” That gift was well needed at that time as the church had its financial needs. Till this day, I do not know the name of that anonymous giver, but God knows. A reward in heaven awaits that generous and kind giver.

What little good we share today, in the sight of God, it is long lasting and has an eternal measure. Our physical eyes cannot see the full nature of the Kingdom of God. Yet, while still living on this earth, I can tell you, I have witnessed the generosity of giving, the simple joy of having given, and the return of a greater joy that comes after giving. True giving comes from the heart. Giving without expecting anything in return has its own dynamic nature. Jesus teaches that those who have much, much more will be given them. This is a spiritual law of generosity.

To put this another way, whatever we plant will bear benefit when it is good. Whatever we give out will make a full circle. The good we share will be the good we receive. Generosity brings on generosity, kindness brings on kindness, and alms giving in God’s time brings out the true nature of God’s care for all children. The writer of Ecclesiastes also bears this out in this teaching: “Send out your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will get it back.” (Ecclesiastes 11:1)

We must remind ourselves, true giving, alms giving, anonymous giving, and simply giving in every way, must stem from the heart, its sincerity, its intention, and its expectation. The essence of this teaching is, to not seek for self, but for others. One theologian called Jesus, “a man for others.” Let us do like wise.