Giving is a spiritual discipline like prayer, part of following Jesus. It’s a discipleship question, not a budget question. Can someone donate to your church using their phone?

Deuteronomy 26, the lectionary for this coming Sunday, talks about sharing the first fruits of the harvest as an offering to God.

The first ripe tomato, the cookies fresh out of the oven, part of the first paycheque. When we share what God has given us, from our first fruits, we honour God.

At the start of the harvest, we don’t know what the coming year will bring. Will there be famine or hardship? Should we can those first tomatoes in a jar on the shelf?

Some organizations have been looking at a plot of poor soil for so long that they can’t envision anything growing there. Stewardship becomes managing scarcity well.

Joyful generosity means telling other people about what’s growing in God’s garden and inviting them to water it. Digging our dreams in order to make certain that we we hope for will come true.

Three books on generosity: a picture book kids enjoy, a deep-dive into sociology and a beautiful understanding of generosity from an Indigenous botanist.

“You pray better when also writing a cheque.”

A donor told me that. After you give, then you pray for that charity more. Makes sense. Is the reverse also true? Can our prayers direct our giving?

Generosity means caring for the people around us, and accepting care in return. Like other forms of caregiving, generosity is not a “once and done” deal. Generosity repeats.

To learn the spiritual discipline of giving, we’ll have to practice. Many of you will cook dinner today. Again. You’ll have opportunity to be generous in a variety of ways.

Do not grow weary, my friends! Anything worth doing is worth doing over.

Why do Christian donors give? A poem from survey answers to that question

Has your church or charity actually asked its supporters to leave a bequest in their wills to support the good work of the organization?

Let me guess - good intentions but so many things to do! The budget needs money this year, not some year. Special events demand lots of time; reports are complex and time-consuming. There are structural issues. However, people who find asking for gifts in wills to be off-putting remains a big barrier.

Gratitude and generosity help us look beyond ourselves. What has God given me? How can I share? The authors are quick to point out that generosity is not a panacea; generous people can still suffer from anxiety and depression. But they are resilient.

Half of donors give more than $310 and half give less. $310 is the typical amount. I’m glad that StatsCan uses median here, because average gift would be skewed by a small number of really large gifts.

When I quote these figures in churches, I get questions like - people give $310 to their church or to all charities put together? This is the "altogether” total. Donors who give more in a month than most Canadians give in a year are bewildered: isn’t everyone as generous as they are? In a word, no.