Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met Him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When He saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him — and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then He said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:11-19
“Governments around the world are becoming increasingly aware of their inability to solve social problems from the centre. Austerity is only making their job harder and dramatically reducing the resources at their disposal. This is creating an unprecedented opportunity for the global church to respond by demonstrating the generosity of Jesus in their local communities.
The Bible gives us plenty of stories to draw on for inspiration. When Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem He encountered a community of ten lepers who stood at a distance and called out to Him for help (see Luke 17:11-19). Whilst leprosy was a common condition during biblical times, lepers were considered to be outcasts who were both spiritually and physically unclean, and so forced to live in communes separated from society as a whole.
In an act that would have seemed outrageous at the time, Jesus cleansed the whole community of leprosy. In doing so, He didn’t simply restore their physical health, He enabled them to re-enter mainstream society and economically empowered them to work for a living, rather than beg. The incident provides a perfect demonstration of Jesus’s passion for the spiritual, physical, social, and economic transformation of communities.
If you recall the story, then you’ll also know that only one member of the former leper community returned to thank Jesus (see Luke 17:15). It’s also worth noting that Jesus didn’t ask for this response. In fact, Jesus made no demands of those He healed, in the same way that He makes no demands of us. He acts purely out of love.
When we do what we do in a community we should do so with the same generosity that Jesus showed those lepers. To love others as Jesus loves us means that we serve them and share to meet their human needs regardless of whether they ever come to Christ or ever come to church.”
Matt Bird of Cinnamon Network International, which has mobilized churches to transform communities across the UK and whose impact is going international to places like the USA, in his three-page essay “How can the building of life-giving relationships with those in greatest need position churches to transform their communities?” in Purposeful Living: Financial Wisdom for All of Life compiled and edited by Gary G. Hoag and Tim Macready (Rhodes, NSW: Christian Super, 2018) 96-98. Click on the title to download this free ebook today.
So often we are tempted to give with strings attached. We make restrictions revealing that it’s obvious we are not merely trying to restore, to support, to activate something but to control, to dictate, or even to manipulate people or organizations to accomplish our desired ends or outcomes.
When Jesus was generous, as Matt rightly notes, He acted “purely out of love.” What Matt has found in the UK is that when churches take the resources they have to the people with the greatest need (like the lepers) in communities and act “purely out of love” that transformation happens.
Like the healed leper, Matt has seen people run back with gratitude because someone had compassion on them, purely out of love. What about you? Does your giving have strings attached? Or do you give “hands free” like Jesus and like Barnabas who set the money at the feet of God’s servants (see Acts 4:32-37)?
Your generosity cannot go wrong and will look like Jesus if you aim at giving “purely out of love!”