‘When you give alms’
The first two in the series of renovated Catholic Customs for our contemporary life focussed on our internal life as Christians and as a Church. This month I thought it would be good to balance that inward concern with an outward orientation by looking at our almsgiving.
The first thing to say is that our Lord Jesus Christ expected almsgiving to be a part of the life of every one of his disciples. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus is remembered as telling his disciples: ‘when you give alms do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you’ (Mt. 6.3-4). This is part of an extended instruction by our Lord to the disciples where almsgiving is spoken about by Jesus alongside prayer and fasting as three activities necessary for all disciples, as of course was common to the Jewish piety of our Lord’s day. Notice that Jesus says ‘when you give alms’, not ‘if you give alms’. He expected almsgiving to be done by his disciples.
Just as we have been blessed by God in our ‘creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace and the hope of glory’ {BCP), so we in turn should be a blessing to others.
So almsgiving is a necessary part of our Christian life according to our Lord. However, that raises the question of what did Jesus mean by almsgiving?
First, almsgiving must not be done by Jesus’ disciples in order to draw attention to it, either from God or from others, a motive that often figures in much philanthropic giving in the past and present. I am minded here of the colleges of Cambridge. Many of those built during the Middle Ages and Reformation are named for saints or aspects of our Lord’s life - Corpus Christi, Peterhouse, St Catherine’s. But virtually all of those built later are named after their donors. It is important to understand that it was not public piety as such that Jesus is condemning because such public religious piety was an overt aspect of all the societies of Jesus’ day. It seems to me that what Jesus was condemning was public ostentatious display, giving in order to win human esteem and respect.
Second, like all Jews Jesus would believe that almsgiving was directed at those less fortunate than ourselves, or those who lack basic needs of life - health, food, shelter, and support. So, in addition to the Torah’s concern for the poor and the marginalized (particularly widows and orphans) Jesus was particularly responsive to some people or groups that even Jewish society overlooked or rejected, including lepers and Samaritans. The parable of the Good Samaritan powerfully teaches us that those in need may not be the like-minded, or part of our own in-group, but will be those in need who cross our path, whomsoever they are.
Another dimension of almsgiving that is commended in the New Testament is the need for it to be generous (Mt. 5.42, Lk. 6.38 & 14.13). The archetypal figure here is the poor widow giving her two copper coins into the Temple treasury (Mk. 12.41-44). She fulfils in her action the two great commandments of the Torah that Jesus summarised - to love God and to love our neighbour - because she was giving to the Temple devoted to the worship of the One God, the God of Israel; and the Temple treasury was intended for the relief of the needy. She does so in an extravagantly generous way, by giving all she has, even though that was just two copper coins of little value. Her love for God, and for her neighbour, cost her a great deal.
Other aspects of the New Testament also instruct us about not forgetting in our almsgiving our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is particularly the understanding of that Christian community that was influenced by the teaching of St John, out of which came the Gospel and Epistles of John. Writing towards the end of the first century the writer of the first Epistle of John tells his fellow Christians: ‘The commandment we have from him [Christ] is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.’ By ‘brothers and sisters’ is meant other Christians.
This Christian-centred aspect of our almsgiving could be in danger of being overlooked today, or taken for granted. When the New Testament was being written charitable giving was hardly practised in the ancient world. Romans and Greeks gave to their cities, but in order to boost civic pride and their own status by buildings and monuments, it was not giving to those in need. Jews certainly practised charity, but, like their belief in the one and only God, this made them odd to most people. So when Christians began to give to their Church and, through the Church, to give to those in need on a more widespread basis, it was an innovation in ancient society.
Today, such charitable giving to those in need has become common and all sorts of groups practise it, not just Christians and Jews, but those of other religious faith or none. This means that the relief of the needy no longer depends only upon the Church as it did for centuries. However, the plethora of modern charities also means that we need to be discerning about our almsgiving and, I think, predominantly give through the Church. That way we avoid giving to charitable agencies that do not necessarily subscribe to Christian morality; or to some whose ideology is anti-Christian; or even to some Christian agencies that unhappily tie together aid and conversion.
It is an increasingly diverse and divided world we live in, and not all every group, or agency, is supportive or friendly towards our Christian faith. Consequently, we need to exercise astuteness, discernment, and knowledge about who we give our alms to in order to ensure that those who need it receive it. As our Lord advised us: ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves’ (Mt. 10.16).
November 2020.