Philanthropy: Active Love
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by Chris Andreas
The following sermon has been provided by the Department of Stewardship
Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
"For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life," (John 3:16).
Philanthropy. . .the word almost sounds like
"love," one that could be said almost with soft intonations. It derives
from the Greek, "philos anthropos," and its English rendering is "lover
of mankind." It is expressed in different ways of giving. Even in the
purely secular world, it is understood as the giving of resources for
human needs: gifts of time; gifts of wisdom, experience or talents; and
gifts of personal resources. One of the most important characteristics
of philanthropy is that it is always active, never inactive. It
expresses love, care, concern and blessings for the humanitarian needs
of individuals to entire communities and even nations. Philanthropy is
a demonstration of love for our fellow human beings in a very dynamic,
energetic sense. Love always acts, and in philanthropy we are always
actively seeking what we can do for others, similarly to the way God
came to us, for us.
If philanthropy is all of this in the purely
secular world, how much more important is it in the world of faith and
the Church? How much of this epitomizes the teachings of Jesus Christ
and the acceptance by many of His contemporaries of the two great
commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind," and "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself"? Jesus explains that, "On these two commandments
hang all the Law and the Prophets," (Matt 22:37, 39-40). Jesus not only
lived this love, but He also died because of it. His death and
resurrection were the vehicles through which He brought salvation into
the world. Our salvation was the very purpose of His entering human
history. His love is exemplified in His death for us, the Creator dying
for His creation. In this respect, it can be asserted that Jesus Christ
is the greatest philanthropist the world has ever seen. He had very
little money and was supported by others in His ministry. But in His
physical poverty, He still gave all He had, even His own life for the
sake of mankind.
We might recall in Mark 12:42 and Luke 21:1-4
the Biblical Widow who cast two mites into the Temple's treasury. As
small as her gift was, she still gave all she had and was memorialized
by the Lord Himself for her deed. It was her loving piety that prompted
her to perform this sacrificial giving. Because she gave in the spirit
of sacrifice all that she had, these two small coins are, in the sight
of God, more valuable than the expensive offerings conferred by the
others. So as we can see, one need not be wealthy in order to be a
philanthropist.
However, this in no way says that those of us
who give gifts out of our abundance give them in a spirit of hypocrisy.
For Holy Scripture also says, "...to whom much is given, of him much
will be required," (Luke 12:48). Let us understand that philanthropy in
the Church is stewardship in Christ. Each and every member of the Body
of Christ who gives of himself or herself in any ministry of the Church
is a philanthropist to the degree of his abilities and resources. He or
she is also a steward seeking to fulfill a mission to all people.
How
many of us know that the vast majority of the teachings of Jesus Christ
concern the spirit of giving? In short, He was so concerned about
sacrificial giving in love as opposed to greed and hoarding that He
spent most of His earthly time articulating Himself on this very
subject. This resulted from man's failure to interpret Old Testament
teachings through the ideal of love. Until the Son of God entered into
human history, the Old Testament was interpreted legalistically, and
this was the reason it failed to bind man to our Heavenly Father. It is
only through love that man can be bound to Him. And philanthropy is
love in action. Philanthropy in every sense parallels the teachings of
our Lord Jesus Christ in the spirit of giving in love.
The proof
of all this lies in the world in all its present reality. Truly, we see
a world that is fallen: one that is without love, but rather filled
with greed, anger and mistrust; one in which wars and human suffering
constantly abound. Now think for a moment of a world transformed in
God's image of love. Think of an entire world where giving and not
taking is the way of life. Because of the change in our hearts, there
are no more wars, greed, mistrust, nor anger. It is a world where Jesus
Christ truly governs and, indeed, governs in love.
