Generous

The theme that unites the lectionary passages for June 28 is generosity. The word comes from the Latin generosus, which means "noble, magnanimous." And that word ‘magnanimous' comes from the Latin words magnus (great) and animus (soul): a large soul, one that overflows into the lives of others, particularly the lives of rivals or the less fortunate.

That sort of generosity--large-heartedness, if you will--appears in all of this week's passages.

In 2 Samuel, David laments the death of King Saul. This is the same Saul who was David's most bitter enemy, who tried repeatedly to kill him, who went to war against him. Yet David sings of him, "Your glory, O Israel, lies slain...O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with crimson, in luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your clothes." He generously overlooks the harm Saul did to him and instead focuses on his rival's own generosity and goodness.

Some of the most powerful verses in the Bible are from Psalm 130: "with You is found forgiveness, therefore You are revered." And later: "with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption." In God's generosity, He forgives us; He more than forgives us--He redeems us, paying the price Himself for our offenses.

And that is Paul's point in his letter to the Corinthians: Jesus--God in the flesh--was rich but became poor for our sakes so that by His poverty, we might become rich. Such divine generosity toward us sparks (or ought to!) our own generosity in sharing what we have with those who have less than we do.

In his earthly ministry, Jesus certainly shared what He had--Himself, His power--with others. When he heals the hemorrhaging woman and raises Jairus's daughter from the dead, He generously gives life to them--the life that He alone can give, and withhold. I think we forget that: He could have withheld His power, His healing. But He didn't. He gave it for this woman and this girl, nobodies in their culture, and their story is our story: the story of a nobody who receives life from this Jesus who generously took on our poverty that we might receive his riches.

Since we, then, are the recipients of such abundant generosity, with whom are we called to share that abundance?

Lectionary passages for Sunday, June 28 (Proper 8):
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
Psalm 130
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Mark 5:21-43