A Generous Wind

Kite boarding is an up and coming sport that has almost completely overtaken windsurfing, at least in Hood River, Oregon where I spent a few hours recently watching (from the safety of the beach). How’s it done? Strap a small board to your feet and then tie yourself to a large kite. The payoff? That you get to ride the wind. Some kite-boarders have soared as high as 150 feet with airtime up to 40 seconds. Sound rewarding? Sound risky? It’s probably a fair bit of both.

It occurred to me that living a generous life is like that. There will undoubtedly be times when the risk is felt… times when people who we give our time or money to squander it. But there will also be times of great reward… times when we see the multiplication of our investment in a person. Generosity brings a fair bit of both risk and reward.

Jesus taught about the difference between those who ride the winds of generosity and those who sit on the beach. Well sort of… He put it this way:

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.  So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.  But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.  The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
 
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matt 25: 14-30

Did you notice what motivated the lazy servant to hide his Master’s money? Fear of the Master. By contrast, what motivated the faithful servants? I suspect it was the possibility of “sharing in the Master’s happiness”. They wanted to ride a generous wind and they were willing to assume some risk to reach the reward.

Can you remember a time when your generosity involved risk, reward, or both? I’d love to hear about it through a comment below.