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ESTHER 9:20-22 

JAMES 5:13-20 

Mark 9:38-41 

The theme for our reflection is Generosity to God’s servants. To be generous means showing a readiness to give more of something. A servant of God is the person who has wholly dedicated his or her life to the service of God through a particular ministry of the Church(there are various ministries in the church). The theme can therefore be rephrased as being generous to those who dedicate their lives to the service of God. We shall discuss the following points in relation to the theme; 

Firstly, it is important that being generous to people is not an opportunity to display our wealth or affluence but rather a sign of our gratitude to God for His faithfulness to us. In Esther 9;20-22, the Jews were instructed to be generous because God had saved them from the evil plots of their enemies. And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year,  as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into g ladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor. (Esther 9:20-22). My dear friend be generous to all especially to the poor and the servants of God because once upon a time and even in the present time God saved you from your enemies and turned your sorrow into gladness. We have no excuse not to be generous when God had always been generous to us.  

Secondly, God uses his anointed servant to bless us therefore being generous to God’s servants is an act of showing appreciation to them for their efforts and dedication to the work of God and the liberation of God’s people from spiritual and physical captivity. James gives a key example of what God can use His anointed servants to do when he wrote that “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:14-16) The elders are synonymous to leaders of the Church who are called to lead and shepherd God’s people. In the New Testament Church, while the Apostles were going around preaching, spreading the Gospel and establishing churches, the elders were the pastors and shepherds of the churches, discipling the new believers. It is our duty as believers to be generous to those God has called into full-time ministry and has anointed them to be a blessing to His people. It is rather unfortunate that some Christians find pleasure gossiping, slandering and pointing accusatory fingers at the servants of God who have been mandated to pray for their healing and forgiveness. When you hate and speak evil against a person who is anointed to pray for you what kind of result do you expect? The psalmist admonishes us that “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!” (Psalms 105:15), for these servants of God are a source of blessing to us. We are required to be generous to them and support them in their service to God and the church emotionally, financially and materially.  

Thirdly, generosity to God’s servant is rewarded by God. Jesus made it unequivocally clear when He told His disciples that “For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.” (Mark 9:41). There are several examples of those who were generous to the servant of God and received their blessing or rewards from God. Abraham received the promise of a son when he was generous to the God’s servants (Genesis 18:1-14), The widow of Zarephath was generous to Elijah, “For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah”. (1 Kings 17:14-16).  Jesus multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish to feed over 5000 people when someone was generous enough to share all that he had (Mark 6:30-44) It is important to note that being generous to the poor and God’s servants are acts of faith which God rewards. “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:6-8). Giving generously to God’s servant must not be done under duress or through extortion it is done out of faith, conviction, love for God and from a cheerful heart. 

In conclusion beloved in the Lord, Generosity, in general, is a sign of our gratitude to God for His faithfulness and grace upon our lives, through generosity we appreciate and support those God has called to fully dedicate their lives to His service and last but not the least, Generosity to God’s servant is rewarded by God when it is done as an act of faith and done cheerfully. May the Lord continue to bless and sustain us even as we continue to be generous to the poor and His anointed servants. Amen 

Jean-Paul Agidi (Rev)