Raising High End Money

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves (Matthew 21:12).

Recreation and Sports and Charity and Fundraisers are being rolled into one ball of wax. As indicated in previous post, I have a little more to say on the topic of charity and love. By now I am aware it may just be a little more of same, raising a few hackles even, so why bother? Why? Because I trust my readers to come along a bit more. With modified ambition here goes, some observations out of an ordinary routine activity - and then - a little more.

Last evening, watching a hockey game on my television I get hit three times. The phone rings; the solicitor knows my name, speaks to me as though we are old friends, and then I notice she’s reading from a script, collecting money for a very noble cause helping to feed children going to school hungry, not in Africa or Asia, but in this good country of Canada, coast to coast. Nobody is spared. “Could I donate $500.00 or perhaps 300 or $250.00?” I respond with my perspective, namely that I am aware of the challenge she speaks of, member of a church which is connected to a worldwide service agency, quite concerned also about children in Gaza right now not only hungry but also victimized by war, and I participate in community interfaith charity, also personally know a few refugee families who occasionally need emergency help. “$100.00? Every bit helps.” Perhaps she was not listening to me. I explain a little more clearly she’s talking to the wrong guy. It’s more than just your phone call. Then she ‘gets it’ and thanks me for my time.

At intermission Gene Principe the Oilers' Sportsnet reporter explains the 50-50 pot of $1,400,000 (something like that) going to Edmonton Community Foundation. He interviews gently a mother and daughter who are benefiting from this wonderful charity. Quite touching, and I like 50-50’s, used to buy tickets in small-town Saskatchewan hockey games. Maybe one of these days, 😯 but then I remember I cannot even afford a cheap seat ticket to a game anymore.

Then to add insult to injury, once-upon-a-time world’s best hockey player–become-gambler Wayne Gretzky appears in a commercial for Bet99, and almost on cue there's Connor McDavid and Austin Matthews, showing their high-priced faces in support of the American BetMGM to get a foothold in Canada. The Montreal Gazette recently had a feature article “Sports Betting tarnishes the Integrity of Every League.”[i] I agree with this article.

So this is kind of spectatorly - me in front of my boob tube and not every detail fact checked! I am a hockey enthusiast probably thanks to all the stickhandling back there on the Saskatchewan farmyard outdoor hockey rink. Ever still loving the game, I am however no longer a fan of current trends in professional hockey. So here I go, this waxball of money, maybe charity, and hopefully not too far afield of the love of God. In the previous post I made a  distinction between that love and charity. Love of God is huge, so huge that it cannot be fully encapsulated by us, because its source is beyond, deep in the heart of our Creator, the one who so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (John 3:16), the very One whom we celebrate and give thanks for in Holy Week. 

This love of God is larger than charities, the things we try to do, and most certainly not only the christian thing to do. Charity, community service, and good works are required "things to do" by people of many faiths and traditions. As a Christian (born-again even) I am becoming convinced this love is larger than the tithes and offerings we give in our Christian churches, larger than all we try to do or understand "beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell" (a favorite hymn from an old hymnal).[ii] The positive of this large love inclusive charity is that it can get multiplied (50/50?) and good things are accomplished even if people do it for differing faith or non-faith reasons. The negative is that we Christians begin to slip into calculation mode, being very careful stewards because after all it's the responsibility of everyone in this world (gotta get the total picture)! And so we become cautious, with attention going to charitable status of the receiver, etc. etc. We check with financial advisors rather than our hearts. And yes, those irritating solicitors will probably keep on calling. 😔

The last several years have provided much challenge not only for churches and faith-based organizations, but everyone in our communities. With the steady influx of refugees, a new reality is upon us. Many churches in the last half-century took pride in 'missions giving.' Missionaries would return on furlough from Africa or Asia to tell us of challenges, opportunities and blessings 'over there,' and wealthy church goers would feel good filling the offering plate for 'foreign missions.' Today foreign missions is different. It's no longer out there. It now means getting to know the families in multiple housing complexes in our cities including the challenge of new style of communication in brand new family systems. It may mean an occasional Christian father who needs to pay a visit to his other wife and family back there, while this wife deals with their teenagers' activities and gangs and other things in this city! It's not just about finding a nice church home for our new immigrant friends here. I'm guessing missionaries often chose not to tell us about these cultural stretches because it might negatively impact the funds collected in our churches. Multiculturalism is both a reality and a challenge especially in anti-immigrant political environments. Mission work now includes bridge building, and lots of it in our local communities, requiring lots of phone calls, lots of mis-spelled texts and short-notice meetings and e-transfers and surprise transactions, not just cheques or dollars in the offering plate. "Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked (Luke 6:35).

Many of our charities are now almost in same category as the ‘not for profits’ who are in and among all of this. While it is complicated we do not now have the luxury of closing eyes nor examining each ingredient within these 'balls of wax.' The kingdom of God includes missions, and missions is here AND abroad. Even as I point out these intercultural challenges, I confess to a further surprise (and I may be the old-fashioned one here). I see our worldwide faith-based organizations, service agencies, colleges and seminaries, all into new fundraising methodologies, most of them hiring donor relations personnel, a small part of whose job is to relate to potential donors. The major part of their time is spent organizing walks and races and fundraisers, and learning tours and golf tournaments and competitions and photo-shoots and shin digs with famous people, 50/50’s, etc. The love of God may be clearly evident here. It may also be kind of optional. 

Jesus, the son of God, incarnation of God's love, bids us be careful of the ideas we deal in, and do not even try it without relating to one another. [iii] Fully aware of Passover ceremony and religiosity and the cost before him, Jesus entered the Temple Courts and expressed it clearly to the money changers doing business right there (Matthew 21:12). My prayer is that our mission efforts and neighbor relations and mission dollars may be clearly and simply rooted in the love of God.

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[i] Jack Todd, The Gazette (Montreal, PQ), October 27, 2023.

[ii] “The Love of God”, Mennonite Hymnal (Newton, KS: Faith and Life Press, 1969) #538.

[iii] "Strangers to Neighbors," the theme for 2023 - 2024 Calgary Interfaith Council.

Desperado Charity

Retirement does interesting things to us. One of the things I have discovered in the last several years is that a certain style of living just comes with you no matter what your age. Longtime psychologists like Erik Erikson[i] and recent theologians like Richard Rohr's[ii] stages of life notwithstanding, there are some things that are a given. These are as natural as the DNA which may determine color of skin, shape of nose, or type of hair you have – or don’t have! My style of living has always and continues to include an affinity with down-and-out people. How one lives with an affinity makes for some more 'thinker material.'

An affinity, so it seems to me, is not something to work at or try to learn. It's just there, or else comes very naturally! At best I can identify my affinity as something I observed in my dad in how he related to his younger brother. Dad's youngest brother broke all the rules. Within their Mennonite Old Colony belief system which included his older sisters and brothers who participated in churchy auswanderungs to safe pioneering places like Mexico or LaCrete or Fort St John, this brother joined the air force! He signed up for reasons of wanderlust, probably no more patriotic to his country than any of his siblings. My dad was a diligent hard working farmer, him and mom raising their large brood on our dairy farm. After the war our adventuring uncle would come along and regale us impressionable farm boys with all kinds of interesting tales of adventure. Dad would listen too, but I could tell by look in his eye that he knew a large amount of this to be considerably embellished b.s. Already weathered by years of experience with this kid brother, dad would nonetheless treat him kindly, even offering our place as temporary abode while uncle sorted out marriage and family and job or unemployment issues, which was common lot for many soldiers now looking for what to do next.

I too have a heart for the ones at the edge. Always an awareness during my years of pastoral ministry and to this day I naturally notice the homeless guy(s) occasionally sleeping in a corner of McDonald’s or other fast food joints. I do not pity, in fact even recognize my inner chagrin at possible bad choices that may have led to this circumstance, but if eye contact available I say hello, and even some conversation if there is interest. I believe there is a considerable variety in all of us created beings rich or poor, and it is inappropriate to paint in categorical brush strokes. Anyway, a caring attitude, which may be a DNA feature, a Psalm 139 feature "For you created my inmost being" (:13), may also be nurtured by how one grows up (Heredity? Environment? A related topic). 

And it may be recognized by others. I am a member of Calgary Interfaith Council. Each year we have some sort of charity drive. Almost by default, several times I have been handed a bunch of ‘gift cards’ to hand out at my discretion to any homeless types whom I may deem as appropriate recipients. This comes simply because the group has recognized a certain connectedness without ever having made a pitch for it.

I suppose it is because of an affinity for people at the edge that I find myself thinking a little more about some words related to that (the thinker again)! Charity and love are both translations for the Greek word agape. Seems to me that the charity version is not popular any more, maybe because everybody is seeking to point out the love and the inclusiveness of God, rather than fearfulness (eg 1 Corinthians 13:12 the old King James Version reads “now faith, hope, and charity” and the New King James and every version thereafter “now faith, hope, and love”). It appears to me that charity is a more circumstantial value-laden word than love. Not being a linguist nor scholar of languages, I resist going into an analysis, but this does not keep me from rendering an opinion! 😏

My opinion is that charity, even though a nice word, has sort of a limiting connotation. I remember once upon a time as a young seminarian in 1978 I traveled with my longsuffering wife and our three children all the way from Saskatoon, SK to Wichita, KS pulling our tent trailer behind her brother's van to participate in Mennonite World Conference and gain one final course credit towards my graduation from seminary. We had a/c in the van but not in the trailer and July temperatures hovered around 100 Fahrenheit. We did not have sufficient funds for campground fees. A fellow seminarian from the area offered their place as a parking spot for trailer and kids. His wife was not pleased with his hospitality towards this beggarly Canadian. We encountered a few hail storms during the next two weeks – my wife enduring this 'holiday' each day spending much time with the kids at a local swimming pool while I attended classes in an air-conditioned college amphitheater! Oh shame. The two week stay ended amiably, but for us the difference between charity and love became quite obvious. In this example charity might be described as love under obligation.

For the last several years I have become acquainted with refugees, as a part of retirement committee work (things we do to assure ourselves we're still useful). Many refugees are affected by PTSD and deeply connected to political and family circumstances ‘back home.’ Several of these are now friends amiably unreservedly declared  – not quite to die for, but almost. 😐 In due time I have come to realize every single encounter, social or worship or business, includes a reference to certain hundreds or thousands of dollars which would accomplish this or that project. Even a hint of promise to ‘look into it’ is followed up next visit with “did you talk to…?” These are in fact very convincing concerns presented to someone (me) in this country not necessarily well-to-do, but obviously with good connections here there and everywhere. The irony is that my connections, namely my friends, the people of my church or my denomination become cautious, “what's he up to now?” some even quickly looking the other way when I come along.

Obviously there is a far reach to the topic of love, and a little tightening of the nerves when one thinks charity. There is another angle on this which deserves a hearing. I shall present something of that in next blog. As I think ahead to that, I am reminded of a scripture which once impressed itself on me in a Greek Readings class in seminary. Also it brings to mind a dear professor (RIP Dr. Gertrude Roten) who impersonated its very meaning. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18a). Thinking about this, even as I continue in relationship with new friends and with old friends, I hope and pray that we may learn some more about charity .. and love.

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[i] Erik H. Erikson, Life Cycle Completed (New York: W.W.Norton, 1998).

[ii] Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass, 2011).