Benevolence and Almsgiving
by Fr. Benjamin Wall
This is adapted from an article featured in the Spring 2022 Lent/Easter issue of The Table magazine. If you’d like to see this article as it originally appeared in the magazine, you can find it here.
Benevolence is the quality of being well-meaning. To be benevolent is to be kind, compassionate, generous, considerate, and of goodwill toward oneself and others. Theologically speaking, benevolence is a way of rightly naming faith as lived in the light of Jesus’ life, ministry, and teaching of loving others as oneself, and to do so publicly. In Christianity, benevolence is rooted in the holy tradition of the giving of alms–which consist of material goods such as meals/food, money, or other tangible goods generously and sacrificially offered to people living in conditions of poverty and plight, and to those who are less fortunate or live on the margins. Throughout the history of the church, Christians have believed that almsgiving (benevolence) is a visible expression of love founded upon the love God has demonstrated to the world in and through the son of God, Jesus Christ, who offered himself as an act of love for us. In other words, Christ’s love compels us to love others in tangible ways and to do so generously, considerately, and sacrificially without conditions.
There are many ways almsgiving is practiced at Redeemer. Like many churches, our parish designates a portion of our annual tithes and offerings for the support of our mission in relation to relief for those in need within and outside our local community. This money has allowed our church to assist people with dental, medical, and healthcare needs and to obtain reliable transportation, secure affordable housing, financially assist with utilities, vehicle and home repairs, and much more. Other ways our community has and continues to tangibly demonstrate our love toward those on the margins is through our Free Farmer’s Market which provides a reprieve in a county that is food-health insecure. In addition, our farm ministry provides combat female veterans the space and opportunity to engage in horticulture-focused therapeutic peer support. In all these ways and many more, the Spirit of God continues to guide us in the way of love that is compassionate, generous, and considerate, a way of life that we are called into more and more day by day, year by year.
This way is the way of Jesus Christ. For the mystery of the gospel is not that Jesus came to serve the poor and those on the margins but became poor and lived at the margins. Benevolence is the way of Christ. May we continue in this way never content with all we’ve done, but hopeful that God will continue to do this work in and through us all the more. May we continue to excel still more in the quality of being well-meaning. May the love of Christ compel us to love others in tangible ways that can only be characterized as generous, considerate, and sacrificial without conditions.
