By Dr. Greg Davis, Senior Pastor
Generosity is not something you find, it is something you create.
One day Titus went to his mailbox and took out a letter from Paul. The letter informed him that his missionary assignment was the island of Crete. People had been going to Crete since the time of Abraham and discovering impossible conditions there. Paul himself described the people of Crete as “liars, vicious brutes, and lazy gluttons.”
Titus felt that this was the worst tragedy that could come his way, and he was no fool. He was just like the rest of us. He was anxious to get out of a bad situation as fast as he could.
Titus quickly fired off a letter to Paul saying, “Dear Paul, Crete is an awful place. The inhabitants are hopeless, and the poor struggling Christian movement is in rags and tatters. I am remaining here until you send me another assignment.”
Paul left Titus in Crete. Titus finally realized that if he went up and down the streets of Crete expecting generosity to find him – if he expected a tailor made perfect situation – he was going to be unhappy. Titus discovered that life just is not that way. If you go to Crete expecting to find a pleasant place, you are doomed to disappointment. But if you see Crete as the raw material out of which something good can come, you have found the secret to generosity – and life.
One thing is certain. All of us have been in Crete, and we all have our disappointments, tragedies, and setbacks. We will all be in Crete again. Some are in Crete right now.
Recently in Crete they have excavated the foundations of stately churches from which in those early years the gospel went out in the crusade against the paganism of the Roman Empire. From Crete came the best missionaries, teachers, and preachers. The name of one of those excavated churches is Titus, Saint Titus. The very place from which Titus wanted to run away, this very place became a center of creative generosity.
Generosity is not something you find. It is something you create.
Back on Loyalty Sunday – October 30 – we celebrated generosity in our worship. Cynthia and I joined everyone present as we expressed our Christian generosity through the symbolic act of laying our commitments for the coming year before the altar of our church. We love and support the ministries of Broadmoor. Remember that generosity is something you create!