The Cheerful Giver: Why Christ Asks for 100%, Not 10
Homily by Fr. Matthew Brown. 🗓️ October 20, 2025 📍 St. Mary Magdalen Orthodox Church (OCA), New York City
The Compassion of Christ
Something I noticed about the healing of the widow of Nain is that it is one of those moments that reveals the heart of Jesus. The question that comes to mind is why would He do that? They simply cross paths, and without being asked, Jesus stops and raises the widow’s son from the dead. It is completely spontaneous, a miracle of remarkable compassion.
What struck me is that Jesus must have seen His own mother and Himself in that scene. The widow had lost her only son, just as Mary would. Jesus, knowing He would not be able to give Himself back to His mother in the way He would want to, gives this woman what He cannot give to His own: her son restored to life. In this act, He reveals something deeply personal and human about Himself.
Christ is often an elusive figure, gentle and kind, yet unpredictable and mysterious. The Gospels show a Jesus who can comfort, confuse, and challenge all at once. Sometimes He blesses those who never asked, and sometimes those who ask receive nothing. In this way, the Jesus we meet in Scripture mirrors how we encounter God in our lives, unexpectedly, mysteriously, and always transforming us in the process.
The Call to Be a Cheerful Giver
In today’s epistle, St. Paul exhorts us to be cheerful givers. Why does he emphasize cheerfulness? Because God is not after mechanical obedience or reluctant generosity. He wants hearts transformed by love.
In the Old Testament, the law commanded a tenth, a tithe. In the New Testament, Christ does not abolish that law but fulfills it. The measure is not reduced to “whatever you feel like giving.” It is expanded. Jesus no longer asks for ten percent; He asks for one hundred percent.
This is not about money alone. It is about total surrender. Every aspect of how we use our resources, time, energy, attention, and wealth is now consecrated. The Gospel does not remove law; it transcends it. The goal is not mere compliance but transformation. The doing of good is not a means to earn a reward, it is the reward. Virtue, righteousness, and generosity are heaven themselves because they set us free.
Freedom Through Generosity
To be a cheerful giver is to be free. The one who gives freely is no longer ruled by wealth, fear, or self-interest. They possess the power of love, the power to follow Christ, and the power to overcome death.
Generosity restores harmony within us. Paul describes the divided heart, saying, “The things I want to do, I do not do, and the things I do not want to do, I do.” The cheerful giver has resolved this inner conflict. They act with joy and alignment between will and deed.
Every sacrifice, every offering, every act of giving is not a loss; it is an investment. When we give, we purchase virtue. And virtue, literally meaning power, grants the strength to overcome sin. The sacrifices we make, whether for family, the Church, or others, become privileges. It is a gift to find something worth sacrificing for, and even greater to find something worth shedding blood for.
Final Thought: The Power of Willing Sacrifice
Being a cheerful giver means embracing the freedom that comes from loving sacrifice. We make choices daily, each requiring the surrender of something. The question is not whether we will sacrifice, but for what.
When we choose to give joyfully, to serve willingly, to love freely, we mirror Christ Himself, the One who gave everything, not out of compulsion but from divine love. That is the power that raises the dead, heals the heart, and transforms the world.
Lord Jesus Christ, make us cheerful givers, free, generous, and joyful in every sacrifice we offer to You.