The word ‘charity’ today often refers to a single act; or perhaps a shop on a deserted highstreet; or perhaps an organization dedicated to a particular cause. But it was not always so. Charity is a matter of the heart, not just the hands that reach into a pocket to fish out a contribution and donate. Charity is a virtue – a way of life. Our English word ‘charity’ comes from the Latin ‘Caritas’, which was used in the Latin translation of the Bible to translate the Greek word ‘agape’.
A close and ancient Gaelic word for charity that has made its way into English is ‘cherish’ – ‘looking after someone or something deeply, and loving them’. Our modern bible translations call ‘charity’, understandably, ‘love’. Which is why the most famous passage from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians in the Authorised Version speaks of ‘Faith, Hope and Charity’ – but the greatest of these is charity, or love.
Christians down the ages have come to see this love as the highest Christian virtue. As God stooped down in Christ to love humanity, so God’s call to his people was to exercise a love for others that was not about self-gain, but rather about self-giving. Charity was understood as Christian love in action; a way of being for others that treated them with respect, and had concern for their needs and well-being. We are to be extensions of the love of Christ; abiding in the vine – being the branches.
These connections, of, of course, are embedded in the life of charity. Buying a certain kind of coffee can mean someone on the other side of the world can afford a goat for their community. The goat produces milk. The milk produces cheese. The goat also produces manure that then nourishes the ground, and makes the crops grow better. Better food means a longer life for children in the community. That means stronger communities that can sustain themselves, and thereby improve welfare, education and opportunity. And all because of one, tiny purchasing decision that you make the next time you go shopping. The virtue of charity is that it fully regards others. It does not see them as competitors for material gain; but as fellow human beings in need of compassion and practical support. It is a kind of love-in-action.
It is sometimes said that the old Indian word – ‘bargain’ – lost its meaning in translation. In original Hindi, the word refers to a deal in which both parties gain: the seller and the purchaser. But in our language, ‘bargain’ means the consumer wins, and the seller loses. Yet charity – the love that cherishes – seeks the welfare of all who are connected. There is a real sense in which charity should be a bargain.
To be truly charitable, our motivation to help others comes through a sense of relationship and connection to everyone; and also out of an awareness that what we have is gift. All of us are dependent on the bounty of God. We are merely the extended charitable branches of Jesus. Christ’s extensity into the world. We are connected to the one who longs for those branches to reach out to others; to feed and support; sustain and shelter; offer life and hope where there is only drought and despair.
Some years ago, I read the following advertisement in a daily newspaper, which reminded me of the importance of making such connections:
‘Why not buy a tree for Africa as your gift to the world this year. For the same £3 a foot you paid for a Christmas tree, you can but a tree for Hope for Africa…which is planting thousands of trees in the [most] fragile areas, providing income and nutrition for local people…you could buy a dowadowa tree, which grows to 45 foot. It is known as ‘the tree that is blessed by God’, because it provides so much…its seeds are used to make soumbala balls, a local delicacy that women sell. Young roasted pods makes sweets in times of plenty, and are dried in times of famine. Leaves feed the cattle; the twigs make toothpaste; the gum hardens earth floors and can be used to glaze pottery; the flowers treat leprosy; the roots treat epilepsy, and can also be made into strings for musical instruments; the bark is used for tanning, for plastering huts and for embalming – other parts of the tree are used in marriage, childbirth and initiation rituals…’
Like the trees, and like the vine of Jesus, we are asked to nourish and sustain the world through our connection to Christ. As Jesus says, ‘abide in me, and I will abide in you’. And our bargain with God is that we both give and receive by being the branches of his vine. But to be his branches in the world, we have to make connections: that touch others with his love; that raise people out of poverty; that bring hope in darkness; that offers life and faith where there is despair. ‘I am the vine; you are the branches’, says Jesus. Or perhaps, Jesus speaking to us says, ‘be the dowadowa seed’ – such a small thing – that can make the world of difference to a community.
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