Scarcity or abundance

Today being Sunday I preached on the concepts of the myth of scarcity and the actuality of abundance and how that effects what we do with our time, talent, and treasure. The scripture came from 1 Kings 17:8-15 about Elijah and the widow. I had focused on the idea that it took quite a leap of faith for the widow to give what little she had knowing that it would lead to her and her son's death. Despite have nothing, she felt it was more important to be hospitable to a stranger who came to her house.
One thing that I did not talk about was something a friend and I discussed. He had served as a missionary in Africa and Iran among other places. One thing that he noticed was that those who were often without many resources were more likely to share what they had than those who had more resources. In talking to some of the members of our congregation, that seemed to be true for them. In fact one person stated that Mississippi one of the poorer states had one of the highest giving rate per capita. Richer states had less giving even though they had more disposable income. It would seem that those who had more to give spent more time keeping what they had regardless of how others may be in need. I found it interesting that when God blesses us we are more likely to hoarde that blessing and not share that with others.
As I was preparing my sermon, I was reading my devotional from "This Day," by Stookey. The scriptures were "The wicked borrow, and do not pay back, but the righteous are generous and keep giving (Psalm 37.21)." Also "God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9.7)." He reflects on these scriptures, "The gospel often sounds like sheer foolishness when judged by human wisdom. God seems not to care about how much we earn, though it is by this measure that people in our society largely judge one another. Rather God cares about how much of what we have we give away; a matter never mentioned by those who want to impress us with their incomes."
He also says to ask ourselves this day: "Am I a cheerful giver or a reluctant one? When giving something away, do I ever quietly utter this prayer: 'O Lord, help me to give away even more?' How often do I recall John Wesley's rule: 'Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give away all you can?' How can I increase both my gifts and my eagerness to give? (49)"
God wants us to look beyond ourselves and our wants. We are to have faith in the abundance of God rather than the myth of scarcity. If we would equitably share the resources that we have, I believe that we could eliminate hunger, provide adequate health care, and fulfill the commandments of loving God and loving our neighbor. It takes a change of attitude about what we have and what we truly need. This is not only the money that we have but also the attitudes that we have about our environment and our willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of creation.