Money and Responsibility.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume X, Issue 11, 1 April 1920, Page 275

Money and Responsibility.

On reading m the, daily press; Of the large sums of money left liy people at tjieir. death, one is? app£H&d .and saddened to see hp w seldom anything is left for Church .orqhanta^Je ; purposes. Especially, perhaps, is $$& noticeable m regard to people belonging to our branch of the ■Church of God. Presbyterian ilaymen set .a noble example by Vthe way m; wb.ifclp? ■ •they make provision for helping , tor . carry on the good works. iir;wb|qll they have been interested during theii? ' lifetime. ' Within the past six months ' the Presbyterian Church arid institutions, m O.tago alone, "have : received legacies which amount to far more than our own Church has had left /to >* it, for its work, during the past ten years. And, m their lifetime, the Presbyterian laity are wonderful m the way m which, they give . towards the carrying on of Church and philanthropic activities. Think of the Glendining Home,, the Ross Home; Balmaeewen College, and Knox College! What have our people done m com- - j>arison with these; noble gifts from men who loved the Author and Giver of all. good things; and realised that they were, and; are, but stewards who would sooner , or later have to give ah account of their stewardship? ']■ The duty ; <& giving is : evidently forgotten by most of pur wealthy, people, and, why is it? . When we; ask them .. for money, v do not often go to them with apologies on our dips instead of boldly telling; them their duty m the ■ matter.? ; Whaib says! ;the : Apostle Paul ?— -' ' Charge them whb.are, rich m tbis. .-.worlds^^that' they beready^to give,' and glad to distribute ; laying up m store fofi;t'hemselves a good/ foundation against thq time to come, thdt they may attain eternal life';' (I. Tim. vi.). And m the i Epistle to the He-, brews we read i l ''To do good, and to - distribute, forget notj with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Hebrews xiii.,. 16). ;. ".• - But the dujJy of giving is, after all, a .matter of degree, and each one of us has- a responsibility m this matter. ' 'Be merciful after thy power. If thpu hast much, give plenteously ; if thou has little, do thy diligence to give of that little; for so. -Vgatherest ; thbu tn^slJf a good, re^aifl m th-e da^tff neeess%^ ' 4^ W%

not know when our -necessity? will arise. It may be m this -would' or ,tfte next. Let each one of us, make, this a personal matter and ask ourselves: " Are we doing as .much as we.shquld, or are we only giving that -which costs us no real self-denial? Or, "Out of the thousands or hundreds that God' has blessed me with, how much do J owe fo Him? Have % given as much as I possibly can, or only as much as will save me from being called mean?" The responsibility for carrying on the work of the Church rests, on rich and poor alike, but especially on the 'rich. Many new activities haye sprung into being (jluring recent years, but aU of them are waiting to expand as soon as the necessary, money can \te found. Surely there are aome of them we can help,ihore, noV, pr after our death, by a legacy, than we have done "m the past. — "Church Envoy."