In today’s first reading, the fugitive David shows great generosity and liberality to Saul, his king who is hunting him. When Saul walks into David’s grasp unawares, David refuses to kill him, but instead cuts off a piece of Saul’s mantle, later revealing himself and demonstrating his goodwill. Saul says in reply, you have treated me generously, while I have done you harm. Great is the generosity you showed me today, when the LORD delivered me into your grasp and you did not kill me. Great generosity indeed!
But as great as David’s generosity is toward Saul, God’s generosity is even greater. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus chooses twelve of his disciples as Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. Here, Jesus is sharing his own authority with his disciples — the authority of the divine Son of Man shared with sinful, fallible men who will again and again fail to understand him and who will largely desert him at the Cross. As God, Jesus knows this, and yet he shares his authority and power anyway.
We also, as Christians anointed with the Holy Spirit in baptism, share in the authority of Christ, who is Priest, Prophet, and King. Jesus shares this authority with us generously, along with his forgiveness for the many times we fail to live up to our call.
Today, let us ponder the generosity of our God who calls us to share in his work of redemption and gives us authority through the gift of his Spirit, and consider how the generosity of God calls us to generosity in return.