Archive for July, 2012

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? Luke 16:10-11

“Possession are a responsibility. Their use is a test of character, values and stewardship. The one who is faithful in little is also faithful in much. So also the other way around…Handling wealth is a preparatory lesson for other responsibilities before God.”

Darrell Bock in Luke (The new IVP New Testament Commentary Series; Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1994) 266-267.

“Feasting grows out of a sense of God’s abundance and generosity. Because feasting is in the first place a blessing of God, who is the source of food and all life and sustenance, it is an acknowledgement of God’s bounty and generosity. The banquet of the kingdom is about abundance…an exuberant recognition of God’s mammoth surplus of love and goodness…

One of the reasons we may have trouble feasting is because our human economy is premised on scarcity. We hoard for fear of not having enough…but God is is a God of abundance. Does a sense of scarcity or abundance dominate our emotional as well as economic imagination? 

This abundance and generosity is particularly visible in the fact that all are invite to Jesus banquet. The feast is set for all but the blind, the poor, and the lame are those who accept the invitation first (Luke 14:12; cf. Deut 10:17-19). The feast that Jesus imagines is the feast of a gift economy where absolutely all are included.”

L. Shannon Jung in Sharing Food: Christian Practices for Enjoyment (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006) 63-64.

“An annual stewardship “check up” is a great way to stay in shape as a good steward. Questions for this checkup might include: How is God’s grace present in your life? How is God blessing you? How are you responding? How are you taking responsibility for the ways in which you live your life? In what ways are you going beyond yourself in service? How have you experienced God’s presence as you served others this year? In what ways will you challenge yourself this coming year to reach out to someone in need? How are you offering yourself in generous response to the lavish gift of Christ’s love?”

Leisa Anslinger and Victoria Shepp in Forming Generous Hearts: Stewardship Planning for Lifelong Faith Formation (New London, CT: Twenty Third Publications) 103-104.

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You; I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. Psalm 63:1-3

“The God of the universe looks for those who would be with Him. The Lord longs for His children to take time to experience His tender loving presence. Almighty God is not needy, but wants His creation to come before Him in humble dependence. He knows prayer is what’s best for those He bought with His son’s blood. Generosity toward God in daily doses of solitude and communion are the wisest gift. Our presence gratifies God.

Like an earthly father revels in the joy of being close to his precious child, so our heavenly Father smiles to see us—His children—sit next to Him. The grace of God is not garnered with a drive-by life. Rather, when we park our lives in His presence and turn off the engine of our activity, we activate His perspective in our heart and mind. We invest in intimacy with our heavenly Father in order to fulfill His agenda in our daily calendar.”

Boyd Bailey from Wisdom Hunters daily email for 15 May 2012.

“Jealousy arises easily in our hearts. 

In the parable of the prodigal son, the elder son is jealous that his younger brother gets such a royal welcome even though he and his loose women swallowed up his father’s property (Luke 15:30). 

But the Father says to the older son:  “You are with me always and all I have is yours” (Luke 15:31). 

And in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, the workers who worked the whole day are jealous that those who came at the eleventh hour receive the same pay as they did (see Matthew 20:1-16).  

And the landowner says: “Why should you be envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:15).
 
When we truly enjoy God’s unlimited generosity, we will be grateful for what our brothers and sisters receive.  Jealous will simply have no place in our hearts.”

Henri Nouwen in Bread for the Journey entry for July 6 (SanFrancisco: Harper, 1997).

“One of the fathers said, “If anyone asks you for something, and you give it to him, even if you are forced to give it, let your heart go with the gift, as it is written, ‘If a man forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two’ (Matt. 5:41). This means that if you are asked for anything, give it with a willing heart.”

A Desert Father in Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another by Rowen Williams (Boston: New Seed Books, 2005) 130.

“The collector of money is stirred by charity, but, when the money is in, the grip tightens.”

St. John Climacus (c. 525-606) in the Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 16 on love of money, or avarice.

“Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distresses of everyone, and let your hand given in proportion to your purse.”

George Washington (1732-1799) excerpt from a letter to a relative, recounted by John M. Templeton Jr. in Thrift and Generosity: The Joy of Giving (West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Foundation Press, 2004) 62.

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done. Prov. 19:17

“God is not biased. Because of unequal needs, however, equal provision of basic rights requires justice to be partial in order to be impartial. (Good firefighters do not spend equal time at every house; they are partial to homes on fire.) Partiality to the weak is the most striking characteristic of biblical justice. In the raging social struggles in which the poor are perennial victims of injustice, God and God’s people take up the cause of the weak and powerless. Rulers and leaders have a special obligation to do justice for the weak and powerless.”

Ron Sider in Just Generosity (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007) 68.

“I know you cannot give away what you have not; but methinks all that you have should be devoted to God.”

Richard Baxter (1615-1691) in The Reformed Pastor, 5th edition, ed. William Brown (London: The Religious Tract Society, 1862) 166.