Archive for February, 2014

“No one ought to be ashamed of becoming poor after being rich, if this happens because he gives freely to the poor; for Christ became poor when He was rich, that through His poverty He might enrich all. He has given us a rule to follow, so that we may give a good account of our reduced inheritance; whoever has stayed the hunger of the poor has lightened his distress.”

Ambrose of Milan (337-397) in On the Duties of Clergy 30.151.

“My Lord was pleased to die for my sins; why should I not be glad to give up my poor life out of love to Him.”

Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) as recounted by Herbert Lockyer, Last Words of Saints and Sinners (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1969), p. 151.

“A life spent in the service of God, and in communion with Him, is the most comfortable life that any one can lead in this present world.”

Matthew Henry (1662-1714), proclaimed these words near the end of his life, as recounted by Herbert Lockyer, Last Words of Saints and Sinners (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1969), p. 56

“Jesus spoke of love rather than of justice because he included a generous justice in his idea of love. As justice does not mean legality, so love does not mean charity. The prophets never urged that contributions should be made to the victims of social injustice. While Jesus spoke much of giving to the poor, for that was the one means of social service available, he emphasized ever the personal relationship. The neighbor is not only to be fed; he is also to be loved. The parable of neighborliness shows personal service to the wounded traveler, not the mere giving of money. Jesus’s idea of forgiveness was not merely charitable; it was generous.”

Theodore Gerald Soares, The Social Institutions and Ideals of the Bible (New York: Abingdon, 1915), p. 374.

“God’s love for us is without limit. In the economy of divine love we will discover that the more we give, the more we have to give. I have noticed that no matter how much I try, I cannot exhaust God’s love. I have never seen it run out. But I can only give as much as I have received, and the measure of love I receive is in direct proportion to how much I desire to know it, feel it, and give it away.”

James Bryan Smith, Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life (New York: HarperCollins, 1995), p. 55.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today I honor my wife, Jenni, who desires to know, feel, and give away God’s love without limit having discerned that in God’s economy, the more we give away the more we have.

“Our service to humankind must be given freely. We must be subject to everyone and serve our brothers as if we were paying off a debt. Moreover, those who are in charge should work harder than the others and conduct themselves with greater submission than those that are under them. Their lives should be a visible example of what service means, and they should remember that those who are committed to their trust are given to them by God.

Those who are in a position of authority must look after their brothers and sisters as dutiful teachers look after children given to them by their parents. If brothers and sisters and elders have this loving relationship, then brothers and sisters will be happy to obey whatever is commanded while elders will be delighted to lead their brothers and sisters to perfection. If you try to outdo one another in showing respect, your life on earth will be like that of the angels.

Gregory of Nyssa (335-394), as recounted by James Stuart Bell, Awakening Faith: Daily Devotions from the Early Church, “Service and Stewardship” 263.

“Valerian [Roman Emperor from 253-259], in a rescript to the senate, had ordered that bishops, presbyters and deacons should be executed at once; that senators, men of rank and Roman knights should be deprived of their status and goods if they continued, despite this, to say they were Christians, that they should be put to death; that matrons should be deprived of their goods and sent into exile; that members of the imperial household who had confessed Christ previously or confessed Christ now should have their goods confiscated and should themselves be put in irons and assigned to the imperial estates.

The emperor Valerian had added to the rescript a copy of the letter that he addressed concerning us to the provincial governors. We hope daily to see the letter arrive, standing in the firmness of our faith and ready to suffer, awaiting from the wealth and mercy of the LORD the crown of eternal life. Know that Sixtus was executed in the cemetery on 6 August [in the year 258] with four deacons. The prefects in the city press this persecution more actively each day, executing those who are handed over to them and confiscating their goods into the treasury.”

Cyprian of Carthage (born, c. 200. He recorded this 6 August 258 account in Epistle 81.1-4 of his 82 extant epistles. These are among his famous last words as he was beheaded and received his eternal rewards on 14 September 258). Cf. Bernard Green, Christianity in Ancient Rome (London: T&T Clark, 2010), p. 162-63.

“Among us you will find uneducated persons, and artisans, and old women, who, if they are unable in words to prove the benefit of our doctrine, yet by their deeds exhibit the benefit arising from their persuasion of its truth: they do not rehearse speeches, but exhibit good works; when struck, they do not strike again; when robbed, they do not go to law; they give to those that ask of them, and love their neighbors as themselves.”

Athenagoras of Athens (133-190), excerpt from A Plea for the Christians 11.

“Whatever it costs, our outlay in the name of piety is gain, since with the good things of the feast we benefit the needy; not as it is with [the pagans who] aspire to the glory of satisfying their licentious propensities, selling themselves for a belly-feast to all disgraceful treatment, but as it is with God himself, a peculiar respect is shown to the lowly. If the object of our feast be good, in the light of that consider its further regulations. As it is an act of religious service, it permits no vileness or immodesty.

The participants, before reclining, taste first of prayer to God. As much is eaten as satisfies the cravings of hunger; as much is drunk as befits the chaste. They say it is enough, as those who remember that even during the night they have to worship God; they talk as those who know that the Lord is one of their auditors. After manual ablution, and the bringing in of lights, each is asked to stand forth and sing, as he can, a hymn to God, either one from the holy Scriptures or one of his own composing, a proof of the measure of our drinking.

As the feast commenced with prayer, so with prayer it is closed. We go from it, not like troops of mischief-doers, nor bands of vagabonds, nor to break out into licentious acts, but to have as much care of our modesty and chastity as if we had been at a school of virtue rather than a banquet.”

Tertullian of Carthage (145-220), excerpt from Apology 39.

Today’s meditation is long. If you want merely the punchline, read the final paragraph. For Luther, stealing is not simply to take someone’s stuff. It’s bigger than that and all who amass for themselves following cultural rules rather than sharing with the needy are guilty of it!

Thankfully, Jesus fulfilled the OT Law for us and gave us a new commandment, to love one another, and when the early church (and the modern church) lives this out, we appear to live out the spirit of this command as explained herein and punctuated by the final paragraph.

Rather than becoming “noblemen in another’s possessions”, my prayer is that all Christians become people who “communicate” or share with both friend and foe, especially those in need and who suffer. Enough of my comments. Enjoy Martin Luther’s!

“If all who are thieves, and yet do not wish to be called such, were to be hanged on gallows the world would soon be devastated and there would be a lack both of executioners and gallows…

To steal is to signify not only to empty our neighbor’s coffer and pockets, but to be grasping in the market, in all stores, booths, wine- and beer-cellars, workshops, and, in short, wherever there is trading or taking and giving of money for merchandise or labor…

They are also called swivel-chair robbers, land- and highway-robbers, not pick-locks and sneak-thieves who snatch away the ready cash, but who sit on the chair [at home] and are styled great noblemen, and honorable, pious citizens, and yet rob and steal under a good pretext…

This is, in short, the course of the world: whoever can steal and rob openly goes free and secure, unmolested by any one, and even demands that he be honored. Meanwhile the little sneak-thieves, who have once trespassed, must bear the shame and punishment to render the former godly and honorable. But let them know that in the sight of God they are the greatest thieves, and that He will punish them as they are worthy and deserve.

Now, since this commandment is so far-reaching [and comprehensive], as just indicated, it is necessary to urge it well and to explain it to the common people, not to let them go on in their wantonness and security, but always to place before their eyes the wrath of God, and inculcate the same…

He now who wantonly despises this may indeed pass along and escape the hangman, but he shall not escape the wrath and punishment of God…

Such shall be the lot also of mechanics and day-laborers of whom we are now obliged to hear and suffer such intolerable maliciousness, as though they were noblemen in another’s possessions, and every one were obliged to give them what they demand. Just let them continue practicing their exactions as long as they can; but God will not forget His commandment…

No more shall all the rest prosper who change the open free market into a carrion-pit of extortion and a den of robbery, where the poor are daily overcharged, new burdens and high prices are imposed, and every one uses the market according to his caprice, and is even defiant and brags as though it were his fair privilege and right to sell his goods for as high a price as he please, and no one had a right to say a word against it. We will indeed look on and let these people skin, pinch, and hoard, but we will trust in God…

Now, whoever is willing to be instructed let him know that this is the commandment of God, and that it must not be treated as a jest. For although you despise us, defraud, steal, and rob, we will indeed manage to endure your haughtiness, suffer, and, according to the Lord’s Prayer, forgive and show pity; for we know that the godly shall nevertheless have enough, and you injure yourself more than another.

But beware of this: When the poor man comes to you (of whom there are so many now) who must buy with the penny of his daily wages and live upon it, and you are harsh to him, as though every one lived by your favor, and you skin and scrape to the bone, and, besides, with pride and haughtiness turn him off to whom you ought to give for nothing, he will go away wretched and sorrowful, and since he can complain to no one he will cry and call to heaven…

Let this suffice as an explanation of what stealing is, that it be not taken too narrowly but made to extend as far as we have to do with our neighbors. And briefly, in a summary, as in the former commandments, it is herewith forbidden, in the first place, to do our neighbor any injury or wrong (in whatever manner supposable, by curtailing, forestalling, and withholding his possessions and property), or even to consent or allow such a thing, but to interpose and prevent it. And, on the other hand, it is commanded that we advance and improve his possessions, and in case he suffers want, that we help, communicate, and lend both to friends and foes.”

Martin Luther, Larger Catechism, excerpt from comments on the Seventh Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Steal.