Archive for September, 2016

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15

“The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack.”

Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest (Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 1963) reading for August 4.

Work was good before the fall of humankind and still is good. That notion is under attack. Many think work is a necessary evil, when in reality, it’s God’s design for us as workers. The fall just made work more difficult for us. Work shapes us, our relationships, our influence, and our world. It’s so much more than how we make an income. It’s how God shapes our entire lives.

Speaking of how work shapes us, Sammy and I tried to catch a Muskie on a fly all day yesterday. We worked hard for 13 hours. The work made us better fishermen and bonded us with a fellow fisherman, Zack Skoglund. We will work at it another 6 hours this morning before I teach tonight and tomorrow here at Refuge Church in Zimmerman, Minnesota.

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. Ecclesiastes 11:6

“As long as there is breath in our bodies, let us serve Christ; as long as we can think, as long as we can speak, as long as we can work, let us serve Him. Let us even serve Him with our last gasp, and, if it be possible, let us try to set some work going that will glorify Him when we are dead and gone. Let us scatter some seed that may spring up when we are sleeping beneath the hillock in the cemetery. Ah, beloved, we shall never have finished our work for Christ until we bow our heads and give up the ghost.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) in his sermon “Christ’s Dying Word for His Church” as recounted in Spurgeon’s Sermons on the Death and Resurrection of Jesus (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2005) 366.

A friend emailed me yesterday asking me for prayer about work, a topic that has been on my mind linked to generosity.

This weekend my sermon is entitled: “Workers in God’s World: Ten Workers in the New Testament”. These workers did not leave their work to serve God, but served God as workers: Paul the tentmaker, Barnabas the landowner, Dorcas the clothing maker, Simon the tanner, Luke the physician, Lydia the seller of purple cloth, Tertius the publisher, Zenas the lawyer, Erastus the city treasurer, and Priscilla & Aquila the tentmakers (I realize that makes eleven workers. Consider the extra one a bonus!)

When we work generously, our focus is not merely compensation or remuneration (making money) but rather contribution (making a difference) and reflection (glorifying God in our work). In whatever we do, we must never stop working for God. Work was good before the fall and still is good. Work transforms the worker and shapes our world. So with whatever work God has set before each us, let us get to work, and work generously for God and with God!

When we do this we “scatter some seed” that will take root and likely blossom long after we are gone.

I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts. Psalm 119:63

“Good friends are among our greatest blessings; they may keep us back from much evil, quicken us in our course, speak a word in season, draw us upward, and draw us on. But a bad friend is a weight continually dragging us down and chaining us to earth. Keep company with an irreligious man, and it is more than probable you will in the end become like him. That is the general consequence of all such friendships. The good go down to the bad, and the bad do not come up to the good.”

J. C. Ryle in Ancient Paths: Negotiating Life Wisely (Mount Morris: Lamplighter, 2014) 121-122.

Thank God for generous friends. They bless us at every turn. They often think of our needs even before we do.

Today I fly to Minneapolis to teach on Saturday night and three services on Sunday at Refuge Church in Zimmerman, MN. I am thankful that my friends there encouraged me to bring my son, Sammy, so they could take us out fly fishing for muskie. And Sammy, now that he has grown up as a man, has also become to me a generous friend. He thoughtfully tied up some amazing flies for us to use on our adventure. Will we each catch a muskie on a fly rod? Who knows. It is a rare feat! Regardless I celebrate because get to enjoy precious time with generous friends.

Have any generous friends? Perhaps resolve today to become a generous friend to all and see what happens!

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

“When you give generously, you reflect God the Creator, who embodies self-giving love. Perhaps the reason “God loves a cheerful giver” is that He Himself gives generously and when we mimic this trait, He is molding you into His character. Cheerful, generous givers reflect the Father.”

Jeff Manion in Satisfied: Discovering Contentment in a World of Consumption (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013) 154.

This week we have had Edgar Güitz staying with us from Guatemala for a couple days. He’s launching a parallel ministry to Potter’s House Guatemala that focuses on developing the next generation of young Latino Christian leaders.

Few people are more cheerful givers than Edgar and his wife, Gladys. They want the next generation to grasp what they have learned and are learning. When it comes to generosity, they especially want the next generation to “mimic this trait” because it thrills the heart of God. Let’s all do it, shall we?

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Philippians 4:12

“The verb translated ‘learned’ originally meant to be inducted into the secret rites of a Hellenistic mystery cult; but like other mystery terminology it had come to adopt a transferred and more general meaning…Paul’s point is that Christian contentment remains unintelligible to those outside and can only be ‘learned’ from the God of peace.

Contentment is indeed a quiet secret known and cherished only by a few. Elaborating further, Paul indicates that his contentment extends to circumstances both of hunger and eating his fill; he has learned to cope with having either more than enough or too little…The power to cope with all circumstances resides in his union with Christ, rather than in Paul himself.”

Markus Bockmuehl in The Epistle to the Philippians (London: A & C Black, 1997) 261-262.

At the core of my exploration of contentment and generosity, I find a secret. It’s not ‘secret’ information that is hidden from the knowledge of others, but rather, based on the language of the biblical text, it is a ‘secret’ or unknown to others until it is experienced in Christ (hence, Paul’s use of mystical initiation language).

Paul is basically saying: “I have learned the secret that keeps both wealth and poverty from destroying me. I have experienced union with Christ, and now I realize experientially that I have everything I need in Him. Thus, circumstances don’t phase me and I have strength not just to survive but to thrive in every situation.”

What about you? Have you ‘learned’ the secret?

Union with Christ is something our driver discovered in Africa. He wanted what he saw in us. Without it, no person can find peace and contentment or ever exhibit generosity in all circumstances. To explore this seminal idea further in Paul’s thinking, meditate on Philippians 4. It is one of my favorite New Testament texts.

A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said. “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked. But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.'” Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord. 2 Kings 4:42-44

“The more I have studied the Scripture the more impressed I have been with the Bible’s glorious illogicality as it relates to divine mathematics…a story can be found in the Old Testament where God’s servant, Elisha, experienced a miraculous extension of 20 small loaves of bread which were able to satisfy 100 hungry men — with some left over…

It doesn’t make sense. It defies logic…when God is at work, logic and mathematics have to give way to a higher law — the law of the divine. Nothing is more exciting than to see the divine mathematics at work in the matter of giving. We give and when we think we have come to the end of our financial resources God makes it possible for us to give and give again…

I am sure that you come across opportunities to be generous almost every day and if you fail to respond to those opportunities who knows what rivers will not flow, what great ministries will never come to birth, what mighty things will not get done? God has opened the doors of generosity to you; don’t fail to open up the doors of generosity to others.”

Selwyn Hughes in Divine Mathematics: A Biblical Perspective on Investing in God’s Kingdom (Surrey, UK: CWR, 2004) 13-17. Thanks again to Cameron Doolittle of Generosity Path for recommending this wonderful little book to me.

Who are you in this biblical story? 

Are you the person bringing the gift of 20 loaves of bread along with heads of grain before 100 hungry people, all the while, perhaps wondering what difference it can make? In response to his generosity and willingness to put it to work, he witnesses a miracle. The Lord multiplies his gift.

Or are you God’s servant, Elisha, in the story? You serve in ministry. You often see people bringing gifts. Do you tell them to bring more because the needs are so great, relying on human math to solve the problem? Or do you, like Elisha, tell them to give what they have to the hungry people and watch the Lord more than meet their needs with it?

Whether you are a man or woman of God who gives to God’s work (like the man who brought the 20 loaves and grain), or whether you are among God’s servants (like Elisha who was ministering to the people), each of us must together generously and obediently do our part and watch God do miracles (in this case He fed 100 men).

But don’t miss the last words from the Lord in today’s text: “some left over.” With God, there is no end to His generosity. There’s always “some left over!” God’s generosity must not stop with each of us. As givers and as God’s servants, let us resolve to open the doors of generosity to others, over and over and over again.

If my house were not right with God, surely He would not have made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part; surely He would not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire. 2 Samuel 23:5

“We can be sure of nothing here, especially in these times; we know that a man can be sure of little that he has, and who can be sure of his wealth? Perhaps some of you have here lived well and comfortably before, all was well about you, and you thought your mountain was strong, but within a day or two you see everything taken away from you—there is no certainty in the things of this world; but He says, the covenant is sure.

What I venture at sea is not sure, but here is an insurance office indeed, a great insurance office for the saints, at which they are not charged, except in the exercising of grace, for they may go to this insurance office to insure everything that they venture, either to have the thing itself, or to be paid for it. In an insurance office you cannot be sure to have the very goods that you insured, but if they are lost the insurers pledge themselves to make it good to you.

And this covenant of grace that God has made with His people is God’s insurance office, and the saints in all their fears may and ought to go to the covenant to insure all things, to insure their wealth and insure their lives. You will say, How are they sure? Their lives and wealth go as well as other people’s do. But God pledges Himself to make up all…perhaps, you will not prosper in the world as other men do, true; but I can bear that. Though God does not make my house to grow, I have all my desires. Thus you see how a godly heart finds contentment in the covenant.”

Jeremiah Burroughs (1600-1646), a Puritan preacher, in The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, see page 46-47 of this PDF edition.

Let us continue to explore contentment, a trait I saw in many African brothers and sisters. Today we read this excerpt from a classic Puritan work on the topic.

Burroughs begins by stating plainly that life is uncertain: “We can be sure of nothing here.”

So what is our response to uncertainty? The world says, “Buy insurance to find security in an uncertain world.” Burroughs instead points us to “God’s insurance office” which he defines as the covenant of grace. Why turn there instead? Burroughs say to do this because God is the only One who will make everything right. Today’s Old Testament reading reveals that this was the heart of David who was secure in trouble-filled times because his house was right with God.

So how can we be content and generous conduits of God’s love? We must put our house right with God. Then, our content and generous lives may just be our greatest witness for Christ. Others will see our confidence in God and His covenant with us, and they may just take out an “eternal life insurance policy” with Him. Seriously, on the last day and a half of my trip to Africa, our hosts arranged a journey out into the Maasai Mara (pictured above) to try to see some wildlife. In hearing how we were talking about Jesus in our lives over a day and half, our driver, Kenneth Kiptoo, committed His life to Christ.

Hallelujah! His house is right with God. Is yours?

The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

“We live in a world in which things are not as they ought to be. We long for more; we long for peace, serenity, health, justice, and prosperity. Like a storm on a raging sea, our souls, our communities, and the world churn with discontentment. Yet Christian contentment is a gift of God to every believer who seeks first His kingdom and his righteousness…

As we mature in faith, grow in discernment, and allow God to develop our spiritual senses to be responsive to His Spirit, we can live a life of true contentment…In uncertain times, the believer is moved to prayer, seeking God for His perspective that He may quiet our unsettled spirits with His love and restore hope in Him (Zephaniah 3:17).

God’s economy is generous to all and provides all we need. We can trust Him in all circumstances and delight even in difficult conditions, knowing that He is faithful. In turn, trusting God stirs us to action as he calls us to participate in his mission to change our hearts, revitalize our communities, and bring peace to the world.”

Angela Wisdom in Silencio, a resource of Leadership Transformations, Inc., 45th edition, September 2016.

Angela keenly connects Christian contentment with generous engagement in mission. When our trust is in God’s faithfulness, our security is in His love, and our hope is in His righteousness, we can serve as agents of His kindness despite difficult circumstances, which in turn, shapes our homes, our communities, and our world for Jesus Christ.

At the core of Christian contentment is an unswerving confidence in our Mighty Warrior God. When I was in Africa, I met some Maasai warriors who were confident even to face lions because of the training they had received from their elders. They were fearless! Their stories inspired me and gave me courage.

Lord, cause our living, giving, serving, and loving to inspire others to fearlessly to place their confidence in You!

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:12-13

“A contented spirit is like a watch; though you carry it up and down with you, yet the spring of it is not shaken, nor the wheels out of order, but the watch keeps its perfect motion.

So it was with St. Paul, though God had carried him into various conditions, yet he was not lifted up with the one, nor cast down with the other. The spring of his heart was not broken, the wheels of his affection were not disordered, but kept their constant motion toward heaven, still content.

The ship that lies anchor may sometimes be a little shaken, but never sinks; flesh and blood may have its fears and disquiets, but grace doth check them. A Christian having cast anchor in heaven, his heart never sinks.”

Thomas Watson in The Art of Divine Contentment (London: L.B. Seeley and Sons, and Hamilton, Adams, and Company, 1829) 25.

Watson’s use of the the word picture of the watch seems fitting. Through the ups and downs of wear, it still keeps time. He also notes (rightly!) that our affections must remain ordered. When they are disordered, then we are drawn to find security and contentment in something other than God.

The order (or lack thereof) of our affections will shape our generosity. When they are ordered, that is when we trust in Christ, we will live open-handed lives. We know where everything came from and what to do with it. When, alternatively, our affections are disordered, we will follow the worldly pattern in handling God’s money.

The secret (according to both St. Paul and Watson) is to anchor our lives in Jesus and nothing else. When we do, we realize (by experience) that we need nothing but Christ to make it through the ups and downs of life. No wonder Jesus exhorts us to let go of all else! Reset your watch to Jesus today and put your anchor in Him alone!

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Mark 10:21

“The real antidote is an attitude that can be summed up in two words: generosity and detachment. We don’t overcome consumerism by plunging ourselves into poverty, but by learning how to detach from possessions. As we learn how to hold on to them more loosely, we will share them more freely and generously. In the Gospels, Jesus does not tell rich people that they need to become poor; rather, that they need to be generous in giving of their riches to others.”

Joe Paprocki in 7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness: Enriching Your Faith by Strengthening the Health of Your Soul (Chicago: Loyola, 2012) 51.

I have safely returned from Africa. The header photo above serves as a reminder to me that the light of Christ is shining in the Dark Continent.

Those who follow the teachings of Jesus, do not end up destitute, but rather distributors of His material blessings. Obedience also frees us from the clutches of consumerism.

Many Africans that I met this past week inspired me. Their resolve to obey God through the enjoyment and sharing of His blessings moved me to a deeper level of trust in my generosity.

What about you? Is your life characterized by consumerism? Do you amass money and material possessions for yourself or do you richly share trusting God to provide for your needs?