Archives by: Gary Hoag

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Acts 3:6

“In ministering to the economically poor, we must not make them dependent on our giving but rather help them to be self-sufficient. The church is a channel of love, understanding, and encouragement, as well as a source of diverse opportunities to learn and work and experience new avenues of service and cooperation.

There is a blessing in the partnership in the ministry but let us not forget that we have our own resources. Freely we have received, let us freely give what we have. We may be economically limited, but we can take the message to the “lame men” of the world: “We have no money at all, but we give you what we have in the name of Jesus Christ…”

As Christians, poverty is not a handicap to serving the Lord. He uses our experience to minister to the poor and all men as well..”

Edna Lee de Gutierrez in “Good News For the Poor” in Lausanne Content Library post dated 21 May 2018.

Gutierrez offers two good reminders regarding ministering to the economically poor.

Firstly, they have something to offer. It may not be financial, but it can provide rich blessing to others. Don’t think that because of their physical poverty that they have nothing to offer.

Secondly, the best way to assist the economically poor is to help them become self-sufficient. Again, don’t give them a fish and feed them for a day, teach them to fish and feed them for a lifetime.

When the economically rich do this they realize how poor they are in some areas of life.

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. Luke 16:10

“As Christians, poverty is not a handicap to serving the Lord. We should not wait for help from the wealthy to do our work. We have spiritual, human, and material resources at hand and must learn to be good stewards of them.”

Edna Lee de Gutierrez in “Good News For the Poor” in Lausanne Content Library post dated 21 May 2018.

Edna is a voice from Mexico proclaiming a profound truth. The majority world may experience poverty, but it is “not a handicap” and they must “not wait for help” but must learn to be good stewards of the little they have.

As Jesus says in today’s Scripture, when they are faithful with little, God will supply more. This relates to “spiritual, human, and material resources.” If this post resonates with you, join the work we are doing at GTP.

We like to say, don’t give handouts to the poor which create dependencies. Instead, give a hand up to build disciples. Again, if you are saying “Amen!” to this, then join the GTP prayer team and make a financial gift.

This is generosity that keeps on giving because when gifts are used to help grow faithful stewards the impact multiplies. GTP is contextualizing and translating resources into many languages right now.

We are doing trainings stewards this month with online work in East Asia and across Southern Africa. We are praying for $65,000 by 30 June 2021 for these and related efforts. Get our prayer journal and make a gift today.

Edna does not need your handout so much as a hand up.

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Psalm 103:1-2

“Psalm 103 is one of the favorites among the hymns of praise; its opening words are familiar to worshipers. The psalm incorporates elements of praise and individual songs of thanksgiving. The praise follows the classic form of the Psalter, with the call to praise followed by the resons for the praise. The summons to praise in Psalm 103 is unusual in that it is a self-exhortation, but the context is still that of corporate worship. The psalm would fit well in a worship context in which the congregation offers praise and thanksgiving as a setting for individuals to express gratitude for deliverance from crises and for the bringing of offerings.”

Walter Brueggemann in Psalms (NCBC: New York; Cambridge University Press, 2014) 440.

In challenging times, we must remember all the blessings we have from the LORD or as the psalmist put it, “forget not His benefits.”

Psalm 103 is a hymn of praise that fits for individuals and groups. Brueggemann notes that it also fits well linked to the bringing of offerings.

This kind of remembering for individuals and groups nurtures a heart of gratitude in us. It also helps nurture greater generosity in our lives.

Wherever you are at today. Pause to read it. Did a word or phrase minister to you? What message might God be sending to you?

Regardless of your challenges, needs, worries, successes, failures, fears, or concerns. Stop to lift up this hymn of praise. Praise the LORD, my soul.

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:29

“Jesus’ answer to the lawyer’s question turns out to be a negation of the question’s premise that there are boundaries to the definition of neighbor. The question “Who is my neighbor?” ought not to be asked. No thought is allowed that a human can be a non-neighbor. Franz Leenhardt’s often used statement is compelling: One cannot define one’s neighbor: one can only be a neighbor. We cannot say in advance who the neighbor is; rather, nearness and need define “neighbor.”

Klyne Snodgrass in Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008) 357.

Yesterday morning my daily office was thrown off by a set of urgent emails from Africa needing my attention. As a result, I went to church with anticipation that maybe I would hear thoughts worth sharing. That’s what happened.

In the Good Samaritan story, whilst the lawyer answered Jesus’ first question correctly, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” with loving God and neighbor, his follow up revealed his heart. He was trying to justify himself.

With Jesus’ reply we discover there are no boundaries or limits to the answer. Every human must see other humans as his or her neighbor. Leenhardt further defines it by nearness and need. Here are the implications for our generosity.

We get to serve the needs of neighbors that God brings near to our awareness. We do this not to justify ourselves but to show the love and care of God that is within us. Our role is merely to reflect God’s love to a watching world.

Two twists surface in the process. We cannot justify ourselves, and every person comes into view as a neighbor. So, loving God and neighbor appears as our reason for existence. God, help us reflect your love with no boundaries and rich generosity.

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:17

“You can live opposite of what you profess, but you cannot live opposite of what you believe.”

Dallas Willard as cited in Sarafina by Jenna Marasco (Baesic, 2011) 79.

Our actions reveal what we believe.

If we store up treasures on earth, we show our trust is in ourselves rather than God. If we give generously as a conduit of blessing, we reveal our dependence on God to supply.

What do your actions demonstrate?

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 1 Corinthians 6:12

“Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you. Learn to distinguish between a real psychological need, like cheerful surroundings, and an addiction… If you have become addicted to television, by all means sell your set or give it away. Any of the media that you find you cannot do without, get rid of: radios, stereos, magazines, videos, newspapers, books. If money has a grip on your heart, give some away and feel the inner release. Simplicity is freedom, not slavery. Refuse to be a slave to anything but God.”

Richard Foster in Simpler Living, Compassionate Life: A Christian Perspective, ed. Michael Schut (New York: Morehouse, 1999) 187.

Had lunch yesterday with a dear friend and Daily Meditations reader, Micah Kohls. We had sweet fellowship. One topic we discussed was the danger of pursuing power (as it unmasks our deepest fears), pleasures (as it reveals our deepest desires), and possessions (as it shines light on our idols).

The way to find freedom from these addictions and avoid being mastered by anything is to follow Jesus in humility rather than power, simplicity instead of pleasures, and generosity because life is not found in an abundance of possessions.

What tries to produce addition in you? For some today it is social media. For me it is often my work. I love it, sometimes too much. Regarding things, whatever we think we “have to have” has mastery over us. Don’t let beneficial things enslave you.

Choose humility, simplicity, and generosity. Only if you are free of addictions can you grow in generosity. And why choose to be a slave to God? That’s the place of ordered attachments. Everything else falls into place when you get that right.

There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21:25-28

“But, first, remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters.”

C.S. Lewis in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair (Samizdat, 2017) 13-14.

Aslan’s words to Jill in the Silver Chair ring true for us in the times in which we live, which seem like the days Jesus described in today’s Scripture.

Geneous people are attentive, undistracted, and ready. They are attentive to needs around them, focused, and ready to respond in a way that glorifies God.

To remember the signs is to not allow the chaos to shake us. Because we believe, the signs serve instead to strengthen our resolve to live for something bigger.

The signs remind us to maintain a generous posture. So, as God supplies, we give. They also inspire us to hide God’s Word in our heart to build our confidence and courage.

Remember the signs and believe. Nothing else matters.

The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. Psalm 33:5

“On the whole, God’s love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him. Nobody can always have devout feelings: and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about. Christian love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will. If we are trying to do His will we are obeying the commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.” He will give us feelings of love if He pleases. We cannot create them for ourselves, and we must not demand them as a right. But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.”

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins 1980) excerpt from Chapter 3.

Soak in this truth today. Rest in the relentless love of God for you and me and for every person on planet earth.

There is no greater generosity than to know that God’s will toward us is to love us at whatever cost to us and whatever cost to Him.

Let us shift from indifference to determination. Only when we receive this love can we love others with great generosity.

Christian love is the basis for Christian generosity. Their is no height or depth to the latter because infinite is the former.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

“We must respond to God’s gifts gladly and freely with thanksgiving, happiness and joy: but in contempla­tion we thank Him less by words than by the serene happiness of silent acceptance. “Be empty and see that I am God.” It is our emptiness in the presence of the abyss of His reality, our silence in the presence of His infinitely rich silence, our joy in the bosom of the serene darkness in which His light holds us absorbed, it is all this that praises Him. It is this that causes love of God and wonder and adoration to swim up into us like tidal waves out of the depths of that peace, and break upon the shores of our consciousness in a vast, hushed surf of inarticulate praise, praise and glory!”

Thomas Merton in New Seeds of Contemplation (New York: New Directions, 1961) 231.

Often the focus of my daily posts is prophetic, that is calling us to alignment with God’s design and desire for us. God’s Word calls us to live radically countercultural lives and so there is some shock to the tone.

Other times I have a parenetic or an encouraging aim that seeks to offer perspective and help. This is one of such posts. Monks like Merton always give me clarity. I think that’s what is needed in these crazy times.

The point to grasp today is to rest and find peace with God and not to look for it in God’s gifts. I am tempted to think, if I have make a purchase, have an experience, or buy something that my soul will find rest.

All the earth is filled with unrest, but only God is the source of infinite peace. Though I may feel lost in a world filled with sorrow, noise and rejection, God offers joy, stillness, and silent acceptance.

Merton (and I) contemplate this because we have cherished the gifts over the Giver. Perhaps you have too? To grow in generosity allow the waves of God’s love to wash over you again and again and refresh your praise.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. Isaiah 64:6

“Jeremiah says that “from the least to the greatest of them, every one is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest every one deals falsely” (Jeremiah 6:13). Worst of all, this is covered up: “They have healed the wound of the people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14).

Jeremiah’s fellow prophet Isaiah goes so far as to say that “we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6); “like filthy rags”… Not our worst but our best, our righteousness, is filthy rags, infested with impurities. Our generosity is mixed with self-interest, our passion for justice mixed with our lust for vengeance, our love for God mixed with our fear of God.”

Peter Kreeft in Making Sense Out of Suffering (Ann Arbor: Servant, 1986) 115.

Filthy rags. That’s what our generosity is like when it is mixed with self-interest. This description matches other biblical texts which reveal that generosity is the result of God’s work, not our work. All we can muster are righteous deeds infested with impurities.

So how can we make sure there is purity in our righteous deeds?

Pure generosity only flows from a surrendered heart not seeking gain or self-interest. Peace and blessing abound only when our lives our centered on the love of God.

To be sure we are part of the solution to what the world needs and not causing greater problems, or adding filty rags to the mix, let us ask God how our lives are infested with impurities.

Father, wash us and make us clean by your Spirit. Do this for your glory and for peace and blessing to the world we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.