Archives by: Gary Hoag

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10

“Now the glorious Polycarp at the first, when he heard it, so far from being dismayed, was desirous of remaining in town; but the greater part persuaded him to withdraw. So he withdrew to a farm not far distant from the city; and there he stayed with a few companions, doing nothing else night and day but praying for all men and for the churches throughout the world; for this was his constant habit. And while praying he falleth into a trance three days before his apprehension; and he saw his pillow burning with fire. And he turned and said unto those that were with him: ‘It must needs be that I shall be burned alive.'”

Polycarp of Smyrna in Martyrdom of Polycarp 5.1-2, translated by J.B. Lightfoot.

Over the next few days I will share excerpts of one of the greatest martydom stories in early church history. Polycarp was a disciple of John. Imagine being told that you would be martyred. Most would run. Not Polycarp. He went to a peaceful retreat to pray for people.

For the early church writings, a disciple is one willing to die for the faith. Polycarp got a vision of his fate in advance and feared not. Would we? Would you be found praying for all men? May this post not only inspire readers to finish well. Make your end worthy of remembrance!

Today the GTP board, staff, and regional facilitators gather from around the world. Each has signed a commitment form. They are all in. For many this comes at great risk. What would you do if your days were numbered? News flash. They are! Make every one count!

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2

“I have become acquainted with your name, much-beloved in God, which you have acquired by the habit of righteousness, according to the faith and love in Jesus Christ our Savior. Being the followers of God, and stirring up yourselves by the blood of God, you have perfectly accomplished the work which was beseeming to you.

For, on hearing that I came bound from Syria for the common name and hope, trusting through your prayers to be permitted to fight with beasts at Rome, that so by martyrdom I may indeed become the disciple of Him who gave Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God, you hastened to see me.

I received, therefore, your whole multitude in the name of God, through Onesimus, a man of inexpressible love, and your bishop in the flesh, whom I pray you by Jesus Christ to love, and that you would all seek to be like him. And blessed be He who has granted unto you, being worthy, to obtain such an excellent bishop.”

Ignatius of Antioch in The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 1 (dated between AD 107-110).

If we think times are hard today, listen to what Ignatius of Antioch faced. Let me set the scene. By the end of the first century, Clement, Bishop of Rome was martyred. He was ied to an anchor and tossed into the sea.

Next, Ignatius would be escorted from Syria to Rome. He would encourage saints to persevere in letters to churches along the way. In this, his letter to the Ephesians, we hear him commended them for their habit of righteousness.

Notice his willingness, even eagerness, to give his life for God. For the early church, to be a disciple was not to believe in Jesus but to give your life for Jesus. Big difference!

Remember, he’s writing the church in Ephesus. This is the same church where Paul ministered from AD 52-54, and where Timothy served after him until his martyrdom in AD 80.

But by around AD 96, when John wrote Revelation, he alerted them to return to their first love. How would their story go from there? They must have gotten the message and repented.

What matters is not how we start but how we finish. God help us finish well. Help us give our lives for Jesus and be known for a habit of righteousness, and may those who serve have a reputation of inexpressible love.

Keep praying for my GTP global gathering meetings with 29 workers from 17 countries this week. Soon the GTP annual report will be released to get to know them. For now, your prayers are appreciated.

These are disciples of Jesus, giving their lives in service to Christ with eagerness.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:12

“By remitting sins, He did indeed heal man, while He also manifested Himself who He was. For if no one can forgive sins but God alone, while the Lord remitted them and healed men, it is plain that He was Himself the Word of God made the Son of man, receiving from the Father the power of remission of sins; since He was man, and since He was God, in order that since as man He suffered for us, so as God He might have compassion on us, and forgive us our debts, in which we were made debtors to God our Creator…As by means of a tree we were made debtors to God, so also by means of a tree we may obtain remission of our debt.”

Irenaeus of Lyons in Against Heresies 5.17.2 in The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1905) 545.

When I saw the fall colors this weekend and shot this photo of the trees by the entry to our townhouse development, it made me think of this famous excerpt from Irenaeus of Lyons: “As by means of a tree we were made debtors to God, so also by means of a tree we may obtain remission of our debt.” Think about this for a moment with me.

The tree by my home was red, the color of blood shed for us to heal us out of compassion. Our mess started when we took from a forbidden tree. As I think about the compassion of God toward us, in making a way for us to obtain remission of our debts, I think about how generous He is and how we must spread that generosity to others because we have been healed.

Then I thought about today’s Scripture. We must be people who forgive if we expect our sins to be forgiven. We get to be compassionate healers. We get to share the love we have received when we were undeserving. This is my prayer for the board, staff, and regional facilitators of GTP as we gather online for four days of meetings this week from all over the world.

God thanks for forgiving us, for healing our brokenness on a tree, because of your great compassion and love. When we see the colors changing on trees, may we be reminded what changed because of your work on a tree for us through Jesus Christ our Lord. And by your Holy Spirit, help us forgive others and compassionately help them find healing in You. Amen.

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22: 34-40

“As the world attracts us with its appearance, and abundance and variety, it is not easy to turn away from it unless in the beauty of things visible the Creator rather than the creature is loved; for, when He says, ‘you shall love the Lord your God from all your heart, and from all your mind, and from all your strength’ (Mt. 22:37), He wishes us in nothing to loosen ourselves from the bonds of His love. And when He links the love of our neighbor also to this command, He enjoins on us the imitation of His own goodness, that we should love what He loves and do what He does.”

Leo the Great in Sermon 30.2 in Ancient Christian Doctrine, volume 4, edited by Joel C. Elowsky with series editor, Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2009) 132.

To imitate God’s goodness and generosity is to love what God loves and do what God does.

What does God love? People. He loves you and me. He loves those that look like us and are different from us. He wants us to love them too, which is why love of God and love of neighbor are connected.

What does God do? He does good in all things. We get to follow suit. We get to return fault with forgiveness. We get to serve rather than be served. We get to show grace and mercy to even the most undeserving.

Too much of giving is to things we care about. Since all we have belongs to God, and we belong to God our generosity should flow toward what God loves and cares about. We need to get ourselves out of the way.

God help us love what you love and do what you do. Amen.

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

‘True piety admits no other rule than that whatsoever things have been faithfully received from our fathers the same are to be faithfully consigned to our children; and that it is our duty, not to lead religion whither we would, but rather to follow religion whither it leads; and that it is the part of Christian modesty and gravity not to hand down our own beliefs or observances to those who come after us, but to preserve and keep what we have received from those who went before us.”

Vincent of Lérins (died c. 445) in The Commonitory of Vincent of Lérins 6.16 (London: Aeterna, 1894).

I did not know much about Vincent of Lérins until my dear friend, John Stanley, alerted me to his  wisdom yesterday. Thank God for faithful friends!

To “faithfully consign” something is to deliver it diligently to the next generation. What I love about John he wakes up each day ready to do is part to pass the baton.

What about you? Do you focus on getting yourself out of the way so that what others receive is pure goodness from God? Or are you handing down your own beliefs?

Basically Vincent was saying that every generation can either pass it on or screw it up. His resolve after the Council of Ephesus was not to mess things up. With him, let’s get it right.

While our Lord tarries His return, which seems almost imminent, let’s not hand down our own agendas but “what we received from those who went before us.”

That’s generosity, because what we are preserving and passing on is priceless.

Give us today our daily bread. Matthew 6:11

“Who gives you the day will give you also the things necessary for the day.”

Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-395) in his sermon “The Lord’s Prayer” as recounted in 1001 Quotations That Connect Timeless Wisdom for Preaching, Teaching, and Writing (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009) 135.

That meditation is short and sweet! Could it be any sweeter?

The God who gave us today will provide whatever we need. That means if He allows us to suffer, He will give us grace. If He causes us to prosper, He will give us resources to enjoy and share.

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:1-2

“Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines. It is not to lead our neighbor into a corner where there are no alternatives left, but to open a wide spectrum of options for choice and commitment. It is not an educated intimidation with good books, good stories, and good works, but the liberation of fearful hearts so that words can find roots and bear ample fruit….The paradox of hospitality is that it wants to create emptiness, not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly emptiness where strangers can enter and discover…Hospitality is not a subtle invitation to adopt the lifestyle of the host, but the gift of a chance for the guest to find his own.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life (New York: Image, 1975) 71-72.

One of the most generous things we can do in relationships is to show fearless hospitality with friendly emptiness. Hang with me. This will make sense.

The fearless part is finding freedom Christ from all our fears. This is freedom from control, idolatry, and pride—the three sins Jesus resisted before His ministry began—so we can interact with people with fearless hospitality in a way that creates friendly emptiness.

In plain terms, they will want what Jesus offered when He walked the earth and what we have to offer. It is what welcomes the stranger to become a friend.

We often think of generosity and compassion merely as good works. That is a huge part but not the whole picture. We do well to also think in terms of showing fearless hospitality in a broken, divided and corrupt world with the aim of creating friendly openness.

It just might be gracious and compassionate generosity at its best. I have so much to learn about all these things. God help me. You too? God help us.

Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:25

“[Christ] always lives to make intercession for us. How good and truly mystical and generous to humans! For to intercede does not imply, as it ordinarily does for most mortals, to seek vengeance – there would be a hint of inferiority in that – but it is to act as a representative for us by virtue of His mediation, just as the Spirit also is said to intercede for us. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human…

Likewise, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, not in the sense that He prostrates Himself for us before the Father and falls at the Father’s feet like a slave – away with a notion so truly slavish and unworthy of the Spirit! For the Father does not require this, nor does the Son submit to it. Has anyone the right to think such a thing of God? But by what He suffered as human being, He as the Word and the Counsellor persuades me to endure. I think this is the meaning of His advocacy.”

Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390) in “Theological Orations 4: On the Son” 2.9, translated by Stephen Reynolds (Estate of Stephen Reynolds) 86-87.

When life is hard, we must remember that Jesus is pulling for us. What a non-stop generous intercessor we have! As we journey with Christ, let us consider today what it would look like to generously intercede for others, to persuade them to endure.

It starts with slowing down, checking in, and asking people how they are doing. From there, we listen. I am learning to tune in beyond the words to the heart behind them. Is the person suffering, struggling, or searching? My tendency is to give answers and solve problems.

To be like Jesus, we advocate for them to the Father, not once but repeatedly. We pray that He will save and sustain them. We so truth into their lives at random times and just love them. I fail at this most of the time, but I think intercession is compassion at its best.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

“O Lord Almighty, God of hosts and of all flesh, Who dwellest on high and lookest down on things that are lowly, Who searchest our hearts and innermost being, and clearly foreknowest the secrets of men; O unoriginate and everlasting Light, in Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning; do Thou, O Immortal King, receive our supplications which we, daring because of the multitude of Thy compassions, offer Thee at the present time from defiled lips; and forgive us our sins, in deed, word, and thought, whether committed by us knowingly or in ignorance, and cleanse us from every defilement of flesh and spirit. And grant us to pass through the night of the whole present life with watchful heart and sober thought, ever expecting the coming of the bright and appointed day of Thine Only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ, whereon the Judge of all shall come with glory to reward each according to his deeds. May we not be found fallen and idle, but watching, and upright in activity, ready to accompany Him into the joy and divine palace of His glory, where there is the ceaseless sound of those that keep festival, and the unspeakable delight of those that behold the ineffable beauty of Thy countenance. For Thou art the true Light that enlightenest and sanctifiest all, and all creation doth hymn Thee unto ages of ages. Amen.”

Basil the Great (330-379) bishop of Caesarea, one of the three Cappadocian Fathers, and doctor of the Eastern Church in Prayer 5 (Indiana University: Holy Trinity Monastery, 1996) 18.

As the early church was taking shape, Basil was a prolific writer. He was a voice calling the church to live with watchfulness in thinking and uprightness in activity. Such keen perspective and sober living is needed for the “night” in which we find ourselves.

To unite the hearts of God’s people together, Basil wrote prayers. This is a famous one. Read it again out loud from your heart. Our days are numbered. Only God knows the number. Let us live each one with readiness, generosity, and anticipation. Come Lord Jesus.

Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them. Galatians 6:6

“Here he proceeds to discourse concerning teachers, to the effect that they ought to be tended with great assiduity by their disciples. Now what is the reason that Christ so com- manded? For this law, “that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel,” (1 Cor. 9:14) is laid down in the New Testament; and likewise in the Old, (Num. 31:47; 35:1–8) many revenues accrued to the Levites from the people; what is the reason, I say, that He so ordained? Was it not for the sake of laying a foundation beforehand of lowliness and love?

For inasmuch as the dignity of a teacher oftentimes elates him who possesses it, He, in order to repress his spirit, hath imposed on him the necessity of requiring aid at the hands of his disciples. And to these in turn he hath given means of cultivating kindly feelings, by training them, through the kindness required of them to their Teacher, in gentleness towards others also. By this means no slight affection is generated on both sides…

To ask for aid bears the semblance of disgrace, but it ceased to be so, when their teachers with all boldness urged their claim, so that their disciples derived from hence no small benefit, taught hereby to despise all appearances. Wherefore he says, “But let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things,” that is, let him show to him all generosity; this he implies by the words, “in all good things.” Let the disciple, says he, keep nothing to himself, but have everything in common, for what he receives is better than what he gives,—as much better as heavenly are better than earthly things.”

John Chrysostom in Homilies on Galatians (Grand Rapids: CCEL) 87-88.

Be generous to your teachers. Pause and think about those who feed you spiritually. Consider how you may bless them. Help them sort their daily challenges as they help you grasp biblical ideas. Do this because whatever you exchange is no match for that which you receive. Share generously.