Archives by: Gary Hoag

I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

“What, then, must I do? The task is beyond me, and yet I dare not decline it. I am a mere unskilled passenger, and I find myself placed in charge of a freighted ship. I have not so much as handled a rowboat on a lake, and now I have to trust myself to the noise and turmoil of the Euxine. I see the shores sinking beneath the horizon, “sky and sea on every side”; darkness lowers over the water, the clouds are black as night, the waves only are white with foam. You urge me to hoist the swelling sails, to loosen the sheets, and to take the helm. At last I obey your commands, and as charity can do all things, I will trust in the Holy Ghost to guide my course, and I shall console myself, whatever the event. For, if our ship is wafted by the surf into the wished-for haven, I shall be content to be told that the pilotage was poor. But, if through my unpolished diction we run aground amid the rough cross-currents of language, you may blame my lack of power, but you will at least recognize my good intentions.”

Jerome of Stridon in “Letter to Innocent” (c. 370) in The Principle Works of St. Jerome (Grand Rapids: CCEL).

Ever feel like the challenges you face are so great that you can’t do it. Ever think that the task God has called you to do is a course that you will never be able to navigate. You are not alone.

Jerome was the fourth of the four doctors of the Western Church. We have enjoyed hearing from the other three in the past three days: Augustine of Hippo, Gregory the Great, and Ambrose of Milan.

The challenges he was facing were beyond his ability to handle. Perhaps you feel the same way right now? Remember this: charity can do all things. With the generous help of the Holy Spirit, let’s do our best.

We may run aground. Seriously, we may crash. But let’s give it our best shot and trust in God to help us. We must not let fear of failure hold us back. Let us move boldly and trust God to sustain us.

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:6-10

“That man therefore, ought by all means to be drawn with cords to be an example of good living who already lives spiritually, dying to all passions of the flesh; who disregards worldly prosperity; who is afraid of no adversity; who desires only inward wealth; whose intention the body, in good accord with it, thwarts not at all by its frailness, nor the spirit greatly by its disdain:

One who is not led to covet the things of others, but gives freely of his own; who through the bowels of compassion is quickly moved to pardon, yet is never bent down from the fortress of rectitude by pardoning more than is meet; who perpetrates no unlawful deeds, yet deplores those perpetrated by others as though they were his own; who out of affection of heart sympathizes with another’s infirmity, and so rejoices in the good of his neighbor as though it were his own advantage; who so insinuates himself as an example to others in all he does that among them he has nothing, at any rate of his own past deeds, to blush for;

Who studies so to live that he may be able to water even dry hearts with the streams of doctrine; who has already learnt by the use and trial of prayer that he can obtain what he has requested from the LORD, having had already said to him, as it were, through the voice of experience, While thou art yet speaking, I will say, Here am I (Isaiah 58:9).”

Gregory the Great (c. 339-397) in The Book of Pastoral Rule, Chapter X.

What example are you setting? What message do your pursuits communicate to others? Read this again and assess your own life and generosity.

Father, make us people of compassion, whose inner wealth from service and study, waters dry hearts and sympathizes with those who suffer.

Holy Spirit, empower us to work for the good of our neighbor and to set an example for all who see us of disregard for worldly prosperity.

Jesus, thanks for showing us that prayer and trusting God are the disciplines that will sustain us and show the world the only way to life.

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. Ecclesiastes 7:2

“Compassionate those who are kept in bondage, as though ye also were bondsmen. Console those who are under sorrow. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. From the one we win the merit of discharging a duty, from the other the stain of a transgression. And again, in the one case the reward is yet hoped for, in the other it is received. Sympathize with those who suffer as if ye suffered together with them.”

Ambrose of Milan (c. 339-397) in Letter 63.106.

In A.D. 396, Ambrose wrote this letter less than a year before His death to the Church of Vercellæ. Among his exhortations were the benefits of self-denial, the profit of fasting, and he bids them ‘stand fast,’ and not be led astray by false teachers.

His counsel has never been more appropriate. He knew death would someday claim his life so he sent a message to the living. They were to compassionate those in bondage, console those in sorrow, and sympathize with the suffering.

If we live for ourselves we create havoc all around. If we live for others we, in effect, remove stain by spreading blessing. This impact reaches all the lives we touch. I am praying for my neighbors locally who are in bondage and for friends under sorrow or suffering globally.

God, forgive us for our selfishness and sinfulness. Help us say ‘no’ to ourselves so we can say ‘yes’ to others. Cause us to stand fast in world filled with corruption and false teaching. Renew our strength to lift up others. Do this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:2-5

“With the help of the mercy of the Lord our God, the temptations of this age, the crafty traps of the devil, the toils of this world, the allurements of the flesh, and the swirl of turbulent times, and all bodily and spiritual adversity, are to be overcome by almsgiving and fasting, and prayer…

“Alms,” of course, comes from a Greek word meaning “mercy.” What greater mercy, though could there be toward the miserable, than that which pulled the creator down from heaven, and clothed the founder of the earthy in an earthly body; which made the one who abides equal in eternity to the Father, equal to us in mortality, imposing the form of a servant on the Lord of the world; so that bread itself would be hungry, fullness be thirsty, strength become weak, health would be wounded, life would die?

And all this to feed our hunger, water our drought, comfort our infirmity, extinguish our iniquity, kindle our charity…And so let us perform our alms and deeds of kindness all the more lavishly, all the more frequently, the nearer the day approaches on which is celebrated the alms, the kindness that has been done to us. Because fasting without kindness and mercy is worth nothing to the one who’s fasting.”

Augustine of Hippo in Sermon 207 in Essentials Sermons (New York: New City Press, 2007) 259.

As we enter the last quarter of a challenging year, let’s start it by reflecting on all the benefits we have enjoyed from our compassionate God and apply ourselves to fasting with kindness and mercy.

This is the season when the world will beckon us to self-indulgence, entitlement, and gratification because we ‘deserve’ it. We must not be allured, but must attune to God, setting aside our desires.

Don’t pursue that which will not satisfy. It’s counterintuitive and other worldly. Join the community of stewards around the world aiming to live this way, extending mercy to the world.

When we add kindness and mercy to your fasting, see what happens. It’s God’s design for overcoming the brokenness of this world. And it transforms both us, and the world around us in heavenly ways.

For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness—God is witness. 1 Thessalonians 2:5

“The fact that you are giving money to a charity does not mean that you need not try to find out whether that charity is a fraud or not.”

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity (Quebec: Samizdat University Press, 2014) 45. I could mine the writings and letters of C.S. Lewis for a lifetime. I think this will be the last such post for now. In the final three months of the year, I will return to the theme of ‘compassion’ in the writings of saints.

Tomorrow we enter the fourth quarter of 2020. It’s the season when most charitable giving happens in the USA. At this time and throughout the year, look for organizations that have the ECFA seal. It means they follow seven standards of responsible stewardship, and their faithfulness is verified with peer accountability.

There are many charlatans out there. They say they are doing one thing and yet, it is a “cloak for covetousness.” Seriously, look up their 990 nonprofit tax files using Guidestar or some other service to see what the top executives are paid. Ask the charities you support to see their financials to know where the money is going.

Once you have done this, then give generously. Invest as a partner. Increase your giving to match your capacity. And reach out to the CEO with a word of encouragment. Take it from me. He or she would appreciate it. Do it because these are challenging times.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105

“It is one of the evils of rapid diffusion of news that the sorrows of all the world come to us every morning. I think each village was meant to feel pity for its own sick and poor whom it can help and I doubt if it is the duty of any private person to fix his mind on ills which he cannot help. (This may even become an escape from the works of charity we really can do to those we know.)

A great many people (not you) do now seem to think that the mere state of being worried is in itself meritorious. I don’t think it is. We must, if it so happens, give our lives for others: but even while we’re doing it, I think we’re meant to enjoy Our Lord and, in Him, our friends, our food, our sleep, our jokes, and the birds’ song, and the frosty sunrise.

About the distant, so about the future. It is very dark: but there’s usually light enough for the next step or so. Pray for me always.”

C.S. Lewis in “Letter to Bede Griffiths” dated 20 December 1946 in Yours, Jack: Spiritual Direction from C.S. Lewis (New York: Harper One, 2008) 119.

It is not a secret. Anyone who knows me knows that we do not have the news pumped into our home. We have no satellite or cable TV either. With Lewis, I think each of us should serve the needs of those we know and those with whom we work.

Imagine if everyone did this? What if every Christ follower felt pity for the needy around them?

I think Lewis is spot on with his comment about how the news becomes “an escape from the works of charity we really can do to those we know.” The ‘what ifs’ scenarios of life tempt us to hoard instead of help. What if that horrible story I saw on the news happened to me? It leads us to save what we have instead of sharing it. All from watching the news.

Are their threats of civil war? Might another riot break own? Who will win the election?

When we focus on these questions from the news, it causes us to miss the opportunity to laugh and love with those around us, to extend works of charity with generosity. So, here’s an assignment. Take it or leave it. It might be hard for some of you. Turn off the news this week. It’s an escape from service. Instead, give your life in service to others in some way.

And meditate on the Psalms in the process. Read them at the divine hours if necessary to detox from news (6am, 9am, 12noon, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm and either after 9pm or before 6am). It just might change the rest of your life. For sure, it will give you just enough light to take the next few steps.

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:8-10

“Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? is it dial He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. i do not suppose you and i would have thought much of a Frenchman who waited till the allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side. God will invade.

But i wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realise what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else — something it never entered your head to conceive — comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left?

For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. it will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. it will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.”

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity (Quebec: Samizdat University Press, 2014) 38-39.

For further biblical reading on the Day of the Lord, see Joel 2 and Acts 2. While we await that Day, we need to give people a chance like God gave each of us a chance. Our generosity comes into view as extending the grace and truth of Jesus to a broken and hurting world.

That might, practically speaking, take shape as loving our neighbor as ourselves and getting to know people in our neighborhood. Or, it might reach our community or parts of the world where God has us working. When we live this way we join “the secret society” that aims to spread love to the world.

Meditate on the biblical texts mentioned above. Perhaps get outside and do it in a beautiful place like this vineyard in Palisade, Colorado. In so doing, ask God to bring to your mind 3-5 people who still need a chance. Pray for them by name. Fast (skip a meal) each week. The Day of the Lord has never been closer than now.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16

“Mr. Wirt: How can we foster the encounter of people with Jesus Christ?

C.S. Lewis: You can’t lay down any pattern for God. There are many different ways of bringing people into His Kingdom, even some ways that I specially dislike! I have therefore learned to be cautious in my judgment. But we can block it in many ways. As Christians we are tempted to make unnecessary concessions to those outside the faith.

We give in too much. Now, I don’t mean that we should run the risk of making a nuisance of ourselves by witnessing at improper times, but there comes a time when we must show that we disagree. We must show our Christian colours, if we are to be true to Jesus Christ. We cannot remain silent or concede everything away.

C.S. Lewis in “Cross Examination,” in God in the Dock (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) 262.

Generosity in a world filled with trouble is being salt and light. It’s being useful. People should see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. Notice the Scripture does not say, people will hear our good words.

With Lewis, I think we must avoid “making a nuisance of ourselves.” We do this when our words and works don’t match. Generosity is showing our Christian colours and remaining true to Jesus Christ. We need to remind ourselves that He is watching!

Generosity is helping people encounter Jesus in a manner that is humble and beautiful. It does not remain silent and does not concede everything as morality declines. Instead, it does intentional activities that point people to God.

This comes into view not as telling people what is right and wrong but showing them what is right. To do this at the proper times means to respond when asked. We don’t push our faith on others. Generosity is living rightly and sharing readily.

Rather than sitting around and talking about how bad things are, what if you used what you have for good. Then, when asked, tell people why you are doing it and invite them to join you. Allow your saltiness and shining to point people to the Father in dark times.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

“But the most obvious fact about praise — whether of God or anything — strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it..”

C.S. Lewis in The Joyful Christian (New York: Macmillan, 1977) 118.

Many don’t think of generosity as flowing out of enjoyment, but track with me (and Lewis) on this. I think it could be an area to make God shine in challenging times.

Most people see enjoyment as an end. Take the pursuit of wine for example. Jesus himself enjoyed it with friends as a gift from God! But, many make the enjoyment of wine an end. It becomes an addiction that does not satisfy and leaves people empty.

If, alternatively, giving glory to God is our aim, we can enjoy things like wine or anything else as a gift from God. In our enjoyment, we celebrate God’s goodness and provision with praise. When we do this, our generosity emerges as a healthy example to the world and praise going to only appropriate place.

Let us give glory to God in our enjoyment. Let’s also remember those who are having hard times. Our enjoyment in moderation positions us to have margin for generous sharing.

Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Luke 18:24

“If you have sound nerves and intelligence and health and popularity and a good upbringing, you are likely to be quite satisfied with your character as it is. “Why drag God into it?” you may ask. A certain level of good conduct comes fairly easy to you. You are not one of those wretched creatures who are always being tripped up by sex, or dipsomania, or nervousness, or bad temper. Everyone says you are a nice chap and (between ourselves) you agree with them.

You are quite likely to believe that all this niceness is your own doing: and you may easily not feel the need for any better kind of goodness. Often people who have all these natural kinds of goodness cannot be brought out to recognize their need for Christ at all until, one day, the natural goodness lets them down and their self-satisfaction is shattered. In other words, it is hard for those who are “rich” in this sense to enter the Kingdom.”

C.S. Lewis in “Nice People or New Men” in C.S. Lewis: Readings for Meditation and Reflection, edited by Walter Hooper (New York: Harper One, 1992) 138. Shot the new header photo yesterday afternoon. It’s the moon rising over the aspens in fall colors in Vail.

We don’t often think of people who have privileges like health or wealth to be at a disadvantage. Lewis shines the light on the reality that the rich often live like they have everything sorted and don’t need a “better kind of goodness.”

And we don’t help the cause if we call such people “nice chaps.” In reality, we should present ourselves as broken and remind them that all of us are and that natural goodness won’t get us anywhere. This is how Jesus spoke to rich people. We should do likewise.

How should we treat those who are rich in intelligence and popularity, who have status and creature comforts? We must treat them like everyone else and urge them to recognize the need for the better kind of goodness that only comes from Christ.

Quoting Jesus does not hurt too, but it only sticks if our words match the lifestyle we are living. Remind them that letting go of these things is hard, really hard. But what wins the day is testifying to the matchless gain that is only found in Christ.