Archives by: Gary Hoag

Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14

“It is good to love as much as one can, for therein lies true strength, and he who loves much does much and is capable of much, and that which is done with love is well done.”

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) in Life According to Vincent, edited by Nienke Bakker and Ann Blokland (Van Gogh Museum) 115.

Finally, we made it home from Amsterdam (via Munich and London) where, as you can expect, we visited both the Van Gogh Museum and the Kröller-Müller Museum.

I feel like I got to see the world through Vincent’s eyes. He captured the ordinary people and aspects of life with extraordinary beauty, color, and with unmatched brilliance.

I got inspiration for at least a dozen more books, maybe two dozen actually, for which I will request permission for his paintings to serve as the cover image.

We enter the mind of Van Gogh in his letters, mainly to his brother, Theo. That’s where today’s post come from. But notice the header photo, Almond Blossoms.

It was this work, done with great love for his brother, Theo, and his wife, Johanna, that is not only well done, but has a great story behind it.

Theo and his wife Johanna were having a son. Vincent was so excited for them. And, in admiration, they named him Vincent. So to celebrate the birth of Vincent, he painted Almond Blossoms

It was one of Vincent’s favorites. It hangs on the top floor of the Van Gogh museum at the climax of the tour and celebrates new life. He painted it with love and it was well done.

What can you paint with love to celebrate God’s gifts to those around you? Maybe not with paint or easel but with great love.

And please click below to read yesterday’s post. In my travel challenges, a glitch on my end meant that this solid post linked to Anne Frank did not post.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27

On our visit to Amsterdam, my wife, Jenni, and our my daughter, Sophie and our son-in-law, Peter, had the privilege of visiting the Anne Frank House.

Anne and her Jewish family hid there for about two years during the second world war, and were found out. Ultimately, all but the father came to an untimely demise in the concentration camps.

The tour of the house features lessons learned from Anne’s diary. This excerpt struck me today. It’s a poem penned by this amazing young girl.

“Once again St. Nicholas Day.
Has even come to our hideaway;
Our Lady of Peace Chapel on Xavier University’s campus
It won’t be quite as fun, I fear,
As the happy day we had last year.
Then we were hopeful, no reason to doubt
That optimism would win the bout,
And by the time this year came round,
We’d all be free, and safe and sound.
Still, let’s not forget it’s St. Nicholas Day,
Though we’ve nothing left to give away.
We’ll have to find something else to do:
So everyone please look in their shoe!?”

Anne Frank (1929-1945) in The Diary of a Young Girl/

Notice that even when they had nothing left to give away, she noticed that they could find something else to do. They need only look in their shoe.

This implies that when our resources are exhausted, we can keep using the skills and abilities, our gifts and talents, to bless others.

Not sure how to give today. Anne would say, look in your shoes. This echoes the wisdom of Proverbs. When we have the power to do good, we must do it.

Here’s what God is teaching me in real time: to give people grace. Our flight was cancelled in Amsterdam yesterday. I saw a lot of frustration. But learned that when I give grace, God gives more grace.

We got re-touted to Munich, where we spent the night. Today we fly to London Heathrow in the morning and then direct to Denver (hopefully) in the afternoon.

Give us more grace as we look in our shoes, Lord.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Luke 6:35

“The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic God’s giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.”

St. Nicholas of Myra (270-343).

The Basilica of Saint Nicholas (pictured above) across from Centraal Station in Amsterdam holds a relic linked to St. Nicholas. He’s honored as the patron saint of Amsterdam and the rest of the world links him to Santa Claus.

Why mention him the day we are leaving Amsterdam and starting the long trip home?

Imagine if all of us aimed to mimic God’s giving. If we all focused on doing good even to the most undeserving and wicked. We’d look like Jesus to the watching world.

Rather than recount legendary saints, let’s look at ourselves and our current reality.

What if we resolved by grace through faith to mimic the generosity of God? Imagine the reputation we could spread to the watching world!

We can do it because it is not of ourselves and entirely possible in Christ.

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Ephesians 3:8

“The unsearchable riches of Christ; two attractive words, riches and unsearchable, conveying the idea of the things that are most precious being infinitely abundant. Usually precious things are rare; their very rarity increases their price; but here that which is most precious is also boundless – riches of compassion and love, of merit, of sanctifying, comforting, and transforming power, all without limit, and capable of satisfying every want, craving, and yearning of the heart, now and evermore. The thought of his having such riches to offer to all made him regard his office as most glorious, raised him far above the point of view from which the world would despise it, and filled him with adoring gratitude to God for having conferred it on him.”

H. D. M. Spence in Pulpit Commentary notes on Ephesians 3:8.

Read these remarks from Spence again.

What words stand out to you. Infinitely abundant. Sanctifying. All without limit. Most glorious. Adoring gratitude. When we realize what we have in Christ, it helps us grow in gratitude and generosity.

Give thanks today for what you have in Christ, and ask Him how that might lead you to unleash greater generosity.

Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access in boldness and confidence through faith in Him. Ephesians 3:8-12

By the grace of God, the author of Ephesians had the privilege of helping all people discover the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things. And this mystery — this new economy or order of all things — would be made known not just through the writer of this epistle but through the church, and not just to all people but also to all powers.

“This passage confirms that God has foiled the wisdom of the demonic powers, who thought they could end God’s redemptive plans by inciting the political and religious leaders to put Jesus to death. God raised Jesus from the dead, and he became the head of a worldwide body of believers who would spread the good news of his offer of salvation everywhere. . . The only message the church is called to proclaim is the gospel, and that gospel to people all around the world who have not heard its good news of liberation and deliverance from captivity in Satan’s kingdom. Both the existence of the church and the continued evangelistic growth of the church demonstrate to the powers that they are in fact powerless to impede the redemptive work of God.”

The church emerges as the instrument by which God’s grace would be made known to all peoples everywhere.

Clinton E. Arnold in Powers of Darkness: Principalities and Powers in Paul’s Letters (Downers Grove: IVP, 1992) 197–198.

You and I are central to God’s plan. He brings everything together on heaven and earth in Christ and, in His plan, we serve as the instrument for making known this good news.

This excerpt from my paper delivered in Amsterdam this week relates to generosity in this way. God has defeated the forces of evil and we have a part in making this good news known.

And there’s a paradox. The more we get involved, the more we deploy ourselves and the resources in our stewardship, the more God sees and supplies what we need for playing our part.

Like an instrument plays a part in a vital part in making music in an orchestra, consider what part God ould have you play in His master plan. And play it.

I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach different teachings and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training [economy of God] that is known by faith. 1 Timothy 1:3-4

“The term oikonomia is multifaceted, and English translations are all over the map. Such translations as “godly edifying” (KJV) and “divine training” (NRSV) miss the point, while “God’s work” (NIV) is vague. The root idea is household management, but the word could refer to administration of a household, city, empire, or as Stoics applied it, to divine administration of the cosmos.”

Because “the economy of God” is connected to the phrase “in the faith,” scholars have related it to “God’s way of creating and saving the world.” This reading seems fitting based our findings related to the local heresy. Artemis was revered as the author of all life and everything in the local economy of Ephesus revolved around maintaining that international distinction. The charge to Timothy urges him to promote sound teaching that reflects a whole new economy—a new order of things and way of salvation—that revolves around Christ rather than Artemis.”

Christopher R. Hutson in First and Second Timothy and Titus (PCNT; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2019) 32, and Luke Timothy Johnson, The First and Second Letters to Timothy: A New Translation and Introduction (AB35A; New York: Doubleday, 2001) 164.

I have appreciated the many responses from people to my recent posts.

This excerpt from my paper delivered this week in Amsterdam aims to define a multifaceted phrase: economy of God in the faith.

The proverbial orders to Timothy to remain in Ephesus relate to teaching people how to live.

For them, life revolved around money and the goddess. Now, in God’s economy or order of things, it needs to revolve around Christ. Around what does your life revolve?

If it relates to working so many years, making money and then retiring, I have news for you.

That’s the “economy of this world” thinking. Don’t go there. Economy of God thinking puts God in the center, walks in obedience, and lets Him sort everything better than you can.

If this sounds too countercultural or too hard. Try it anyway.

I leave you with the words of G.K. Chesterton. “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”

A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.” Acts 19:24-27

“When the Phocaeans were setting sail from their homeland an oracle was delivered to them, it is said, to use for their voyage as a guide received from the Ephesian Artemis. Accordingly, some of them put in at Ephesus and inquired in what way they might procure from the goddess what had been enjoined upon them. Now the goddess in a dream, it is said, had stood beside Aristarcha, one of the women held in very high honor, and commanded her to sail away with the Phocaeans taking with her a certain reproduction [of Artemis] which was among the sacred images. This done, and the colony finally settled, they not only established the temple, but also did Aristarcha the exceptional honor of appointing her priestess. Further, in the colonial cities [of Marseilles] the people everywhere do this goddess honors of the first rank.”

Strabo, first century Greek historian, geographer, and philosopher who lived in Asia Minor in Geography 4.1.4–5.

Today’s Scripture refers to the silver shrine business that Demetrius and his fellow craftsman ran in ancient Ephesus. It brought in good income. And yet, the ministry of Paul and his companions in Ephesus caused idol sales to fall.

Then today’s quote from Strabo comes from my paper entitled “The Economy of Ephesus in contrast to the Economy of God in 1 Timothy and Ephesian” and shows an ancient example of the oracles wealthy people like Aristarcha would receive.

The oracles urged wealthy people to secure reproductions of the goddess and place her in their homes or on their ships as a guide. Those who did would get honorific titles. This shows how they spread the renown of the goddess widely.

We see this today with many religions in the world. It’s big business to have shrines to other gods who promise things to those who buy them.

Related to generosity, we can respond like Paul and his companions. We can use our wealth to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. This brings people to faith and shows real power, greater than other earthly powers. And it will cause idol sales to fall wherever we live an serve.

Use what wealth you have to spread the Christian movement where you are.

I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. 1 Timothy 2:9-10

“The local festival of Artemis was in progress, with its procession from the city to the temple nearly a mile away. All the local girls had to march in procession, richly dressed, as well as all the young men of Habrocomes’ age—he was around sixteen, already a member of the Ephebes, and took first place in the procession. There was a great crowd of Ephesians and visitors alike to see the festival… Anthia led the line of girls… Her hair was golden—a little of it plaited, but most hanging loose and blowing in the wind. Her eyes were quick; she had the bright glance of a young girl, and yet the austere look of a virgin. She wore a purple tunic down to the knee, fastened with a girdle and falling loose over her arms, with a fawnskin over it, a quiver attached, and arrows for weapons; she carried javelins and was followed by dogs. Often as they saw her in the sacred enclosure the Ephesians would worship her as Artemis.”

Xenophon of Ephesus in Ephesiaca 1.2.2–7, published as Anthia and Habrocomes, ed. and trans. Jeffrey Henderson (LCL 69; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009).

You may wonder why I choose this Scripture and quote from an ancient source for today’s post.

The paper I deliver today at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is entitled, “The Economy of Ephesus in contrast to the Economy of God in 1 Timothy and Ephesians.”

I use ancient sources not widely known, such as Ephesiaca, to demonstrate life in Ephesus. Everything in the economy revolved around service to the goddess, Artemis.

For women, the social and religious rules in the setting expected women to dress and imitate the goddess. That explains why Apostle Paul wants them to use their wealth in different ways.

He wanted them to do good deeds and live generously to demonstrate their worship of God.

If you want a copy of my paper and slide deck, reply and I will share it. Regardless, hear this. God wants us to use any wealth we have to live differently from the world and show our worship of God.

For those who want to read my published doctoral research, see: Wealth in Ancient Ephesus and the First Letter to Timothy. It’s not a popular book but a scholarly NT monograph.

For those of you who like short YouTube videos more than books or papers, check out this video in which I summarize this aspect of my doctoral research. It has been well received with more than 87,000 views.

Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ. Ephesians 3:8

“You know about the Ephesians, of course, and that large sums of money are in their hands, some of them belonging to private citizens and deposited in the temple of Artemis, not alone money of the Ephesians, but also of aliens and of persons from all parts of the world, and in some cases of commonwealths of kings, money which all deposit there in order that it may be safe.”

Dio Chrysostom (first century CE Roman historian, orator, writer, and philosopher) in Oration 31.54.

I shot the peaceful header photo on my morning walk to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Tomorrow I deliver another paper at the conference here in Amsterdam: “The Economy of Ephesus in contrast to the Economy of God in 1 Timothy and Ephesians.”

In my paper, I use ancient evidence, like this testimony of Dio Chrysostom to reconstruct the sitz im leben or setting in life of the rich and the economy of Ephesus.

In so doing, I find a world that revolves around material wealth and honoring the goddess who watches over it in her temple. In this setting Paul charges Timothy to instruct people to live according to a different economy rooted in the boundless riches of Christ.

Today’s post sounds like the modern practice of storing wealth in financial institutions to keep it safe. Let me say, I am not against having back accounts with funds for dedicated purposes.

I think the Apostle Paul would urge faithful stewardship. And such stewardship often results in God expanding our stewardship and supplying more resources.

He does not, however, want us to try to locate our security in amassing wealth. That was the ancient practice in Ephesus and is a modern practice today but described as foolishness by Jesus.

I appreciate your prayers. Reply if you want a copy.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it. 2 Timothy 3:14

“Do not reprimand one another in anger, but in peace, as you have learned from the gospel. Let no one speak with a person who has committed a sin against his neighbor, nor let him hear anything from you, until he repents. But say your prayers, give to charity, and engage in all your activities as you have learned in the gospel of our Lord.”

Didache 15.3-4 in The Apostolic Fathers, ed. and trans. by Bart D. Ehrman (LCL 24 & 25; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003).

The Didache represented the early church discipleship manual. In this excerpt we see how followers of Jesus were to treat one another in a context of increasing hostility. Have we continued in what we have learned?

This text came into view as part of my research for a paper I am delivering today, entitled, “Advice from the Apostolic Fathers on Christian Social Engagement in a Hostile World.”

Imagine if every Christian in modern times followed these instructions in all activities. We might be known for unity rather than division and for love rather than fighting. Lord help us continue in what we have learned.

Reply here to let me know if you’d like a copy of my paper and slide deck.