Archives by: Gary Hoag

“Be stedfast, Christian giver. Give what you may receive, sow what you may reap, scatter what you may gather. Fear not to spend, sigh not over the doubtfulness of the gain. Your substance grows when it is wisely dispensed. Set your heart on the profits due to mercy, and traffic in eternal gains. Your Recompenser wishes you to be munificent, and He who gives that you may have, commands you to spend, saying, “Give, and it shall be given to you.”

You must thankfully embrace the conditions of this promise. For although you have nothing that you did not receive, yet you cannot fail to have what you give. He therefore that loves money, and wishes to multiply his wealth by immoderate profits, should rather practice this holy usury and grow rich by such money-lending, in order not to catch men hampered with difficulties, and by treacherous assistance entangle them in debts which they can never pay, but to be His creditor and His money-lender, who says, “Give, and it shall be given to you,” and “with what measure ye measure, it shall be measured again to you [Luke 6:38].”

But he is unfaithful and unfair even to himself, who does not wish to have for ever what he esteems desirable. Let him amass what he may, let him hoard and store what he may, he will leave this world empty and needy, as David the prophet says, “for when he dieth he shall take nothing away, nor shall his glory descend with him [Psalm 49:17].”

Whereas if he were considerate of his own soul, he would trust his good to Him, who is both the proper surety for the poor and the generous Repayer of loans. But unrighteous and shameless avarice, which promises to do some kind act but eludes it, trusts not God, whose promises never fail, and trusts man, who makes such hasty bargains; and while he reckons the present more certain than the future, often deservedly finds that his greed for unjust gain is the cause of by no means unjust loss.”

Leo the Great (c. 400-461) pope and doctor of the church, in Sermon XVII. “On the Fast of the Tenth Month, VI.”

Leo inspired me today and I pray his wise words encourage you to “scatter what you may gather.” Why? Leo sums it up best: “For although you have nothing that you did not receive, yet you cannot fail to have what you give.”

“Give, and it shall be given to you!” The question for each of us remains: Will we “embrace the conditions of this promise” from our Lord? As Sophie graduates today, I believe and pray that she will, and I pray you do too!

“How we should understand these words: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” [Acts 20:35]

And he says that this is a command of the Lord: “For He Himself,” namely the Lord Jesus, said he, “said it is more blessed to give than to receive.” That is, the bounty of the giver is more blessed than the need of the receiver, where the gift is not supplied from money that has been kept back through unbelief or faithlessness, nor from the stored-up treasures of avarice, but is produced from the fruits of our own labour and honest toil.

And so “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” because while the giver shares the poverty of the receiver, yet still he is diligent in providing with pious care by his own toil, not merely enough for his own needs, but also what he can give to one in want; and so he is adorned with a double grace, since by giving away all his goods he secures the perfect abnegation of Christ, and yet by his labour and thought displays the generosity of the rich; thus honouring God by his honest labours, and plucking for him the fruits of his righteousness, while another, enervated by sloth and indolent laziness, proves himself by the saying of the Apostle unworthy of food, as in defiance of his command he takes it in idleness, not without the guilt of sin and of obstinacy.”

John Cassian (c. 360-435) monk and theologian in The Twelve Books of John Cassian on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults, Book X, Chapter XIX, “How we should understand these words: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

When we live in obedience to the teachings of Jesus, we exhibit God’s design. Or in plain terms, we take the better way. And what is the better way regarding handling riches? Cassian notes rightly that we must not keep back for ourselves that which God supplies richly or store up treasures in avarice but rather to share freely the fruit of our own labor. When we learn to live on enough and share the rest, we arrive at “the perfect abnegation of Christ” (cf. Philippians 2:1-11).

“Abnegation” is a word brought to life in the recent “Divergent” novels by Veronica Roth and the corresponding movies that have been produced. Abnegation means “selfless”. Roth divides society into five factions, one of which is “abnegation” or the “selfless” ones. Cassian contrasts the selfless with the selfish who are lazy and idle, the ones to which the Apostle Paul said, “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

In mentioning “the perfect abnegation of Christ” today, my mind goes to my daughter Sophie who will deliver her valedictory address tomorrow. I do not know what she will share in her speech by I know her life has already proclaimed the message of the selflessness of Jesus. Sophie, thank you for your generous love and kindness, for perpetually emptying yourself as a generous giver because you daily fill your cup with the fullness of Christ. I love you. Dad.

“God demands the affection of the heart, which is in our own power…For what would the giving of one’s whole property benefit without charity?

There are some who aim at the credit of generosity for pride alone, because they wish thereby to gain the good opinion of the multitude for leaving nothing to themselves; but whilst they are seeking rewards in this life, they are laying up none for the life to come, and having received their reward here they cannot hope for it there.

Some again, having, through impulsive excitement and not after long consideration, given their possessions to the Church, think that they can claim them back. These gain neither the first nor the second reward, for the gift was made thoughtlessly, its recall sacrilegiously.”

Aurelius Ambrosius (340-397), or Ambrose of Milan, was a bishop and doctor of the church. This excerpt comes from his work, Concerning Repentance, Book II, Chapter IX.

Ambrose announces that our giving must be accompanied with charity, that is, grace-filled love (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:3). Without this “affection of the heart” our giving in meaningless. Remember, we don’t give because the God we serve has deficiencies. God does not need our money; He wants our hearts.

I greatly distain letters from ministries that overemphasize how needs won’t be met unless I give. They exhibit a frazzled trust in people as the source of support. Conversely, I love letters that challenge me to think about God’s generosity toward me and the grace I have received. When I reflect on God’s abundance, the “affection of my heart” grows, and with it, my gratitude and generosity.

If you send such letters, please direct your audience to consider on God’s abundant grace rather than your temporal needs, and ask them to pray with you for God’s provision, thus exhibiting your trust in God as your Provider.

Our giving must also be accompanied with humility rather than the pride. Those who give to get recognition, have received their reward in full (cf. Matthew 6:1-4). Simultaneously, let us resolve not to give thoughtlessly or sacrilegiously. There must be an intentionality and a sincerity to our giving. How we handle money is important to Jesus because where our treasure is, there our heart will be also (cf. Matthew 6:21). He wants our hearts!

If you, or perhaps more specifically, your heart needs help with this, call your local National Christian Foundation office. I had the privilege of speaking at a luncheon yesterday for their Colorado office and was reminded afresh by Bryan Chrisman of the wonderful services, support, and spiritual insight they offer from their offices around the country.

“For the method of godliness consists of these two things, pious doctrines and virtuous practice: and neither are the doctrines acceptable to God apart from good works, nor does God accept the works which are not perfected with pious doctrines. For what profit is it, to know well the doctrines concerning God, and yet to be a vile fornicator? And again, what profit is it, to be nobly temperate, and an impious blasphemer?”

Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313-386) was an early church theologian, bishop, and one the doctors of the church. Here he is recounted in Lecture IV. “On the Ten Points of Doctrine”.

Constantine stationed bishops in the various regions of the Roman Empire. Cyril presided as bishop over Caesarea Maritima (modern day Israel and Palestine). He taught “pious doctrine coupled with virtuous practice” passionately. You can’t have one without the other! No more impious blaspheming and vile fornication. He echoed the Apostle Paul who announced: we were dead, but God made alive in Christ by His grace, and our good works are the way of life that God designed for us.

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. Ephesians 2:1-10.

“For thy stewardship of these corruptible things thy reward shall be glory everlasting, a crown of righteousness, the heavenly kingdom…Thy heart is so fixed on the present that thou despisest what is waited for in hope. Come then; dispose of thy wealth in various directions. Be generous and liberal in thy expenditure on the poor. Let it be said of thee, He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever.

Do not press heavily on necessity and sell for great prices. Do not wait for a famine before thou openest thy barns. He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him. Watch not for a time of want for gold’s sake — for public scarcity to promote thy private profit…Thou keepest thine eye on thy gold, and wilt not look at thy brother…Thou canst not tell who is thy brother in the day of distress.”

Basil of Caesarea (330-379) bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, also known as one of the Cappadocian Fathers, in Homily VI on Luke 12:18 on selfish wealth and greed.

A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water. The people curse those who hold back grain, but a blessing is on the head of those who sell it. Proverbs 11:25-26

In reading Basil’s homily and related Scriptures this morning this phrase stuck with me: “Do not wait for a famine before thou openest thy barns.” Basil exhorts us to be generous at all times, not just in crisis, and to shift our eyes off gold and on to people. What do you possess that you could be generous with toward people today?

“Do not put your wages into a bag with holes, but you lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”

You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it. Haggai 1:6

Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:20

Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, a.k.a. St. Jerome (c. 347-420) priest, monk, and doctor of the church. He wrote this letter to a blind church leader to encourage him. This excerpt comes from Letter LXXVI. To Abigaus.

In the larger letter Jerome exhorts Abigaus to adopt a posture of repentance for sin, to not grieve because he is blind but pray for eyes to see the spiritual harvest (cf. John 4:35), to resist temptations, to care for a widow, and of course, to handle money as the Master instructs us.

In plain terms, we should buy the food and clothes we need, and beyond that, direct the resources in our stewardship to God’s eternal kingdom rather than just buy more and more earthly things. Also, when we work and store up money for ourselves, ironically, we actually put it in a purse with holes.

This ancient correspondence between an early church doctor and an early church leader exhibits both a knowledge of the Scriptures and a call to obedience. Jerome was known for short quips, which tweet well today. Share his wisdom through your social network!

“How absurd it would be to grasp at money and throw away health; and to be lavish of the cleansing of the body, but economical over the cleansing of the soul; and to seek for freedom from earthly slavery, but not to care about heavenly freedom; and to make every effort to be splendidly housed and dressed, but to have never a thought how you yourself may become really very precious…

Sow in good season, and gather together, and open thy barns when it is the time to do so; and plant in season, and let the clusters be cut when they are ripe, and launch boldly in spring, and draw thy ship on shore again at the beginning of winter, when the sea begins to rage…if you will follow Solomon’s advice. And it is best to do so, for the advice is profitable. But the work of your salvation is one upon which you should be engaged at all time…

Gregory of Nazianzus (330-390) Archbishop of Constantinople in Oration XL.XIII-XIV “The Oration of Holy Baptism” preached at Constantinople on 6 January 381.

Sophie turns 18 today! As she launches into adulthood as a committed Christ-follower, my advice to her (and to everyone else reading this) echoes the words of Gregory. The world will want you to focus on everything earthly: Don’t do it. Don’t be distracted. Keep your focus on God and your engagement with the work of your salvation and let the rest take care of itself. These words represent advice I am still learning in adulthood (so I am a slow learner in some areas). Anyway do this and you will shine for Jesus! Happy birthday, Sophie Victoria!

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. Philippians 2:12-15

“If you find physical pleasure in earthly experiences, use the occasion to praise God for these gifts. Turn your love not on the pleasures but toward their Maker. Otherwise the things that please you will cause you to displease.”

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) in The Confessions of St. Augustine: Modern English Version (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005) 62.

I returned late last night from three days of fly fishing with my son, Sammy, in Puget Sound, WA. The trip was an unforgettable gift from God! One of my highlights was the way Sammy and I often celebrated “God’s extravagance” and creativity when catching a beautiful Coastal Cutthroat Trout (underwater trout video forthcoming shortly at www.sammysflyshop.com).

With Augustine, we believe that gifts not received rightly can become like gods to us. For example, do we love fly fishing for trout? We enjoy it as a gift from God. Our love, however, is toward the creator of the fish, the One who gave us fish to enjoy and share (we practice catch and release). Today, Sammy and I have 110 reasons to praise God. That’s how many coastal cutthroats and coho salmon we landed in three days. No kidding!

If we cannot learn to enjoy and share God’s blessings as gifts, we can never be generous. Let us consider earthly experiences as gifts, and consequently, celebrate and imitate the generosity of the Giver of all good things (cf. James 1:17)

“It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful [1 Corinthians 4:1-2]: that is, that he does not appropriate to himself his master’s goods, that he does not as a master lay claim for himself but administer as a steward. For a steward’s part is to administer well the things committed to his charge: not to say that his master’s things are his own; but, on the contrary, that his own are his master’s. Let every one think on these things, both he that hath power in speech and he that possesses wealth, namely, that he hath been entrusted with a master’s goods and that they are not his own; let him not keep them with himself, nor set them down to his own account; but let him impute them unto God who gave them all.”

John Chyrsostom (c. 347-407), Archbishop of Constantinople, in Homilies on the Epistles to the Corinthians X.5. He received the epithet “chrysostomos” (translated from the Greek as “golden mouthed”) because he was an eloquent communicator. He was one of the four doctors of the Eastern Church.

Chrysostom states plainly that we must not “lay claim” to anything we possess for ourselves but rather administer all we possess according to God’s purposes. When we handle God’s resources in this way, we serve as faithful stewards. Everything you and I possess belongs to God. Everything. So let’s administrate great!

“In the splendor of imperial authority, she bestowed abundant proofs of her liberality as well on the inhabitants of the several cities collectively, as on individuals who approached her, at the same time that she scattered largesses among the soldiery with a liberal hand. But especially abundant were the gifts she bestowed on the naked and unprotected poor. To some she gave money, to others an ample supply of clothing: she liberated some from imprisonment, or from the bitter servitude of the mines; others she delivered from unjust oppression, and others again, she restored from exile.”

Flavia Julia Helena (c. 250-330), a.k.a. Empress Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine. She is thought to have significantly shaped her son’s Christian faith. Undoubtedly, she influenced his generosity based on this testimony from Eusebius Pamphilius in The Life of Constantine, Book III, Chapter XLIV “Of Helena’s Generosity and Beneficent Acts.”

I wish I would have discovered this quote before Mother’s Day. Better late than never, I share it today to inspire all women who read these posts to consider the generous influence they can have on the lives of people around them. I especially want to honor one young lady who shines brightly for Jesus: Sophie Victoria Hoag.

Join me in praying for her. She was honored yesterday as the 2015 Valedictorian for Front Range Christian School. Let’s pray specifically that she can have a generous influence through the speech she delivers to her classmates and all who attend the graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 23, 2015. I love you, Sophie!