Archives by: Gary Hoag

“We must grow rich in God’s sight. [Luke 12:13-21] serves as a wakeup. Wealth is deceiving; we think money or prestige is what we need, and if we have more, then life is good. But Jesus says, when you die, your ‘wealth’ is meaningless. The man in the story finds his heart in his possessions. Jesus calls us to think differently, seeking wealth through God’s eyes. We know that faith, care for the poor, loving deeds are important and our ‘wealth’. Jesus calls us find this wealth so we can be truly rich in God’s sight.”

John Schmidt in the Redemptorists of the Denver Province post for 4 August 2013.

Yesterday I was having an Einstein’s date with my daughter, Sophie, and when I asked her how God has been working in her life, she spoke of dedication—that God was drawing her to deeper levels of dedication.

That led us to converse about the commitment I made over four years ago to dedicate my life to encouraging Christian generosity. Serendipitously, we checked and realized that it was exactly 1,499 days ago, so she asked me: “What will you post to celebrate 1,500?”

I replied, “I don’t know because I ask God to lead me each morning as to what I should study.” Her reply was, “Dad, you’ve gotta use that great quote/scene from the Hobbit!” So here it is. Happy 1,500 days!

Galadriel: Why the Halfling?

Gandalf: Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay… small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? That’s because I am afraid and he gives me courage.

Enjoy the “Why the Halfling?” scene on YouTube from the movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien.

My prayer is that these daily meditations help dispel your fears linked to the evil all around us and give you courage to show kindness and love in your everyday deeds in the spirit of Ephesians 5:15-16.

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

“Ordinary people who are naturally drawn to the comforts of the American dream can be converted to a radical faith in a radical Savior. Why not join us?

If you are serious about taking this journey, though, I believe a couple preconditions exist…first, you need to commit to believe whatever Jesus says…second, you need to commit to obey what you heard. The gospel does not prompt you to mere reflection; the gospel requires a response…

The gospel is the revelation of who God is, who we are, and how we can be reconciled to him. Yet, in the American dream, where self reigns as king (or queen), we have a dangerous tendency to misunderstand, minimize, and even manipulate the gospel in order to accommodate our assumptions and our desires.

As a result we desperately need to explore how much of our understanding of the gospel is American and how much is biblical. And in the process we need to examine whether we have misconstrued a proper response to the gospel and maybe we have missed the primary reward of the Gospel, which is God himself.”

David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (Colorado Springs: Multnomah) 20-28.

“The gospel comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.”

I’ve heard this expression numerous times and did some research to find out its origin.

“Finley Peter Dunne…wrote under the pseudonym of an Irishman named Mr. Dooley. The full quotation goes like this:
 
“Th newspaper does ivrything f’r us.
It runs th’ polis foorce an’ th’ banks,
commands th’ milishy,
controls th’ ligislachure,
baptizes th’ young,
marries th’ foolish,
comforts th’ afflicted,
afflicts th’ comfortable,
buries th’ dead
an’ roasts thim aftherward.”
 
Preachers were quick to apply Dooley’s words to the Christian faith, that the nature of the gospel is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable – that the preacher’s job – and the job of every Christian, for that matter – is to offer hope and consolation to those who are hurting while standing strong against the evils of injustice and oppression and selfish pursuit.”

Finley Peter Dunne in “Newspaper Publicity” in Observations by Mr. Dooley (1902) as explained by Dr. Philip L. McLarty in his sermon, “Comfort the Afflicted, Afflict the Comfortable” (2007).

1. What are the ways I experience the generosity of God?

2. What specific scenes in the Gospels speak to me about Jesus’ generosity?

3. What inhibits my generosity in reaching out to others and sharing my resources with them?

4. How can I respond more generously to God’s love and Jesus; call to discipleship?

Gerald Fagin, Putting on the Heart of Christ (Chicago: CSRLE, 2010) 87.

Give to everyone who asks of you, and do not demand your possessions back from the one who takes them. Luke 6:30

“Benefactors gave to those deemed worthy to receive a gift and who could reciprocate. Those who outgave the other gained status as the superior while the other moved down a rung on the status ladder. Gifts were always business deals used to cement friendships among social equals or to gain or assert power over social inferiors. The benefactor became the patron and the recipient the client who must reciprocate through service or public praise.

Jesus command about giving would have struck the listeners as bizarre. He makes no mention about the worthiness of the recipient and effectively erases the social distinctions between the giver and receiver. To Jesus, [his disciples are to give] without expecting any return from the one who receives…The early Christian community lived this ethic out (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32, 34-35), essentially becoming “fools for Christ” (1 Cor 4:10) from the perspective of the world’s value system [in contrast to the rich fool who kept everything for himself and was not “rich toward God” in Luke 12:13-21].”

David E. Garland in Luke: Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament ed. Clinton E. Arnold (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011) 280.

“With the help of the Spirit of God, we are empowered to goodness [also translated “generosity”].  We make changes in our world for the good of all, and we follow Christian ethics in all of our dealings with others—at home, at work, at church and in the community. Acts of goodness include helping those less fortunate than ourselves, visiting the sick, assisting the homeless, comforting the broken-hearted, and working for the equality of all people (Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:16-19). It is through such good deeds that we become messengers of God’s love. It is Christianity at its most practical.”

Bobbie Reed, Listen to the Heart: Story Meditations on the Fruits of the Spirit (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1997) 74. 

“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”


Augustine of Hippo, Source unknown 4th / 5th century A.D.

“Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.”

Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) entitled this prayer, “Suscipe,” which in Latin means “take or receive” as a radical prayer of self-giving offered response to the love of God.

Jenni and I are on retreat in Wisconsin this weekend with some friends who live up in Door County above Green Bay, and interestingly, we were just talking about this yesterday. Picture this: Blue sky, white clouds, and fresh air. We were sitting out on the dock, probably one hundred feet from shore, eating Door County cherries and Wisconsin cheese with some crackers for our lunch.

We could not help but reflect God’s great love and generosity toward us. Of course we discussed how our response in living a life of generosity is not one of deeds to win His favor, but simply having received His generous love and grace by faith, we get to share that love and grace to others as generously as it was extended to us.

I always connect the thinking of Ignatius to my wife, Jenni, as she went on an Ignatian retreat a number of years ago for one of her Spiritual Formation classes at Denver Seminary. They worked through part of his Spiritual Exercises together.

…the fruit of the spirit is…generosity… Galatians 5:22 (NRSV)

“Our generosity is the work of the Holy Spirit— the work of God within us…It appears as though we develop our generosity on our own, but this is not the case. The Holy Spirit brings forth our generosity…To gain some sense of understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit is to overcome the notion that Christian generosity is some form of achievement…

God is the one who set us free from selfish pursuits. God sets us free from the pursuit of the self because he sets us free from the desire for more, and more, and more. He gives us what we truly desire, the gift of himself, in whom all happiness is contained. We will never completely understand this process because it is the work of God and our “unselving,” our conversion, our surrender, is the work of the Holy Spirit.

This means that it is not our achievement, but rather it is a gift, which is cause for us to be grateful to God. It is by God’s grace, not our own achievement that we surrender. This is cause to be grateful, not proud. Our contribution is to surrender to God; this is a matter of humility, not pride.

Generosity is a disposition of “unselving,” of surrender; it is not a skilled method to be accomplished. Generosity must be one with the Holy Spirit, God in us, a submission to God’s movement in us. It is a matter of releasing the desires of this temporal world so that we may connect with God.”

Harry Verhiley in white paper entitled, Generosity-Cause For Pride?