Archives by: Gary Hoag

“Jealousy arises easily in our hearts. 

In the parable of the prodigal son, the elder son is jealous that his younger brother gets such a royal welcome even though he and his loose women swallowed up his father’s property (Luke 15:30). 

But the Father says to the older son:  “You are with me always and all I have is yours” (Luke 15:31). 

And in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, the workers who worked the whole day are jealous that those who came at the eleventh hour receive the same pay as they did (see Matthew 20:1-16).  

And the landowner says: “Why should you be envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:15).
 
When we truly enjoy God’s unlimited generosity, we will be grateful for what our brothers and sisters receive.  Jealous will simply have no place in our hearts.”

Henri Nouwen in Bread for the Journey entry for July 6 (SanFrancisco: Harper, 1997).

“One of the fathers said, “If anyone asks you for something, and you give it to him, even if you are forced to give it, let your heart go with the gift, as it is written, ‘If a man forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two’ (Matt. 5:41). This means that if you are asked for anything, give it with a willing heart.”

A Desert Father in Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another by Rowen Williams (Boston: New Seed Books, 2005) 130.

“The collector of money is stirred by charity, but, when the money is in, the grip tightens.”

St. John Climacus (c. 525-606) in the Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 16 on love of money, or avarice.

“Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distresses of everyone, and let your hand given in proportion to your purse.”

George Washington (1732-1799) excerpt from a letter to a relative, recounted by John M. Templeton Jr. in Thrift and Generosity: The Joy of Giving (West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Foundation Press, 2004) 62.

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done. Prov. 19:17

“God is not biased. Because of unequal needs, however, equal provision of basic rights requires justice to be partial in order to be impartial. (Good firefighters do not spend equal time at every house; they are partial to homes on fire.) Partiality to the weak is the most striking characteristic of biblical justice. In the raging social struggles in which the poor are perennial victims of injustice, God and God’s people take up the cause of the weak and powerless. Rulers and leaders have a special obligation to do justice for the weak and powerless.”

Ron Sider in Just Generosity (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007) 68.

“I know you cannot give away what you have not; but methinks all that you have should be devoted to God.”

Richard Baxter (1615-1691) in The Reformed Pastor, 5th edition, ed. William Brown (London: The Religious Tract Society, 1862) 166.

From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. Jeremiah 6:13

“Don’t be sparing of transitory treasures, of vain wealth. Don’t increase your money under the guise of family piety. “I’m saving it for my children”; a marvelous excuse! He’s saving it for his children. Let’s see, shall we? Your Father saves it for you, you save it for your children, your children for their children, and so on through the generations, and no one of them is going to carry out the commandments of God. Why don’t you rather pay it all over to Him who made you out of nothing? The One who made you is the One who feeds you with the things he made; He is the one who also feeds your children. You don’t, after all, do better by entrusting your sons to patrimony for support, than to your Creator. Any anyhow, people are just lying. Avarice is evil. They want to cover up and whitewash themselves with a name for family piety so that they may appear to be saving up for their children what in fact they are saving up for avarice.”


Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, (354-430) Sermon 9.20 trans. Daniel Doyle and Edmund Hill (New York: New City Press, 2007).

“It takes work to give. To pay attention when someone speaks, you must concentrate; to make a donation to a charity, you must not only earn the money but, as a wise giver, you must research the charity before writing the check; to help in the soup kitchen, you must…well, set aside time and help. Often we are simply too comfortable to give; we’d rather play, be entertained, or just plain do nothing…It will come as no surprise then that we need God to better ourselves as givers. If we are good givers to the extent that we echo God’s giving, then only God can reverse the ill effects that selfishness, pride, and sloth have on giving.”

Miroslav Volf in Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005) 100.

“Often we are inclined to give, give, and give without asking anything in return…When we keep giving without receiving we burn out quickly. Only when we pay careful attention to our own physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs can we be, and remain, joyful givers. There is a time to give and a time to receive. We need equal time for both if we want to live healthy lives.”

Henri Nouwen in Bread for the Journey, entry for July 11 (SanFrancisco: Harper, 1997).

Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:13

“Paul is urging the Roman Christians to…come to the aid of such people, but this will certainly be in no condescending manner but as being one with them…

Christian hospitality must inconvenience us more than that of the world; we do not choose our time or our guests.

Paul is not advocating pleasant social exercise among friends, but the use of one’s home to help even people we do not know, if that will advance God’s cause.

Leon Morris and Franz Leenhardt in The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988) 448.