Archives by: Gary Hoag

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34

“What would happen if we stopped worrying? If the urge to be entertained so much, to travel so much, to buy so much, and to arm ourselves so much no longer motivated our behavior, could our society as it is today still function? The tragedy is that we are indeed caught in a web of false expectations and contrived needs. Our occupations and preoccupations fill our external and internal lives to the brim. They prevent the Spirit of God from breathing freely in us and thus renewing our lives…

Jesus responds to this condition of being filled yet unfulfilled, very busy yet unconnected, all over the place yet never at home. He wants to bring us to the place where we can belong. But his call to live a spiritual life can only be heard when we are willing honestly to confess our own homeless and worrying existence and recognize its fragmenting effect on our daily life. Only then can a desire for our true home develop. It is of this desire that Jesus speaks when he says, “Do not worry…Set your hearts on his Kingdom first…and all these other things will be given you as well.”

Henri J.M. Nouwen (1932-1996) in Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life (New York: HarperCollins, 1981) 28, 37.

“When the Word is choked, it is not merely due to thorns as such, but to the negligence of those allowing them to spring up…For indeed riches have two contrary disadvantages; one, anxiety over them, wearing us out, and spreading darkness over us; and the other, luxury, which makes us soft…Do not marvel at his calling our luxuries “thorns.” If you are intoxicated in your sense your may not be aware of this. One is in sound health who knows that luxury pricks sharper than any thorn. Luxury wastes the soul away even worse than anxiety. It causes more grievous pains both to body and soul. For no one is as seriously harmed by anxiety as by immoderate indulgence…It brings on premature old age, dulls the senses, darkens our reasoning, blinds the keen-sighted mind, and makes the body flabby.”

John Chyrsostom (c. 344/354-407) taken from The Gospel of St. Matthew, Homily 44.7 ACCS.M.57.

“Do you hesitate about your business and professions for the sake of your children and parents? It has been demonstrated to us in Scripture that any too dear relations, crafts and trades are to be quite left behind for the Lord’s sake. For James and John, called by the Lord, immediately leave quite behind both father and ship (Mk. 1:19-20). Matthew is roused from his toll-booth (Mk. 2:14). Even burying a father was too tardy a business for faith (Lk. 9:59-60)! None of those whom the Lord chose to him said, “I have no means to live.”

Tertullian of Carthage (c. 155/160-240/250) taken from On Idolatry 12, ACCS.M.19.

“Nothing of the created order compares with the joy of an intimate relationship with Christ.”

Hadewijch of Antwerp (13th century) as recounted by Glenn Myers in Seeking Spiritual Intimacy: Journeying Deeper with Medieval Woman of Faith (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011) 105.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” Phil 2:5

“The point of emptiness is to get ourselves out of the way so that Christ can full us up.”

Richard Rohr in Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go (New York: Crossroad, 2003) 100.

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What are you in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.

It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evening, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy or gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”

Today I am celebrating my 19th wedding anniversary with joy and thankfulness for the ways my wife, Jenni, has encouraged my love relationship with God. I see firsthand her her deep love for Him and how His love shines everywhere in her life.

Pedro Arrupe, S.J. (1907-1991) as quoted by Richard Rohr in Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer (New York: Crossroad, 2003) 122.

“Many holy maidens…scorned the temptations of the flesh, despised the riches of the world for the love of the heavenly bridegroom in poverty and humility, earning a sparse meal with their own hands. Although their families were wealthy, they preferred to endure hardship and poverty, leaving behind their families and their father’s home rather than to abound in riches or to remain in danger against worldly pomp.”

The Beguines were groups of women who established Christian households dedicated to pursuing a life of spiritual growth across Belgium, the Netherlands, northern France and Germany in the twelfth to the fifteenth century. They sought a middle ground between monasticism and active life in the world.

Jacques de Vitry (c. 1160-1240) as quoted by Glenn Myers in Seeking Spiritual Intimacy: Journeying Deeper with Medieval Woman of Faith (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011) 22.

“Jesus Christ said more about money than any other single thing because, when it comes to a man’s real nature, money is of first importance. Money is an exact index to a man’s true character. All through Scripture there is an intimate correlation between the development of a man’s character and how he handles his money.”

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight. Luke 16:13-15

Richard Halverson (1916-1995), Presbyterian Minister and Chaplain of the U.S. Senate as quoted by Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions, and Eternity (Tyndale, 2003) 3.

“He who has God and everything has no more than he who has God alone.”

C.S. Lewis quoted by Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions, and Eternity (Tyndale, 2003) 3.

“This is the depth of the poverty of the Lord Jesus: the holy Son of God, who from all eternity had experienced perfect and unbroken fellowship with the Godhead as the object of the Father’s perfect love, became the object of God’s wrath for our sakes.”

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

Alfred Martin in the NIV Stewardship Study Bible note on Philippians 2:6-7.