Meditations

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Matthew 23:12

Two days ago, my daily meditation was entitled “Ann Voskamp: Leave Noticeable Marks” and in response I received an email from a dear friend, Randy Kipp. He shared an illustration from his teaching days that blessed me. He gave me permission to pass it on to you as today’s post. Enjoy.

“In teaching science to my students I would fill different sized containers with water to the very brim. Students would put their finger in the water and observe. Water would spill out. The water level is raised each time. The physics is that all matter takes up space. Spiritually, the lesson is about how little things make a difference even if unseen. So, as the water level is raised when the finger was placed into the container, the ocean level is raised when a finger is placed into it. The ocean water level change can’t be seen nor measured, but the change occurs. When we do small things, when we leave those marks in Christ’s name (or even not in Christ’s name), we are part of a change of another’s eternity. That small touch, that little mark, has huge heavenly significance even though we might not see or realize it.

Today’s meditation also goes along with a prayer that I enjoy praying every Thursday morning at the men’s group: The Litany of Humility. My desire is to join God in what He is doing in the world by being used as His instrument to leave those noticeable marks for Jesus while I remain unnoticed. So much work yet to be done in my life regarding humility. LOL! Thanks for these daily meditations.”

Randy Kipp in personal email to Gary Hoag on 28 June 2018. Randy drives for work, and prays throughout the day. I know him as the “Mobile Monk” as he often drives me to the airport in the middle of the night when I have to depart on early morning flights linked to long trips. What a saint! The little lifts he gives me make a big difference!

Thank you Lord, for friends like Randy who are brave enough to dip themselves into the ocean of life in service with humility even when they see no noticeable difference, knowing that we make a “huge heavenly significance” when our service, which often goes unnoticed, is done with great love in the name of Christ.

As a bonus, here is The Litany of Humility by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Va (1865-1930). Pray it with me today.

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed …
Deliver me, Jesus. (repeat after each line)
From the desire of being loved …
From the desire of being extolled …
From the desire of being honored …
From the desire of being praised …
From the desire of being preferred to others …
From the desire of being consulted …
From the desire of being approved …
From the fear of being humiliated …
From the fear of being despised …
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
From the fear of being forgotten …
From the fear of being ridiculed …
From the fear of being wronged …
From the fear of being suspected …

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I …
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease …
That others may be chosen and I set aside …
That others may be praised and I unnoticed …
That others may be preferred to me in everything…
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should …

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 John 2

“Beloved is beyond anything we ourselves can imagine. One of the greatest acts of faith is to believe that the few years we live on this earth are like a little seed planted in a very rich soil. For this seed to bear fruit, it must die. We often see or feel only the dying, but the harvest will be abundant even when we ourselves are not the harvesters.

How different would our life be were we truly able to trust that it multiplied in being given away! How different would our life be if we could but believe that every little act of faithfulness, every gesture of love, every word of forgiveness, ever little bit of joy and peace will multiply and multiply as long as there are people to receive it…and that — even then — there will be leftovers!”

Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) in Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World (New York: Crossroad, 2002) 123.

I’m at home working on a project that has the potential to bring abundant impact for generations after me should our Lord Jesus Christ tarry His return. Perhaps you’ve worked on such projects. For this reason, I am sitting in the idea of what it means to sow my life like a little seed to produce an abundant harvest for those after me.

Nouwen sets forth a profound truth for us: “One of the greatest acts of faith is to believe that the few years we live on this earth are like a little seed planted in a very rich soil.” Will you believe this with me? We can multiply the impact of our lives by giving them away with intentionality and generosity for God’s glory.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8

“Real love dares you to the really dangerous: Die in the diminutive. Be broken and given in the small, the moments so small no one may applaud at all. Pour out your life in laundry rooms and over toilets and tubs, and pour out life on the back streets, in the back of the room, back behind the big lights. Pour out your life in small moments, because it’s only these moments that add up to the monumental. The only way to live a truly remarkable life is not to get everyone to notice you, but to leave noticeable marks of His love everywhere you go.”

Ann Voskamp in The Way of Abundance: A 60-Day Journey into a Deeply Meaningful Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018) 107-108.

To “leave noticeable marks” of God’s love requires us to be filled with God’s love so that we can generously dispense it wherever we go. I am convinced we cannot will ourselves to “die in the diminutive” but we can do it when we know deeply and intimately the One who is love. These moments will look different for each of us but all of them will have the same defining feature: love. Leave noticeable marks today, tomorrow, and every day after that!

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him. Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:5-8

“As the Lord is pleased by death to remove donors, or to take away from them the ability to continue to help us, or to direct their means into other channels; so also He raises up new donors, or inclines the hearts of those who have helped us before, to do this more abundantly…God is pleased continually to vary His mode of dealing with us, in order that we may not be tempted to trust in donors, or in circumstances, but in Him alone, and to keep our eye fixed upon Him.”

George Müller (1805-1898) in George Müller in A Narrative of Some of the Lord’s Dealings with George Müller, Written by Himself, Sixth Part (London: J. Nisbet, 1886) 212.

Anyone engaged in God’s work can be tempted to trust in the support of wealthy people rather than God to supply. Here Müller notes rightly that God is pleased to change up the sources of provision in order to keep our eyes fixed on Him. Join me in resolving to pour out all needs to God and trust Him to provide as our mighty rock and refuge.

Though everyone enjoys God’s supply at varying levels, we must give abundantly as God directs, for we are His distributors. Our time to do this is short. Someday the Lord will be pleased by death to relieve each of us of our duties. With all we are and all we have while we enjoy the gift of life, let us participate abundantly, trusting God to sustain us for His glory.

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:11-13

“This text contains a very timely cordial to revive the drooping spirits of the saints in these sad and sinking times. For the “hour of temptation” has already come upon all the world to try the inhabitants of the earth.

Our great Apostle holds forth experimentally in this text the very life and soul of all practical divinity. In it, we may plainly read his own proficiency in the school of Christ and what lesson every Christian who would prove the power and growth of godliness in his own soul must necessarily learn from him. These words are brought in by Paul as a clear argument to persuade the Philippians that he did not seek after great things in the world, and that he sought not “theirs” but “them.” He did not long for great wealth; his heart was taken up with better things. “I do not speak,” he says, “in respect of want, for whether I have or have not, my heart is fully satisfied, I have enough: ‘I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.’”

“In whatsoever state I am.” The word state is not in the original, but simply “in what I am,” that is, in whatever concerns or befalls me, whether I have little or nothing at all.

“Therewith to be content.” The word rendered “content” here has great elegance and fullness of meaning in the original. In the strict sense, it is only attributed to God, Who has styled Himself “God all-sufficient,” in that He rests fully satisfied in and with Himself alone. But He is pleased freely to communicate His fullness to the creature, so that from God in Christ the saints receive “grace for grace” (John 1:16). As a result, there is in them the same grace that is in Christ, according to their measure. In this sense, Paul says, I have a “self-sufficiency,” which is what the word means.

You will say, “How are we sufficient of ourselves?” Our Apostle affirms in another case, “That we are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves” (2 Corinthians 3:5). Therefore his meaning must be, “I find a sufficiency of satisfaction in my own heart, through the grace of Christ that is in me. Though I have not outward comforts and worldly conveniences to supply my necessities, yet I have a sufficient portion between Christ and my soul abundantly to satisfy me in every condition.” This interpretation agrees with, “A good man is satisfied from himself” (Proverbs 14:14), and with Paul of himself: “…having nothing yet possessing all things” (2 Corinthians 6:10). Because he had a right to the covenant and promise, which virtually contains everything, and an interest in Christ, the fountain and good of all, it is no marvel that he said that in whatsoever state he was in, he was content.

Thus, you have the true interpretation of the text. I shall not make any division of the words because I take them only to promote the one most necessary duty: quieting and comforting the hearts of God’s people under the troubles and changes they meet with in these heart-shaking times.

Jeremiah Burroughs (1599-1646) in The Rare Jewel Of Christian Contentment (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust) 2-3. Recently, I’ve had multiple email and face-to-face conversations about contentment with friends in various places in the world. Few writers cover the topic as thoroughly and biblically as Burroughs. Click to read the whole piece freely.

Without Christian contentment, no one can experience joy and peace in sad and sinking times. It serves as the “very timely cordial” for facing any set of troubles.

“Self-sufficiency” in the world’s view describes a person that has enough money to live. If that is your view, you are enslaved to money and likely unaware of it. I hate to break it to you, but it’s the truth. And the reason such a view will never bring you the joy and peace you seek is that you can never have enough money to address the infinite possibilities of life.

Alternatively, Burroughs explains “self-sufficiency” in Christ beautifully:

“I find a sufficiency of satisfaction in my own heart, through the grace of Christ that is in me. Though I have not outward comforts and worldly conveniences to supply my necessities, yet I have a sufficient portion between Christ and my soul abundantly to satisfy me in every condition.”

In short, this is the secret to it: if we have Christ, we have everything we have ever needed in the past, that we ever need in the present, and will ever need in the future. Only thus with joy and peace can we be generous because we have come to realize that we have all sufficiency in Him, so can we be generous at all times and all occasions.

If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 1 Timothy 6:8

“If we do value “mammon” as normal people seem to think we should, our fate is fixed. Our fate is anxiety. It is worry. It is frustration. The words anxious and worry both have reference to strangling or being choked. Certainly that is how we feel when we are anxious. Things and events have us by the throat and seem to be cutting off our life. We are being harmed, or we fear what will come upon us, and all our efforts are insufficient to do anything about it.

Because we have the option, in reliance upon Jesus, of having abundant treasures in the realm of the heavens, Jesus gives us another of His “therefores.” “Therefore don’t be anxious for your physical existence, concerning what you will have to eat or drink, or how you will clothe your body” (Matt. 6:25). Life is not about food, He continues to say, nor the body about clothes. It is about a place in God’s immortal kingdom now. Eternity is, in part, what we are now living.

Jesus reminds us to look at living things around us in nature. In particular He refers us to birds and wildflowers. What is most relevant about the birds is that they do not “lay up treasures upon earth.” They receive from their world, under God, daily food for daily needs. When we watch them we are reminded of the phrase in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us today the food we need for today.”

And as for the birds, it is not so much that birds do not work. They are among the busiest citizens of our world. Some, such as domestic chickens, are observed to work very hard. We too should work, and sometimes work hard. But our feathered friends do not seem to worry about the physical supports of their life, such as food and water and shelter. They simply seek it as they need it and take what they find. And that is how we should be. Having our treasures in heaven frees us to live simply in the present so far as our vital needs are concerned. We work hard, of course, and we care for our loved ones. But we do not worry — not even about them. Having food and clothing and God, we can be content (1 Tim. 6:8)…

People who are ignorant of God — the ethne, or “nations,” who also pray, we have seen, with mechanical meaninglessness — live to eat and drink and dress. “For such things the ‘Gentiles’ seek” — and their lives are filled with corresponding anxiety and anger and depression about how they will look and how they will fare.

By contrast, those who understand Jesus and His Father know that provision has been made for them. Their confidence has been confirmed by their experience. Though they work, they do not worry about things “on earth.” Instead, they are always “seeking first the kingdom.” That is, they “place top priority on identifying and involving themselves in what God is doing and in the kind of rightness [dikaiosune] He has. All else needed is provided” (6:33). They soon enough have a track record to prove it…

The “Western” segment of the church today lives in a bubble of historical illusion about the meaning of discipleship and the gospel. We are dominated by the essentially Enlightenment values that rule American culture: pursuit of happiness, unrestricted freedom of choice, disdain of authority. The prosperity gospels, the gospels of liberation, and the comfortable sense of “what life is all about” that fills the minds of most devout Christians in our circles are the result. How different is the gritty realization of James: “Friends of the world (kosmou) are enemies of God” (James 4:4) And John: “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (2 John 2:15).

If we do not treasure earthly goods we must be prepared to be treated as more or less crazy. This is also true if we escape the delusions of respectability and so are not governable by the opinions of those around us, even though we respect them in love…”

Dallas Willard (1935-2013) in Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God (New York: HarperCollins, 1998) 209-14. Click the link to download and read this modern-day classic.

As I just read a chapter of it, I felt like Dallas was reading it to me, because I was reminded of a conversation with him about ten years ago at a conference in Long Beach, California. I asked, “How important is it to teach stewardship and generosity to seminary students?” After a long pause, he said, “It’s absolutely vital to share those truths because our world is filled with lies.” He continued. “On my drive here from my home today to this hotel, I read various billboards and most all of them told lies about who I am and what I need. People need to know the truth about those matters, and pastors must teach them, otherwise their focus will be consumed by the things of this world.”

It was one of those conversations I will never forget. And sure this is a long post, but nothing like the book, which is 466 pages. Don’t miss this point of my sharing of this excerpt.

If we follow the world’s wisdom, our focus becomes fixed on mammon. We will are consumed by what we eat, drink, what we wear, and where we live. The world’s messages bombard us with discontentment which breeds “anxiety” and hinders generosity! If, alternatively, we go against the flow and follow Jesus, people will treat us like we are “more or less crazy” but regardless, we take hold of life in the kingdom now, and we are positioned to be generous because we have found that we have everything we need in Christ so we can be content with basic food, clothing, and shelter.

In an increasingly consumeristic global economy, I am becoming convinced that our greatest everyday witness as followers of Jesus may be our contentment with basic needs. Are you?

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:10-18

“You must have often wondered why the enemy [God] does not make more use of his power to be sensibly present to human souls in any degree he chooses and at any moment. But you now see that the irresistible and the indisputable are the two weapons which the very nature of his scheme forbids him to use. Merely to over-ride a human will (as his felt presence in any but the faintest and most mitigated degree would certainly do) would be for him useless. He cannot ravish. He can only woo. For his ignoble idea is to eat the cake and have it; the creatures are to be one with him, but yet themselves; merely to cancel them, or assimilate them, will not serve. He is prepared to do a little over-riding at the beginning. He will set them off with communications of his presence which, though faint, seem great to them, with emotional sweetness, and easy conquest over temptation. But he never allows this state of affairs to last long. Sooner or later he withdraws, if not in fact, at least from their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs — to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature he wants it to be. Hence the prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please him best. We can drag our patients along by continual tempting, because we design them only for the table, and the more their will is interfered with the better. He cannot “tempt” to virtue as we do to vice. He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away his hand; and if only the will to walk is really there he is pleased even with their stumbles. Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”

Uncle Screwtape to Wormwood in Screwtape Letters: Letters from a Senior to a Junior Devil by C.S. Lewis (Samizdat University Press, 2016) 16. If you have not read this classic work, click the link to access the PDF.

Three elements to this excerpt relate to our generosity journey. Firstly, by design, and the forces of evil know this, God does not over-ride a human will. He desires our obedience but never forces it. Secondly, the forces of evil seek tempt us with all manner of distractions and vices. Thirdly, the removal of “supports and incentives” and the reason God removes His hand from us is because He wants us to learn to stand up on our own legs and learn to walk with Him.

Related to generosity, the forces of evil want us to focus on what we give and to take pride in it. They celebrate when we disobediently store up treasures on earth and place our trust in money. Though “every trace of Him seems to have vanished” God sees all this and desires our obedience. He looks at what we don’t give. He celebrates when in humility and faith we put in all we have to live on, storing up treasures in heaven and placing our trust in Him. He wants us to learn to stand.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2

“Such, it appears to me, is the soul which, though not in a state of mortal sin, is so worldly and preoccupied with earthly riches, honours, and affairs, that as I said, even if it sincerely wishes to enter into itself and enjoy the beauties of the castle, it is prevented by these distractions and seems unable to overcome so many obstacles. It is most important to withdraw from all unnecessary cares and business, as far as compatible with the duties of one’s state of life.”

Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) in The Interior Castle (London: Thomas Baker, 1921) 24. My wife, Jenni, attended a Spiritual Formation conference this week, so that led me to reflect on this classic work in which Teresa describes going deeper in relationship to God with the metaphor of moving through seven interior castles or mansions.

Souls stuck in the immaturity in the first castle are preoccupied with the things of this earth. Teresa portrays them as “prevented by these distractions” from growing. So what must people do to press through the spiritual barrier of preoccupation?  Teresa advises to “withdraw from all unnecessary cares and business” to attune to the things of God.

The Apostle Paul explicitly instructs us to “set our minds” on things above rather than earthly things. This requires intentional effort to say “no” to “distractions” so we can say “yes” to the things of God. Notice the first of Teresa’s preoccupations is riches. When we walk in obedience, God often supplies richly. Many, however, fail to mature because they become preoccupied with the provision of riches rather than the One who provides all things richly.

Notice also that Teresa says preoccupied people are “those not in a state of mortal sin” but rather those “so worldly” that the distractions around them become obstacles to their growth. Related to generosity, they won’t exhibit it because they can’t. Their time, energy, and resources are preoccupied. What about you? Are you preoccupied? What might you need to say “no” to these days so that you can say “yes” to explore the beauty of a deeper walk with our faithful Father and Provider?

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” He said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” Mark 10:21

“To avoid all misunderstandings, Jesus has to create a situation in which there can be no retreat, an irrevocable situation. At the same time it must be made clear to him that this is in no sense a fulfilment of his past life. So he bids him embrace voluntary poverty. This is the “existential,” pastoral side of the question, and its aim is to enable the young man to reach a final understanding of the true way of obedience. It springs from Jesus’ love for the young man, and it represents the only link between the old life and the new. But it must be noted that the link is not identical with the new life itself; it is not even the first step in the right direction, though as an act of obedience it is the essential preliminary.

First the young man must go and sell all that he has and give to the poor, and then come and follow. Discipleship is the end, voluntary poverty the means… When the young man asks, “What lack I yet?” Jesus rejoins: “If thou wouldest be perfect…” At first sight it would seem that Jesus is thinking in terms of an addition to the young man’s previous life. But it is an addition which requires the abandonment of every previous attachment. Until now perfection had always eluded his grasp. Both his understanding and his practice of the commandment had been at fault. Only now, by following Christ, can he understand and practise it aright, and only now because it is Jesus Christ who calls him. In the moment he takes up the young man’s question, Jesus wrenches it from him. He had asked the way to eternal life: Jesus answers: “I call thee, and that is all.”

The answer to the young man’s problem is – Jesus Christ. He had hoped to hear the word of the good master, but he now perceives that this word is the Man to whom he had addressed his question. He stands face to face with Jesus, the Son of God: it is the ultimate encounter. It is now only a question of yes or no, of obedience or disobedience.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) in Cost of Discipleship (New York: Macmillan, 1979) 83-84. This is another one of my top ten books of all time. I found the PDF online, so you can click to read it.

Four statements from Bonhoeffer struck me in re-reading chapters of this classic work. The first one shows us the place Jesus guided the wealthy person: “To avoid all misunderstandings, Jesus has to create a situation in which there can be no retreat, an irrevocable situation.” Jesus wants the rich man to make a choice.

The second statement points the way: “Discipleship is the end, voluntary poverty the means.” Lest someone mistake that for acts of the law associated with earning salvation (which Bonhoeffer addresses previously in the text), he adds this third and related profound idea: “But it is an addition which requires the abandonment of every previous attachment.”

Following Jesus is not about adding Jesus to everything else you have. It’s about choosing Him instead of everything else you have. Thus, the call of Jesus to voluntary poverty is a call to let go of all previous attachments. Most people live like they think they can serve God and money and their bank accounts reveal where they have placed their trust.

As an aside, I am weary of hearing such people say that “But Abraham had wealth and Barnabas owned land.” Abraham was called to leave behind everything and let God make him into a nation. Barnabas sold his asset (unthinkable in antiquity) gave the money to the apostles and got in the game of ministry rather than spectating and living off his wealth.

With this call of Jesus and exposition from Bonhoeffer, readers are faced with a decision. That’s the fourth statement that stands out: “It is now only a question of yes or no, of obedience or disobedience.” If you are reading this, do not retreat. Choose voluntary poverty, that is to say, let go of every previous attachment and obey. Follow Jesus.

Again, this is not about cashing out to earn salvation. It is about exchanging an attractive fake idol for the one true God by not letting money stay with us. Only when we follow Jesus rather than money, can generosity even become a possibility in our lives. No wonder Jesus says it is hard, but not impossible for the rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:1-7

“It costs God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills cost Him crucifixion. And because they are wills they can — in nice people just as much as in nasty ones — refuse His request. And then, because that niceness in Dick was merely part of nature, it will all go to pieces in the end. Nature herself will all pass away. Natural causes come together in Dick to make a pleasant psychological pattern, just as they come together in a sunset to make a pleasant pattern of colours. Presently (for that is how nature works) they will fall apart again and the pattern in both cases will disappear. Dick has had the chance to turn (or rather, to allow God to turn) that momentary pattern into the beauty of an eternal spirit: and he has not taken it.

There is a paradox here. As long as Dick does not turn to God, he thinks his niceness is his own, and just as long as he thinks that, it is not his own. It is when Dick realises that his niceness is not his own but a gift from God, and when he offers it back to God — it is just then that it begins to be really his own. For now Dick is beginning to take a share in his own creation. The only things we can keep are the things we freely give to God. What we try to keep for ourselves is just what we are sure to lose.

We must, therefore, not be surprised if we find among the Christians some people who are still nasty.

There is even, when you come to think it over, a reason why nasty people might be expected to turn to Christ in greater numbers than nice ones. That was what people objected to about Christ during His life on earth: He seemed to attract “such awful people.” That is what people still object to, and always will. Do you not see why? Christ said ‘”Blessed are the poor” and “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom,” and no doubt He primarily meant the economically rich and economically poor. But do not His words also apply to another kind of riches and poverty?

One of the dangers of having a lot of money is that you may be quite satisfied with the kinds of happiness money can give and so fail to realise your need for God. If everything seems to come simply by signing checks, you may forget that you are at every moment totally dependent on God. Now quite plainly, natural gifts carry with them a similar danger. If you have sound nerves and intelligence and health and popularity and a good upbringing, you are likely to be quite satisfied with your character as it is. “Why drag God into it?” you may ask.

A certain level of good conduct comes fairly easily to you. You are not one of those wretched creatures who are always being tripped up by sex, or dipsomania, or nervousness, or bad temper. Everyone says you are a nice chap and (between ourselves) you agree with them. You are quite likely to believe that all this niceness is your own doing: and you may easily not feel the need for any better kind of goodness.

Often people who have all these natural kinds of goodness cannot be brought to recognise their need for Christ at all until, one day, the natural goodness lets them down and their self-satisfaction is shattered. In other words, it is hard for those who are “rich” in this sense to enter the Kingdom.

It is very different for the nasty people — the little, low, timid, warped, thin-blooded, lonely people, or the passionate, sensual, unbalanced people. If they make any attempt at goodness at all, they learn, in double quick time, that they need help. It is Christ or nothing for them. It is taking up the cross and following — or else despair. They are the lost sheep; He came specially to find them. They are (in one very real and terrible sense) the “poor”: He blessed them. They are the “awful set” He goes about with — and of course the Pharisees say still, as they said from the first, “If there were anything in Christianity those people would not be Christians.””

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) in Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 1972) 212-214. Next to the Bible, this is the greatest book of all time on my list. By the end of my life — should I be fortunate to live a long life, as I pray often to make it to 80 years — I will likely have used most of the excerpts from it as Daily Meditations. If you have not read this book, here’s a PDF edition of it.

Find yourself in today’s reading. Your generosity depends on it. Lewis explains rightly how the poor, nasty, and awful set finds blessing in Christ and why its nearly impossible for nice, rich folk. He also articulates a paradoxical idea that is central to the Christian faith: “The only things we can keep are the things we freely give to God. What we try to keep for ourselves is just what we are sure to lose.” No wonder Jesus wants us to deny ourselves and give like He gave, holding back nothing. It’s the only way to gain the Kingdom.

My wife, Jenni, meets with dozens of women as Soulcare Anchoress. She never tells me about any of her soul care and spiritual direction sessions but occasionally shares common themes. One thing she shared with me just yesterday relates to this reading. She said that many women are so drawn to the materialism of our day and so comfortable in middle-class American living that they can’t imagine life in the Kingdom being better. Thus, they are almost completely preoccupied with this life. That’s precisely the point Lewis is making. No wonder such people rarely exhibit generosity and, in the words of Jesus, it’s hard for them to enter the Kingdom. It’s only possible with God.

Again, where are you in today’s reading?