Meditations

Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Ephesians 4:28

“Dr. E. Stanley Jones, on of my spiritual mentors used to say: ‘A road that perhaps more than any other leads to self-atrophy is undedicated money.’ So if you haven’t done so, then consider transferring your possessions and money over to Him today. When you let go of your possessions and let God have them, then life takes on a sense of stewardship. It really does.

Perhaps a question we ought to ask our selves before going any further is this: who owns my possessions, does God or do I? Whether we acknowledge it or not we are only in possession of our possessions for a brief period. If in reality we don’t own our possessions then the obvious thing is to acknowledge this in a prayer to God.

Have the sense to stay to Him,’I am not the owner. I am the ower.’ A businessman once said, ‘I’ve prospered in my business; now my task is to know who much I can keep for my own use.’ That’s the right order. How much can I keep for myself? For everything I needlessly spend on myself is taken from some other person’s need.”

Selwyn Hughes (1928-2006) in Divine Mathematics: A Biblical Perspective on Investing in God’s Kingdom (Surrey, UK: CWR, 2004) 24-25.

Today I am facilitating a conference at Camp Spofford in Hew Hampshire on Faith and Work in God’s Economy with ministers and marketplace leaders. The fruit of our labor as followers of Christ must be dedicated back to One who purchased us with His blood on the cross (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

As we journey through Lent, we gain a new perspective on the fruit of our work: money. It’s neither ours nor something to be stewarded selfishly on needless expenditures. Biblically speaking, such stewards are squandering and stealing. What should we do? Dedicate the money we possess back to God.

Father in heaven, I dedicate all the money I possess to You. Thank You for purchasing me with Your blood on the cross and for entrusting me with resources to steward for Your purposes. Guide me by Your Holy Spirit to know how much to keep for myself. Help me I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:3

“Though what is specifically “given up for Lent” shifts from generation to generation, the broad categories of entertainment, pleasure, and food have remained constant through the centuries. Caffeine, chocolate, designer coffee, carbs, and social media currently rank among the more popular offerings. In an age suffocating in self, any willful fast from what much of the planet would deem a luxury is to be commended. However, since commendation cannot be confused with preparation, I must ask: can such polite fasts alone truly prepare us to be awed by Christ’s resurrection? . . .

God seems more interested in what we are becoming than in what we are giving up. . .Faith, in general, is less about the sacrifice of stuff and more about the surrender of our souls. Lent, in kind, is less about well-mannered denials and more about thinning our lives in order to thicken our communion with God. Decrease is holy only when its destination is love.”

Alicia Britt Chole in 40 Days of Decrease: A Different Kind of Hunger. A Different Kind of Fast (Nashville: W Publishing, 2016) 1-2. Thanks to my friend, John Cochran, for alerting me to this book.

As we are in the middle of week two, Chole’s counsel is spot on: Lent is not about “commendation” but “preparation”; it’s about “thinning our lives” to “thicken our communion with God”. But what struck me as profound was the punchline of her thought: “Decrease is holy only when its destination is love.”

Whether you are fasting from TV, coffee, social media, or something else this Lent, decrease so that you can “feast on Jesus” as my wife and daughter like to say. Celebrate that “decrease” helps you build spiritual bandwidth with God, who is love. Our role on earth is to enjoy and generously dispense love!

Then [Jesus] said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. Luke 11:5-8

“In the parable of the friend at midnight, the host bangs on his neighbor’s door at midnight to borrow three loaves of bread because a friend has come. The neighbor yells at the host to stop bothering him because he is in bed. Finally, he realizes that since he can’t sleep with the host pounding on his door, he might as well give him the three loaves just to shut him up. Like the unjust judge [in Luke 18:1-8], he may not be generous, but he isn’t stupid.

Why three loaves? One loaf is for the friend at midnight. A second loaf is for himself so his friend does not eat alone. Then when his friend finishes eating, the host will offer him a third loaf to show his generosity. The host doesn’t want to look cheap. His reputation and the reputation of the community are at stake. In summary, the first loaf is for his friend’s physical need. The second is for his relational need, for community. The third loaf is for his heart need, to be loved. We have a three-loaf God. He loves to give.”

Paul E. Miller in A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2009) 134-135.

This parable is fitting for Lent as we focus our attention on prayer. I love the first-century cultural insights that Miller brings into view showing how we serve a three-loaf God who cares for our physical, relational, and deepest heart-level needs.

Part of the aim of Lent is learning new prayer rhythms. Today’s reading struck me because I’ve been disciplining myself to do stretching to help my physical body, while praying for different people close to me in my life (family and friends), and in so doing I am experiencing a deeper connection with God.

We serve a generous God, a three-loaf God, who wants to connect with us, despite the noise that fills our lives and the stuff that fills our schedules. He wants to meet our needs at all levels. Once we learn this first hand, we get a glimpse of what it means to be generous toward others.

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Hebrews 5:7

“Surrender of the heart to God includes every possible way of obedience to God because it means giving up one’s very being to God’s good pleasure. Since this surrender is effected by unalloyed love, it includes in its embrace every kind of operation His good pleasure may bring to pass.

Thus at every moment we practice a surrender that has no limits, a surrender that includes all possible methods and degrees of service to God. It is not our business to decide what the ultimate purpose of such submission may be, but our sole duty is to submit ourselves to all that God sends us and to stand ready to do His will at all times.

What God requires of the soul is the essence of self-surrender. The free gifts he asks from us are self-denial, obedience, and love. The rest is His business.”

Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751) in “Surrender is Everything” in Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2005) 26-27.

This Lent I feel God leading me to focus inwardly rather than outwardly. So much of the focus of Lent can be performed as outward acts (giving, prayer, and fasting) from a heart that is neither soft nor submissive.

The life of Jesus, from the beginning to the end of His earthly ministry, reflects that His focus was always on “the Father’s business” and to do “the Father’s will” in every situation. Want that to be true of you too?

For it to be so, Jean-Pierre urges us to give God the gifts of self-denial, obedience, and love. These gifts come from inside us. For those who do, God takes care of the rest. Our lives and our purpose will fulfill His good pleasure.

If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:29-31

“When the Divine Master tells me to give to whoever asks of me, and to let what is mine be taken without asking it again, it seems to me that He speaks not only of the goods of earth, but also the goods of heaven.”

Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) in Lent and Easter: Wisdom from St. Thérèse of Lisieux, ed. by John Cleary (Liguori: Liguori, 2015) 14.

With Thérèse, I am learning to be openhanded with regard to more than merely material things.

Two days ago I had a ton of work to do, but a friend stopped over who was struggling. I welcomed the interruption and am glad I did. While our fellowship took time, he needed something I had in abundance: love, truth, kindness, grace, and sympathy.

We are on this earth to dispense more than just the goods of earth, but also the goods of heaven. Others need them and may request them at inopportune times! The good news is that our Divine Master freely offers us an infinite supply to replenish whatever we distribute.

I must conclude with blessing as our son, Samuel David Hoag, turns 21 years old today. Anyone who knows him knows he shares the goods of earth and heaven freely.

Father in heaven, bless Sammy today (and every day) by your Holy Spirit for his commitment to living an openhanded life, always eager to share and serve those around him. Supply him abundantly, both materially and spiritually, so that His generous life blesses many and brings you glory. Hear this prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23

“Self-denial is never just a series of isolated acts of mortification or asceticism. It is not suicide, for there is an element of self-will even in that. To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. Once more, all thats self-denial can say is: “He leads the way, keep close to Him.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) in Cost of Discipleship (New York: SCM, 1959) 88. I came across part of this quote in reading God is on the Cross: Reflections on Lent and Easter by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which led me back to his classic work, Cost of Discipleship. A must-read for everyone!

Week two of Lent starts today. “Self-denial” comes into view.

Bonhoeffer calls us to focus on Christ versus self. In similar terms the Apostle Paul urges us to live according to the Spirit rather than the flesh (cf. Colossians 3:5-7; Romans 8:13). Why does it matter? All acts in the flesh are like filthy rags (cf. Isaiah 64:6), but a fruit of the Spirit is generosity (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). Apart from the Spirit, there is no generosity!

There is an “a-ha” moment that some experience in Lent. Not everyone gets it. I missed it for years. Here is its: Disciplines linked to self-denial are not seeking to rob us of anything; they free us to take hold of something better. I don’t know what God has for you this Lent, but deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. That’s the only way to find out.

“He leads the way, keep close to Him.”

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Matthew 6:25-27

“Lent provides us with the grace-filled opportunity to reflect upon, and name our own sacred struggles. To recognize and accept that which we are most anxious about, that which keeps us up at night, that which prevents us from growing in our faith, hope, and trust…Are there any prayer intentions that you’ve been hesitant to name? Sacred struggles you dare not ask God to meet? Healings or forgiveness that you aren’t sure whether you are prepared for? What are you most anxious about now? As part of our commitment to be people of prayer and to embrace our sacred struggles, I would like to invite you to…jot down your Lenten prayer intention…your “sacred struggle” if you will, that is preventing you from growing and thriving in your faith.”

Tony Zimmer in his homily entitled “Sacred Struggle” on 26 February 2017 at St. Anthony on the Lake in Pewaukee, WI. Thanks to my friend, John Stanley, for alerting me to this message, and to Ben Brzeski for getting a copy of it for me.

As the first week of Lent draws to a close, I would encourage you to make the most of the opportunity to go deeper in your experience of prayer this Lent. With Zimmer, remember that it’s a “grace-filled opportunity” to lift up to God anything and everything that brings you anxiety.

Such things become “sacred struggles” because we get stuck. We lose sleep. We worry. We start making other decisions that reflect the anxiety swelling within us. With Zimmer, let us give God our “sacred struggles” this Lent and see what happens to our faith.

How does this relate to generosity? When our lives are filled with worry and anxiety, we tend to hoard in fear rather than live open-handed, generous lives! Make the most of your prayer time this Lent, and I think your generosity will blossom along with your faith!

As a bonus for those who like to add music to their prayer time, click to listen to “Gracious God” by Jesse Manibusan. It’s a beautiful song that St. Anthony on the Lake is using this Lent. You will notice it speaks of the sacred struggle in the second verse. Enjoy it in your time with our Lord today.

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” John 4:13-15

“Think of poverty. Even outward poverty, a hard and simple life, the dropping for love’s sake of the many things we feel we ‘must have’ is a great help in the way of the Spirit. Far more precious is that inward poverty of which is the sacrament; which frees us from possessions and possessiveness and does away with the clutch of ‘the I, the Me and the Mine’ upon our souls. We can all strive for this internal grace. This is an attitude of soul, and it is a very important part of the life of prayer. The Holy Spirit is called the Giver of gifts and the Father of the poor; but His cherishing action is only really felt by those who acknowledge their own deep poverty – who realize that we have literally nothing of our own, but are totally dependent on God and on that natural world in which God has placed us and which is the sacramental vehicle of His action. When we grasp this we are ready to receive His gifts. Some souls are so full of pious furniture and ornaments, that there is no room for Him. All the correct things have been crammed into a poor little villa, but none of the best quality. They need to pull down the curtains, get rid of the knick-knacks, and throw their premises open to the great simplicity of God.”

Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) in Lent with Evelyn Underhill, ed. by G.P. Mellick Belshaw (Harrisburg: Morehouse, 1990) 20.

Underhill is spot on. Inward poverty “frees us from possessions and possessiveness” that seeks to dominate our souls. How do we take hold of this? Through the Lenten practices of giving, praying, and fasting, we realize “we have literally nothing of our own” but what God has given us. We embrace that we “are totally dependent on God” and only then are we “ready to receive His gifts” for us and others.

Can a cup that is full of water receive living water so that it never thirsts again? Of course not! Inward poverty is about emptying that which crowds out God and His good gifts to make room for that which is best. It’s what Jesus invited the woman at the well to grasp for her sake and for blessing her village (cf. John 4:1-42). Is there anything that is crowding out God and His good gifts for you and others? Any “pious furniture and ornaments” that need to go?

Father in heaven, we pause in solitude and prayer today to acknowledge our total dependence on You. Show us the things in our lives that crowd out You and Your good gifts. Help us by your Holy Spirit to identify and remove them. Fill us to overflowing so that we are satisfied and eager to share. Like the woman at the well, may our joyful sharing in the villages where You have placed us, help others find life in You too. Make it so we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

In purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 2 Corinthians 6:6-10

“Such exercises as fasting cannot have their proper effect unless our motives for practicing them spring from personal mediation. We have to think what we are doing, and the reason for our action must spring from the depths of our freedom and be enlivened by the transforming power of Christian love. Otherwise, our self-imposed sacrifices are likely to be pretenses, symbolic gestures without real meaning. Sacrifices made in this fashion would be better left unmade.”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) in Contemplative Prayer (New York: Image Books, 1969) 52.

The Apostle Paul lived with intentionality. His focus, and that of his colleagues, was enduring anything in order to minister to others with love empowered by the Holy Spirit. Merton, and the rest of us much later, have to “think what we are doing” in order to do things for the right reasons. Fasting is one of those things.

Saying “NO” to something to say “YES” to other things wins no favor before God. It’s a waste of time and energy. So what should we do? Lent is about learning to say “NO” to the flesh so we can say “YES” to the Spirit. When we do, the transforming power of God works in us and “having nothing, and yet possessing everything” God makes us into generous conduits of His love.

As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.” Mark 12:38-40

“The noonday devil of the Christian life is the temptation to lose the inner self while preserving the shell of edifying behavior. Suddenly I discover that I am ministering to AIDS victims to enhance my résumé. I find I renounced ice cream for Lent to lose five excess pounds. I drop hints about the absolute priority of meditation and contemplation to create the impression that I am a man of prayer. At some unremembered moment I have lost the connection between internal purity of heart and external works of piety. In the most humiliating sense of the word, I have become a legalist. I have fallen victim to what T.S. Eliot calls the greatest sin: to do the right thing for the wrong reason.”

Brennan Manning (1934-2013) in The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out (Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2005) 121.

Why beat this warning drum so early in Lent? Related to our generosity, God cares about the condition of our hearts, not our external “works of piety”. If our hearts are right, the works will follow suit.

How’s your heart condition today? Ask God that question in silence, and see how the Spirit speaks to you.