Meditations

“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.'” Matthew 21:13

“62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.”

Martin Luther (1483-1546) in Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences by Dr. Martin Luther (1517) a.k.a. 95 Theses, #62 of 95 Theses.

This year marks the 500th Anniversary of Martin Luther nailing 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Door, which birthed the Protestant Reformation. A wrong view of money had corrupted the Church. Pope Leo X authorized the selling of “indulgences” to pay for the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica.

A struggling associate pastor recently told me confidentially that his church was doing a campaign. The public message they were “selling” was that participation would help more people come to faith. It was, in reality, a campaign to pay for the renovation of the church building.

Many are quick to judge Leo X for his actions but pastors and ministry administrators can be guilty of the same sin today: misleading people to get more money in the coffers. When we do this we turn God’s house into a den of robbers. And we know what Jesus thought about this. God forgive us.

Might more ministry happen? Certainly. Might more people come to faith? Perhaps. What’s my point today and what does this have to do with generosity on my last full day in Europe? Let us treasure the gospel above all else in God’s house! Let’s make our churches houses of prayer.

Ironically, when we treasure the right thing, the gospel, as pastors and ministry administrators, people will likely follow suit, and participate in God’s work obediently. When we treasure money rather than the gospel, well, that’s when everything starts falling apart.

The Lord is your Keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever. Psalm 121:5-8

“He is our sure Keeper when we are ourselves in unpeace, and He continually worketh to bring us into endless peace. And thus when we, by the working of mercy and grace, be made meek and mild, we are fully safe; suddenly is the soul oned to God when it is truly peaced in itself: for in Him is found no wrath. And thus I saw when we are all in peace and in love, we find no contrariness, nor no manner of letting through that contrariness which is now in us; nay, our Lord of His Goodness maketh it to us full profitable. For that contrariness is cause of our tribulations and all our woe, and our Lord Jesus taketh them and sendeth them up to Heaven, and there are they made more sweet and delectable than heart may think or tongue may tell. And when we come thither we shall find them ready, all turned into very fair and endless worships. Thus is God our steadfast Ground: and He shall be our full bliss and make us unchangeable, as He is, when we are there.”

Julian of Norwich (1342-1416) in Showings, also known as, Revelations of Divine Love (CSD edition) excerpt from Chapter XLIX.

Norwich, of course, is a city in England. England has been on my mind since we had lunch with Zsolt Szalai, the president of CBMC Hungary, and his wife, Melinda, here in Budapest prior to the start of the summit. Their two daughters are studying in university over in England.

God’s providence comes into view as He is “our sure Keeper” who takes us from a place of unpeace to peace. Peace has been the theme of our devotions at the Budapest Summit. Peace only comes from God.

What does this have to do with generosity? A leading hindrance to generosity is unpeace. The fear that our giving will leave us empty. Julian echoes the Psalmist in todays Scripture and reminds us the Lord is our Keeper who “continually worketh to bring us into endless peace.”

Father, we resolve today to exchange our worry for worship. Move us from unpeace to peace. By your Holy Spirit, help us let go of our contrariness, which actually multiplies our fears, and stand firmly on You, our steadfast Ground. Move us from bother to bliss because of your goodness we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

“Await providence in the house of self-knowledge with the light of faith, as did the disciples. For the disciples remained in the house in perseverance, in watching, and in humble and continual prayer, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. The soul should remain fasting and watching with the eye of its intellect fastened on the doctrine of my truth.”

Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) in Little Talks with God (Brewster: Paraclete, 2001) 116. This is a wonderful little book of thoughtful devotional readings.

Today’s Scripture is posted on the banners here at Budapest Summit hosted by IHS Global. My hope for attendees and everyone reading this daily meditation is that God will stir our hearts to await providence, that is, God’s generous gift of the Holy Spirit, the power of mission.

We often think, albeit wrongly, that people and money make things happen in mission. We can get ahead of God and try to do things on our own with that perspective. We, as people, participate in God’s work empowered by the Holy Spirit, but it never becomes our work. It’s always God’s work.

Persisting in prayer, watching with anticipation, and awaiting the Holy Spirit are key responsibilities of God’s people linked to mission. To “await providence” is to resolve to trust in God’s generous provision of that which ignites mission, namely, the work of the Holy Spirit.

Father in heaven, as we labor in prayer, pour out your Holy Spirit at this Budapest Summit and on all those reading this around the world. Help our minds remain fastened on You as the driving force of mission. Hear our prayer in the name of Jesus as we await providence. Amen.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:26-28

“Among all the memorable events of Christ’s life, the most worthy of remembrance is that last banquet, the most sacred supper. Here not only the pascal lamb was presented to be eaten but also the immaculate Lamb, who takes away the sins of the world…

In this banquet the marvelous sweetness of Christ’s goodness shone forth when he dined at the same table and on the same plates as those poor disciples and the traitor Judas. The marvelous example of his humility shone forth when, girt with a towel, the King of Glory diligently washed the feet of the fisherman and even his betrayer.

The marvelous richness of his generosity was manifest when he gave those first priests, and as a consequence to the whole Church and the world, his most sacred body and his true blood as food and drink so that what was soon to be a sacrifice pleasing to God and the priceless price of our redemption…”

Giovanni di Fidanza (1221-1274) known more commonly as Bonaventure, in The Tree of Life, 16 (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1978) 139 (italics mine).

Jenni and I have arrived safely in Hungary. The header photo features the view from our room at the Budapest Hilton on our first morning (we are giving thanks to God as we paid the AAA rate and got a free upgrade to this river view room as a frequent stayer). The parliament building is on the right with the Danube River flowing around Margaret Island on the left. It’s a frosty 21 degrees here.

I found this reading on the trip as I continue reading excerpts of famous Christian writings through church history. Why read Bonaventure? As a close companion to Francis of Assisi, Bonaventure had come to know Christ and wanted the whole world to know him. That’s the common trait of each person attending this Budapest Summit.

This post is also fitting as the summit begins tonight with a banquet, a gathering of about 90 men and women from 30-40 countries that use a program called “International Saline” to equip medical professionals to serve as witnesses for Christ around the world as the salt of the earth. The group has convened to consider ways for greater missional collaboration. Jenni and I are here to wash their proverbial feet.

The word marvelous appears three times and struck me as I read this excerpt. Because of the “marvelous sweetness of Christ’s goodness,” the “marvelous example of his humility,” and the “marvelous richness of his generosity” a few ordinary people (the first disciples of Jesus) were redeemed from sin and would make known the good news of salvation in Christ to the whole world.

Francis and Bonaventure had a part in making Christ known in their day, and we get to do the same in ours. That’s what we are praying for at this Summit. Jenni and I pray the attendees experience the marvelous generosity of Christ and the marvelous unity of the Holy Spirit to work together on mission, so that the marvelous goodness of God may be made known to the whole world.

And then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. Matthew 27:29

“How could I bear a crown of gold when the Lord bears a crown of thorns? And bears it for me!”

Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231) was born the daughter of Hungarian King Andrew II and Gertrude of Merania. Her mother was murdered in 1213 when she was just 6 years old. In 1221, at the age of 14, she was married to Ludwig. In 1223, she was inspired by the visit of Franciscan Friars, and resolved to follow Jesus like Francis of Assisi. Rather than live in splendor, she exchanged wealth and privilege for service the poor and the building of hospitals.

Another quote attributed to Elizabeth really moves Jenni and me as we travel to Budapest, Hungary, today (this post comes from London Heathrow en route): “We are made loveless by our possessions.” Think about it. When a person has abundance while many around them suffer, retaining what many need for survival is loveless. She learned to show God’s love through sharing and caring.

Elizabeth distributed the wealth of her family to care for the destitute when disease struck her region in 1226. Various sources note that she gave away the royal clothing and treasures to minister to many. Elizabeth set aside a crown of gold for Jesus, who wore a crown of thorns for her. One hospital she started cared for a thousand sick people. Sadly, her husband, Ludwig, died in 1227 of disease. She continued to minister to the sick and poor herself until 1231, when she died at the young age of 24. Her generous reputation is legendary because she imitated Jesus in her sacrificial living and giving.

What will people say about you and me? Will they report that we were made loveless or that we were generous with possessions?

Each of us is writing our own story through how we handle possessions.

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13

“Show favor not only to relations and kin, or to the most eminent, be they leaders or rich men or neighbors or fellow-countrymen, but also to foreigners and to all who come to you. By fulfilling your duty in this way you will reach the highest state of happiness. Be merciful to all who are suffering violence, keeping always in your heart the example of the Lord who said: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” Be patient with everyone, not only with the powerful, but also with the weak.

Finally be strong lest prosperity lift you up too much or adversity cast you down. Be humble in this life, that God may raise you up in the next. Be truly moderate and do not punish or condemn anyone immoderately. Be gentle so that you may never oppose justice. Be honorable so that you may never voluntarily bring disgrace upon anyone. Be chaste so that you may avoid all the foulness of lust like the pangs of death.”

Stephen of Hungary (969 – 1038) in Admonitions to His Son, Emeric as recounted in part in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours by Milton Walsh (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 548.

This post is fitting as it both reminds me of the favor I experienced with the National Christian Foundation Colorado executive board over the past two days and because this afternoon Jenni and I are flying to Budapest, Hungary. We are scheduled to arrive tomorrow to attend the International Saline Partnership Leadership Summit and minister among some 90 representatives from 30-40 countries. Pray for safe travel and fruitful ministry.

Today’s post contains powerful words from a father to a son. If you have a son, perhaps share it with him, though it represents sound advice for all of us. Stephen of Hungary says to choose a pathway of humility and gentleness because both prosperity and adversity can destroy a person. He also wisely advises that we show favor to everyone. Such generosity of spirit is only possible with God’s help. Let’s ask for it together.

Father in heaven, whether at home or abroad, wherever you lead us, shape us by your Holy Spirit into people who show favor to everyone whether family or foreigner. May this be evident toward those who are sinners and not merely the righteous so that our lives exhibit your love and grace to the world. Hear my prayer in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, who modeled this way of missional living for us. Amen.

A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. Proverbs 17:17

“Behold, my brother, we have shared the same destiny, ploughing the same furrow; I now fall in the field at the end of my day. I know that you greatly love your mountain; but do not for the sake of the mountain give up your work of teaching.”

Cyril (c. 827-869), a monk, on his deathbed, to his older brother, Methodius (c. 815-884), a missionary teacher and bishop. Together Cyril and Methodius were brothers from Thessalonica (a.k.a. Salonika). They would become known as the “Enlighteners of the Slavs” as they followed God’s call to serve as apostles to the Slavs.

There are not many sacred writings from the era known as the dark ages, but the story of two Thessalonian brothers encouraged me. These “last words” of Cyril move me greatly, as recounted in a recent book by William J. Bennett in Tried by Fire: The Story of Christianity’s First Thousand Years (Nashville: Nelson Books, 2016) 362.

Both Cyril and Methodius loved monastic life back at Holy Mountain monastery near the Black Sea in the northern part of Turkey. Though they both felt the calling to serve as missionary teachers among the Slavs, Methodius could have bailed on the vision with the death of his brother at the age of 42. Cyril urged him from his deathbed not give up the work for God and run back to a comfortable place (the mountain)!

Why cite these brothers today, and what does this have to do with generosity?

God generously gives us brothers with whom to co-labor in God’s work. I am profoundly thankful for my older brother, David Hoag, who is ministering in Jamaica this weekend. Thankfully his wife, Joanna, is with him. They can encourage and support each other.

I am also grateful for my National Christian Foundation Colorado brothers, with whom I am on retreat in the mountains. We share a deep passion for helping people in Colorado to understand biblical principles that inspire generosity and to grasp how asset-based giving positions them to maximize the stewardship of God’s resources for building His kingdom.

As each of us lives the journey mapped out for us, one of God’s greatest and most generous gifts to us is brothers and sisters with whom to plow. When God seemingly snatches these people from our lives by death or other circumstances, we must not give up our work for God and run back to comfortable places, but persevere knowing that God’s providence will sustain us like it did Methodius, who persevered and would go on to lead many Slavs to faith in Jesus Christ.

You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit. Job 10:12

“Be occupied with the books of God’s providence intensely…Let thy mind be strengthened by them and though wilt acquire enlightened impulses from their subtlety; then thy mind will go its way with a clear consciousness towards the aim of understanding…Read in the two Testaments which God has destined for the instruction of the whole world, so that it should be dazzled by the power of His providence in every generation and be enveloped in wonder…

Behold, how many signs of grace happen to a man from providence. Sometimes a man will be on his knees at the time of prayer, his hands spread out or stretched towards heaven, his face looking to the cross, and so to speak, his whole emotion and mind stretched towards God in supplication; and while absorbed in these beseechings and pains at this time, a sudden fountain of delight will spring from his heart…”

Isaac of Nineveh (c. 630-700) Mystic Treatises by Isaac of Nineveh, translated by A. J. Wensinck (CreateSpace: 2012) 34, 40-41.

Today and tomorrow I am facilitating a spiritual discernment retreat with the National Christian Foundation Colorado executive board in Eagle, CO. The components of this retreat are solitude, Scripture, sharing, and supplication. We are getting away for about 24 hours to spend time with the LORD together.

Isaac of Nineveh reminded me today that God’s generosity flows so abundantly that every generation can trust in God’s providence to meet us in silence, to teach us from His Word, to enlighten us in community do His work, and to meet us in our supplications. Do we tap into this infinite supply of goodness?

Pray with me that coming out of this discernment retreat that the NCFC executive board will not have a strategic plan but spiritual clarity that will shape the work of NCFC, not because of me or anything I do, but because we have been dazzled by the power of God’s providence.

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 1 Kings 11:4

“Let those whom temporal adversity humiliates take joy from hope of an eternal inheritance, since divine providence would not curb them in order to educate them under the rule of discipline . . .

Those, therefore, who in respect of the temporal things which they covet, are wearied with the labour of adversity are to be admonished to consider carefully how for the most part even the righteous, when temporal power exalts them, are caught by sin as in a snare . . .

Who then can without harm seek wealth, or power, or glory, if they proved harmful even to him who had them unsought? Who in the midst of these things shall be saved without the labour of a great contest, if he who had been prepared for them by the choice of God was disturbed among them by the intervention of sin?

They are to be admonished to consider that Solomon, who after so great wisdom is described as having fallen even into idolatry, is not said to have had any adversity in this world before his fall; but the wisdom that had been granted him entirely left his heart, because not even the least discipline of tribulation had guarded it.”

Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) in Pastoral Rule 3.26. Gregory received the label “the Great” because he was a deep Christian thinker and a prolific writer.

As you may recall, “providence” is my word for 2017. I am tracing it through church history linked to generosity. We have made it to the seventh century.

Here Gregory urges those experiencing temporal difficulty to adopt the “rule of discipline” and not seek after wealth to save them, but trust in “divine providence” as their deliverance.

It’s fascinating that idolatry marked the demise of the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon. Gregory advises us that we cannot “without harm seek wealth.” Paul echoes that wisdom in the NT (cf. 1 Timothy 6:6-10).

What’s the lesson for us today?

We must avoid (at all cost!) seeking after wealth as the answer to our problems, lest it betray us. Instead, seek after God (cf. Matthew 6:33). Let that be our “rule of discipline” for we can trust in “divine providence” to care for us.

God’s got us! He’s got you. He’s got me. Let’s live like we believe it!

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. Acts 4:32

“Let all things be common to all, as it is written. And let no one call or take to himself anything as his own. But if anyone should be found to indulge this most baneful vice, and, having been admonished once and again, doth not amend, let him be subjected to punishment.”

Benedict of Nursia (480-547) in The Rule of St. Benedict 33. If you have never read Benedict’s Rule it’s worth reading. It represents what he determined it meant to follow Jesus in community about five centuries after Christ.

At this Stewardship Summit wraps up (some fifteen centuries later), we have reminded each other that acting like owners of that which we possess leads to disaster. Lest “this most baneful vice” destroy us, we resolve to view things as belonging to God, which means they are gifts to be enjoyed and shared as common to all.

Just in case you think that one person determining to live this way can’t make a difference, Benedict of Nursia founded the Benedictine order of monks who have been known for their generous sharing ever since.