Meditations

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 2gentleness, and self-control…” Galatians 5:22-23

“I do not think that St. Paul arranged his list of the fruits of the Spirit in a casual order. They represent a progressive series from one point and that one point is Love, the living eternal seed from which all grow. We all know that Christians are baptized ‘into a life summed up in love,’ even though we have to spend the rest of our own lives learning how to do it.

Love therefore is the budding point from which all the rest come: that tender cherishing attitude, that unlimited self-forgetfulness, generosity and kindness which is an attitude of God to all His creatures and so must be the attitude towards them which His Spirit brings forth in us.”

Evelyn Undersell (1875-1941) in Fruits of the Spirit: Treasures from the Spiritual Classics (Harrisburg: Morehouse, 1982) 14.

This line captivated me: “We all know that Christians are baptized ‘into a life summed up in love,’ even though we have to spend the rest of our own lives learning how to do it.” That’s what Lent is all about. Setting aside time to learn how to love others as God loves us so that His generosity and kindness will flow through us.

Father in Heaven, as we think of the needs of others this Lent, develop that “tender cherishing attitude” and “that unlimited self-forgetfulness, generosity and kindness” in us so we learn how to love others like You love us. Do it in the name of Jesus and by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand. Psalm 119:130

“Christ through his word removes the old routines in the heart and mind–the old routines of thought, feeling, action, imagination, conceptualization, belief, inference–and in their place he puts something else: his thoughts, his attitudes, his beliefs, his ways of seeing and interpreting things, his words. He washes out our minds and in the place of confusion and falsehood–or hatred, suspicion and fear to speak of emotions–he brings clarity, truth, love, confidence, and hopefulness.

So where there was fear, there is now hope; where there was suspicion, there is now confidence; where there was hate, there is now love; and all are based on a new understanding of God conveyed into us by his word. Vessels of wrath become vessels of patience and kindness. Where there was covetousness and lust, there is now generosity and courteous consideration. Where there was manipulation and possessiveness, there is now trust toward God and encouragement of others toward liberty and individuality. We now have the character to which listening for God’s voice is natural.”

Dallas Willard (1935-2013) in Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God (Downers Grove: IVP, 2012) 200.

This Lent for prayer, Jenni and I are pausing seven times a day to pray and read a Psalm. It’s an ancient biblical pathway for inviting God to “wash out our minds” as Willard put it. Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws. (Psalm 119:164)

I am noticing in these seven daily pauses, that God replaces what the flesh desires with what the Spirit desires (cf. Galatians 5:17). Related to generosity, in the flesh we give to get things: notoriety, special treatment, benefits, praise of men, etc.

Conversely, in the Spirit our self-centered giving is transformed into generosity. It’s kind and thoughtful seeking nothing in return. It’s measured abundantly because it trusts in God. If you want your life to exhibit generosity, then my best (and rather simple) advice is to wash out your mind with the his word.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. Matthew 16:24-25

“If you asked twenty good men today what the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love.

The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves, and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith.

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far to easily pleased.”

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) in “The Weight of Glory” in The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (New York: Harper Collins, 1949) 25-26.

Welcome to the second week of Lent. Hopefully you are discovering that Lewis is right: “We are far too easily pleased.” We make earthly goals our aim when the infinite joy of Heaven is offered us.

Again, what’s this got to do with generosity? Think about it. Generosity is not about doing a few kind things for the poor and then returning to the same fleshly pursuits as before.

Don’t settle for petty, temporal rewards. Lent is the season when we learn to strengthen our desire for the right things. Self-denial is the pathway for finding your life as a conduit of God’s love.

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2-3

“Lent offers a beautiful opportunity to discover the mystery of Christ within us. It is a gentle but also demanding time. It is a time of solitude but also community, it is a time of listening to the voice within, but also a time of paying attention to other people’s needs. It is a time to continuously make the passage to new inner life as well as to life with those around us.”

Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) in “Reflections on the First Sunday of Lent” email on 14 February 2016 from the Henri Nouwen Society.

The paradox or mystery of the Christian faith is that true riches are found not in money but in Christ. We take hold of them only when we let go of all else. To put it another way, all treasures of understanding are not found in books filled with human wisdom but in the Word who became flesh and dwelled among us.

What does this have to do with generosity? Remembering that generosity is a fruit of the Spirit’s work in our lives (cf. Galatians 5:22-23), Lent is a time when we unlearn our worldly patterns of thinking and living so that we have the right mind and heart to serve as conduits of God’s love and blessings.

Today marks the end of the first week of Lent. Time flies. I hope you are realizing that fasting is not depriving yourself from something but learning to feast on something better; that giving to the poor does not drain you but rather enriches you; and that praying is not asking God for things you want but aligning your heart with His because His desires for you far surpass your own.

I am in Oklahoma City this morning speaking to a group of pastors and ministry leaders. Pray with me that the Holy Spirit will give me words to help them see life and ministry through the lens of the mystery of Christ. Father in Heaven, help all of us discover and know the mystery of Christ within us.

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

“The moment we put off the old self and put on the new self, we will be free from the sense of ownership, and our mind will be directed by the will of God. The text says that the new self is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Christ-centered generosity is a life lived in accordance with the direction of the Holy Spirit. God puts all the resources in our hands so that we might give generously to help others and expand the kingdom of God.”

Edison Queiroz in “Generosity: Latin American Perspective” in Christ-Centered Generosity: Global Perspectives on the Biblical Call to a Generous Life (Colbert: GGN & KLP) 126-127.

Fasting in Lent is more than forgoing food. It’s about putting of the old self so we can put on the new self. Queiroz rightly echoes the Apostle Paul in announcing that this new self is “created to be like God.”

Many are quick to go do acts of generosity in Lent with their old self. Some even think God is pleased with such acts. That’s not how it works. To such people God says: I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me” (Hosea 6:6)

I like to call Lent the “Spring Training” of life because “we are made new in the attitude of our minds” so everything changes. As we walk in obedience, true righteousness and holiness abounds in and through us. We live into the realization that all we are and all we possess has been entrusted to us for serving others and expanding God’s kingdom.

Now do you see it? Our fasting, our giving, and our praying (in Lent and long after it is over) are not sacrifices that win God’s favor, but rather (in MLB Spring Training language) they are “workouts” and “exercises” for learning a new way of thinking and living.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Luke 6:38

“Whatever our hands find to do, we should be doing it with our might for His glory. Our passionate love of Father, of Jesus, and of His Spirit naturally overflows to those around us. His love flows to us, through us, and out to all those around us just as a spring of water bubbles up and flows outward. We can then say, “We delight to do your will, Father.”

As we draw near to Him, we catch His heart of love for those around us. It becomes a delight to share the bountiful gifts He gives us with others as a natural result of His generosity to us. With the same measure we use, He measures again to us. It becomes an unending circle of delight, thankfully receiving His bounty to us, delighting to share with others of that bounty, and being even filled again from His unlimited heavenly storehouses.

As Jesus did, we are doing what we see the Father doing. Let us then not only abide in His amazing presence but also actively choose to reflect His generous nature to the watching world for the joy set before us.”

Liz Adleta in “The Power of Chirst-Centered Generosity and Prayer” in Christ-Centered Generosity: Global Perspectives on the Biblical Call to a Generous Life (Colbert: GGN & KLP) 106.

Today’s biblical text is fitting for Valentine’s Day as it is about far more than money. Jesus wants us to be conduits of His love. Rather than be people who judge and condemn others, we need to be people who generously extend grace and kindness. Do those around you see you as a channel of God’s love?

That’s what I see in my wife, Jenni. She positions herself to receive God’s love often and faithfully dispenses it everywhere she goes. It’s beautiful. I am learning to live likewise. That’s one of my aims this Lent, to pause seven times a day for prayer (cf. Psalm 119:164) and to be refilled with God’s love. Care to join me?

Lent is the time when we learn how to live (in the words of Adleta) in the” unending circle of delight.” When we don’t participate with God in this bountiful work, we are the ones who miss out. Let’s do what we see the Father doing. Let’s delight to be filled, share generously, and be filled again and again.

Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. Philippians 4:15-16

“Generosity is God’s plan for sustainability…the primary economic unit is the household, or three-generational family. This recognizes that at least two generations in a family–children and the elderly–may not be productive. The productive generation must therefore work and meet the needs of those who are unable…The Apostle Paul writing to the Philippians (4:15) talks of “giving and receiving.” When generosity is viewed as more than money, there is a healthy exchange of resources that includes prayer, time (giving ourselves), hospitality, material things such as food, and of course, money…Giving has always been God’s way of sustaining His mission. We are members of one body and we need each other.”

Dennis Tongoi in “Living Generously in an African Culture” in Christ-Centered Generosity: Global Perspectives on the Biblical Call to a Generous Life (Colbert: GGN & KLP) 72.

Today I am tying flies at the West Denver Trout Unlimited Fly Tying Clinic with my son, Sammy, representing, Sammy’s Fly Shop. While preparing for the show last night, Jenni and I learned from Sammy and three fellow Christ-followers plan to live off campus next year and may get their apartment this Summer. Our son has both the maturity to launch and the economic means. Our role was to teach him how to work and live generously.

Why mention this? Enter into the irony with me. I had read Tongoi’s article on my flight home yesterday, and was thinking what a privilege it has been (and continues to be) to help Sammy and Sophie grow to be productive Christ-followers. The night before I had spent time with my brother on the north end of Chicago. Over dinner we talked about how much we love our parents and what it might look like to help care for them as they get older.

God’s design is for the productive members of households (with parents above us and children below us) to care for their parents while teaching their children how to live, give, serve, and love. As members of the body of Christ, we also get to show the same love, concern, and support for brothers and sisters in the larger family of God. This is God’s design for sustainability. Sometimes we get to give and other times receive.

God’s plan is NOT for the productive generation to stockpile for themselves. That’s what the world teaches and many Christians follow suit. Why not do it? Those that do effectively teach their children selfishness. Your kids will selfishly stockpile following your example. Furthermore, many aging parents have said to their kids, “I don’t want my kids to have to take care of me.” God’s design is that we care for each other in giving and receiving.

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…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:3, 13

“Our lives are about the choices we make. Once we make a choice, the details of that choice begin to create our lives. Small choices, big choices, and how we handle the details of each choice begin to complete the pages of our life story…

Life is not about what we do or what we accomplish–it is about Jesus. Every day we are blessed with the choice to live by faith, to give hope, and to cherish and receive love. And the greatest of these is love–His love for us, our love for others, and how this combination gives people the choice of eternity.

How would your life story read back if you rewrote it based on love? Who would you want to give back to as a way of honoring all that God has given you? How could you be as generous to others as God has been to you?”

Carlette Patterson in “Give Hope: A Legacy of Giving Back in the US” in Christ-Centered Generosity: Global Perspectives on the Biblical Call to a Generous Life (Colbert: GGN & KLP) 59-61.

As we begin our journey through Lent, we are (in the words of Patterson) rewriting our life story. There’s a key ingredient that must be central to our focus on prayer, fasting, and giving to the poor during Lent: love. Without love, in the words of the Apostle Paul, we “gain nothing”.

Patterson’s final question causes us to reflect on how generous God has been to us. The Passion of Christ is the climax of Lent and the greatest act of love humankind as ever known. In that sense Lent is a journey toward understanding, receiving, and generously sharing love.

Yesterday after a great morning of pheasant hunting and dialogue regarding teaching biblical stewardship and encouraging Christian generosity with Lutheran brothers in at the Highlands Club in Cascade, Wisconsin, I attended the Ash Wednesday service at Hales Corners Lutheran Church with Tim Dittloff. We sang this song and the lyrics reset our thinking aptly as we begin Lent. Read the lyrics and listen to the song. I hope it is a blessing to you today.

My worth is not in what I own
Not in the strength of flesh and bone
But in the costly wounds of love
At the cross

My worth is not in skill or name
In win or lose, in pride or shame
But in the blood of Christ that flowed
At the cross

Refrain:
I rejoice in my Redeemer
Greatest Treasure,
Wellspring of my soul
I will trust in Him, no other.
My soul is satisfied in Him alone.

As summer flowers we fade and die
Fame, youth and beauty hurry by
But life eternal calls to us
At the cross

I will not boast in wealth or might
Or human wisdom’s fleeting light
But I will boast in knowing Christ
At the cross

Refrain

Two wonders here that I confess
My worth and my unworthiness
My value fixed – my ransom paid
At the cross

Refrain

Listen on their YouTube link: My worth is not in what I own
By Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty, and Graham Kendrick of Getty Music Publishing and Make Way Music.

Today I meet with a group of about 35 Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran pastors and leaders and will teach on “Nurturing a Culture of Generosity in Your Church”. Pray with me for fruitful discussions.

And join me in rejoicing in Jesus, our Redeemer, Greatest Treasure. Let us not boast in wealth or might, but only in knowing Him. Our worth is not in what we own.

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

“It is not that the soul is in a wicked state. It is that she is still so immersed in the things of this world, still so caught up in possessions or honor or business affairs, that even though she may long to gaze upon the beauty of the interior castle, all these attachments distract her from doing so. She cannot seem to extricate herself from so many entanglements. But anyone who wishes to move ahead on the path must try to give up unnecessary objects and preoccupations. If you want to reach the innermost chamber, this is your only hope. Start now.”

Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) in The Interior Castle, translated by Mirabai Starr (New York: Riverbed, 2003) 49-50.

In her classic work, The Interior Castle, Teresa likens growth in the spiritual journey to navigating seven mansions or dwellings. It’s worth reading. What I appreciate most is that she emphasizes that we must let go of attachment to unnecessary objects and preoccupations that entangle us on the way in order to grow spiritually.

Lent begins today. It’s a season where we focus on prayer, fasting, and giving to the poor. Opening day, Ash Wednesday, is a time for repentance. Changing directions. The paradox of Lent is that in turning around we find our way and in letting go we gain. Let’s press on to maturity together, or in the words of Teresa, move toward the innermost chamber.