Meditations

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:29-37

“Nobody is too good for the meanest service. One who worries about the loss of time that such petty, outward acts of helpfulness entail is usually taking the importance of his own career too solemnly.

We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves, perhaps–reading the Bible…

It is a strange fact that Christians and even ministers frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them. They think they are doing God a service…

But it is part of the discipline of humility that we must not spare our hand where it can perform a service and that we do not assume that our schedule is our own to mange, but allow it to be arranged by God.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) in Life Together (New York: Harper One, 1954) 99.

This week I had many interruptions. When I cried to the Lord, disappointed by my perceived lack of productivity, He sweetly led me to pick up Bonhoeffer (no kidding, it was sitting in my wife’s reading stack!) and read the chapter on “ministry”. I was convicted when I stumbled on this quote.

Generosity is making myself available to do “acts of helpfulness” like the Good Samaritan. The schedule of my life is not “mine” as it too belongs to God. I am learning that the “acts of helpfulness” trump anything on “my” agenda in importance, and God will help me sort all the other stuff because He is good.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:28

“It is critical for us to understand that God created a world with vast resources and not scarcity and that he intended for us to be stewards and not owners. Without this foundational understanding, it becomes very difficult for us to live a life of freedom that is overflowing with generosity because our worldview and hence behavior will be based on scarcity. I believe the greatest lie the devil has managed to get mankind to believe is that we live in a world that has scarce resources…

The very worldview of scarcity is one that questions the goodness of God. How can a loving Father create children and place them in an earth that does not have enough resources for them to survive? The poverty spirit that we see in avenging people and nations comes out of the belief that God created a world with scarcity. This spirit stops those with more than enough from sharing with those without because it makes them fearful for their security and provision into the future and hence keeps them bonded into captivity to Mammon.”

Patrick Kuwana in “Freedom to Live the Generous Life as God’s Stewards” in Christ-Centered Generosity: Global Perspectives on the Biblical Call to a Generous Life (Colbert: GGN & KLP) 103-104.

Kuwana is spot on! What we believe impacts how we live, and if we believe “the greatest lie” that we live in a world of scarcity, we will never exhibit generosity! Additionally, we will become a slave to whatever we think we own (a.k.a. “Mammon” in Matthew 6:24). How has scarcity shaped your thinking and behavior related to the handling of resources? What is the pathway to life and freedom?

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. James 5:1-6

“It’s easy for me to think of people who have a lot more than I do when it comes to texts like these. My mind wants to turn to those who own multiple houses and have all the toys and take all the trips and stay in all the best places. It’s precisely the wrong move when it comes to texts like these. James does not want us to call to mind the proverbial 1%. James wants the slideshow running through our minds to turn to refugees driven from their homes and country, children sold into slavery, widows, orphans, single moms, the mentally ill, the imprisoned, the aging and alone and so forth. James wants us to be convicted about the way we judge the poor for the money they spend on cigarettes and lottery tickets as we flash our Starbucks gift card at the register in exchange for yet another five dollar latte.

The rich aren’t people who have more than we do. If you are reading this reflection, chances are the rich are you. At least I am coming to grips with the fact that the rich are me. I absolutely hate writing stuff like this. Probably more than my readers hate reading it. But just as we welcome the encouragement that comes from the Word of God, we must open ourselves to its confrontation and critique.

So what are we to do? The easy thing is to endure the brief storm of self shaming that inevitably comes from such confrontation. We can feel bad about what we have, the relative luxury in which we live and the seductive self-indulgence of our lifestyles. The truth? That will accomplish nothing of consequence. Repentance has much less to do with how bad we feel about ourselves and much more to do with how bad we feel about the brokenness of others. Repentance doesn’t so much look like me selling my stuff so I can give the money to the poor—though that is not a bad thing—as it looks like like every day responsible relationships with people in need. It’s not about keeping my self indulgence in check. It’s about learning to give myself away. When I begin to love people in need as I love myself, self indulgence will take care of itself.”

J.D. Walt in “How Self Indulgence Wins and How It Loses” Seedbed Daily Text for 3 February 2016.

I read J.D. Walt’s blog daily and commend it to everyone. He is a close, personal friend! Let’s consider his last words again: “When I begin to love people in need as I love myself, self indulgence will take care of itself.”

What would it look like for you to love someone in need as you love yourself? Acting on your answer to that question is precisely what it means to love your neighbor and what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Go and do likewise (cf. Luke 10:25-37).

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

“Another time I was working in the laundry, and the sister opposite, while washing handkerchiefs, repeatedly splashed me with dirty water. My first impulse was to draw back and wipe my face, to show the offender I should be glad if she would behave more quietly; but the next minute I thought how foolish it was to refuse the treasures God offered me so generously, and I refrained from betraying my annoyance. On the contrary, I made such efforts to welcome the shower of dirty water, that at the end of half an hour I had taken quite a fancy to this novel kind of aspersion, and I resolved to come as often as I could to the happy spot where such treasures were freely bestowed.”

Thérèse de Lisieux in Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux (Washington DC: ICS Publications, 1996) 250.

So you have to hear the back story on this quote.

It was yesterday morning. Both Jenni and were at home getting over a cold. Snow has piled up outside. I will work from home. Jenni’s soul care sessions were cancelled as they were with teachers at school who had a snow day.

I said, “Who should I read this morning?” She said, “Read the little flower, Thérèse de Lisieux.” So I read a few excerpts of this book and found this gem. I said, “Jenni, read this. It’s great.”

She replies, “That’s a perfect meditation. Snow days. Traffic. Being splashed with water. These are all generous gifts from God to slow us down to see other things. They are not part of our plan, so we see them a as bother.”

Should you find yourself buried in snow, stuck in traffic, or even splashed by water, remember, to see it as a “happy spot” like Thérèse (and my wife) would call it, where you just might find generous treasures God has for you!

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3

“We must be poor in spirit. Poverty of spirit is more than material poverty. We may be without many possessions yet possessed by cravings for countless things. That craving makes us restless. A restless heart is mirrored in a restless spirit in a mind flooded by vain images that ceaselessly emerge from uncurbed desires. The spirit of poverty frees our minds from the turmoil of idle musings by lessening our attachment to things as ultimate.

Material poverty is more familiar to us than poverty of spirit. Being reared in a materialistic society, we are inclined to understand all things–even religious poverty–in a merely materialistic way…Poverty of spirit makes us present to God alone. It carries us beyond the idols we have set up in life and breaks their hold on our feelings, thoughts, and fantasies…The more steadfastly we walk in the light of poverty, the more we gain in awareness that there is no other than He.”

Adrian Van Kaam in Spirituality and the Gentle Life (Danville: Dimension, 1974) 60-61.

Generally speaking, Westerners (as Van Kaam rightly notes) are really uncomfortable talking about poverty of spirit because of the materialistic society that permeates all aspects of our lives. We hold tightly to and think we can’t live without “things” and the irony is that Jesus offers the kingdom to those willing to let go of everything.

So what’s this have to do with generosity? Jesus is inviting us to embrace poverty of spirit, which means letting go of idols and holding on to Him alone. This becomes the foundation for our generosity. Only as we are content in Him, can we live open-handed and generous with everything else that comes to us.

Lent is coming. It’s a great season for learning to let go of things.

Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand! Matthew 11:15

“It is God’s intention that our lives should be a seamless manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). He has made abundant provision for His indwelling our lives in the here and now. Appropriate attention to the care of our souls through His empowerment will yield this rich spiritual fruit and deliver us from the sad list of “deeds of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19-21). We can be channels of the grace of the risen Christ, and through our ministerial activities–speaking, praying, healing, administering–He can minister to others. But we must attend to the means of His grace in practical and specific ways to experience His life into and through our lives.”

Dallas Willard in The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship (New York: Harper Collins, 2006) 124-125.

For our lives to exhibit the fruit of generosity we must give “appropriate attention to the care of our souls.” If you are like me, and you move at a fast pace, this calls for rhythms that teach you to slow down. These must be learned with practice.

We are only about ten days away from the season of Lent when we will practice such rhythms. Start thinking now. What you will fast from so that you can feast more on Jesus? What will you sacrifice so that you can share with the poor? What will cut out of your schedule so that you can spend more time in prayer?

With regard to the care of our souls, we must take care to practice such rhythms regularly to allow Jesus to fill us with His grace “in practical and specific ways” Why? So we are sure to become generous “channels of the grace of the risen Christ”!

For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 2 Corinthians 1:12

“Simplicity means using money without abusing money. In the power of the Holy Spirit we conquer and capture money and put it into service for Christ and his kingdom. We know that well-being is not defined by wealth, and so we can hold all things lightly–owning without treasuring, possessing without being possessed. We use money within the confines of a properly disciplined spiritual life, and we manage money for the glory of God and the good of all people.

Simplicity means availability. Freed from the compulsions of ever bigger and ever better, we have the time and energy to respond to human need. Some, like pastors and others, are freed full-time so they can minister the word of life. Others will release blocks of time to further advance the kingdom.

Simplicity means giving joyfully and generously. We give ourselves, and we give the product of our life’s work… If we take the biblical witness seriously, it seems that one of the best things we can do with money is give it away. The reason is obvious: giving is one of our chief weapons in conquering the god mammon. Giving scandalizes the world of commerce and competition. It wins money for the cause of Christ.”

Richard Foster in The Challenge of the Disciplined Life: Christian Reflections on Money, Sex, and Power (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1985) 72-73.

The Apostle Paul describes the life of simplicity only possible by God’s grace, and Richard Foster points the pathway for us to take hold of it. We must “take the biblical witness seriously” and choose “simplicity and godly sincerity.”

Simplicity is one of the points of my sermon today at Crossview Church in Snohomish, Washington. It makes no sense according to earthly wisdom and the economy of this world, but it’s the pathway to life in God’s economy.

Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 1 Timothy 6:6-9

“The more we have, the more we want. Why? Perhaps we thought (and this sounds truly intuitive) that the more we have, the less we will need…We thought that consumption leads to saturation, the saturation of our needs. But the opposite has proven to be true. The more we have, the more additional things we need…Every new satisfied need will beget a new one and will leave us wanting. So beware of every new desire that you acquire — it is a new addiction. For consumption is like a drug.”

Tomas Sedlacek in Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic Meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street (London: Oxford University Press, 2011) 227-228.

I came across Sedlacek’s book as it was cited in a presentation in Europe last week. That book, coupled with a recent blog post that I read by J.D. Walt on “Maturity Means Moving from Managing Sin to Discipling Desires” has led me to encourage readers of these daily meditations to “beware of every new desire.” and intentionally “disciple our desires.”

All manner of desires will try to sweep us down the path of discontentment to ruin and destruction. Godliness with contentment is resolving that if we have Christ we have everything we will ever need. As He provides for our daily needs, food and clothing, we should be content and thankful. Many lack even these basic necessities. Beware of every new desire and let us disciple our desires!

Today I fly to Seattle to preach tomorrow at CrossView Church in Snohomish, Washington. Jon and Jada Swanson invited me to come speak on “Irrational Generosity”. What a great series title! Anyway, I’d appreciate your prayers for a fruitful trip.

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Luke 16:13

At the conference last week in Spain, Peter Briscoe of the Netherlands share these three points for overcoming mammon and the stronghold it can have in your life.

“Dethrone it! Desacralize it! Depart from it!

(1) Dethrone it! How? Recognize God’s victory and provision in your life. Money may not be a goal itself.

(2) Desacralize it! How? By giving and by bringing grace into the world. Choose relationships over money. Money may not be a priority.

(3) Depart from it! How? Avoid debt and learn contentment through thankfulness. Money may not make you it’s servant.”

Peter J. Briscoe in “The Challenge of Stewardship” presentation at the Compass Europartners Conference on 21 January 2016 in Malaga, Spain.

What I appreciated most about this counsel was the practical nature of it. Don’t make money a goal or priority or you will become enslaved. Same thing with debt. It’s another trap for making you a servant of money. At this point, let me speak frankly.

Most people, Christ followers or not, don’t overtly choose to serve mammon. It happens through a series of small decisions. So how do we get out? Change directions and make many small decisions rooted in biblical truth. Say yes over and over to God’s design for you.

“Give us today our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11

“Even bread, the most basic of survival rations, comes by God’s daily provision (Psalm 104:14-15; 27-28), and is thus a proper subject for prayer rather than to be taken for granted. If this is true even for bread, how much more for all our other physical needs…

This petition would remind a Jewish hearer of the provision of manna in the wilderness, enough for each day at a time, except for an extra supply when the following day was a sabbath (Exodus 16:4-5).To ask God for such bread “today” is to acknowledge our dependence on God for routine provision.

In modern Western culture where the provision of food is usually planned and assured for good time ahead, such immediate dependence seems remote from our experience. In many other parts of the world it is not so…Similarly for Jesus and his disciples during their itinerant mission, the daily provision of material needs could not be taken for granted…

The instruction not to worry about material provision in vv. 25-33 (which seems equally remote from most modern Western experience) is dependent on all such needs having been trustfully committed to God as this prayer requires. Jesus himself had to depend on God for food rather than taking the matter into his own hands (4:3-4).”

R.T. France in The Gospel of Matthew (NICNT; Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 2007) 248-249.

France spells out the significance of this aspect of the Lord’s Prayer — it points to daily dependence on God — and rightly notes that such a posture is a foreign concept for most Westerners. Notice again his last line: “Jesus himself had to depend on God for food rather than taking the matter into his own hands.”

A couple days ago one of my former students (who reads these daily meditations) resonated with the Thomas Merton quote — “Money has demonically usurped the role in modern society which the Holy Spirit is to have in the Church.” — and asked that I expound on this idea more fully.

Merton is saying that since we, in modernity, have plenty of money, we’ve been fooled into thinking it’s the power for ministry. The temptation of control, or taking matters into our own hands, is the temptation that France notes here that Jesus resisted, and the condition Merton warned us about. We too must resist it.

To explore this verse from the Lord’s Prayer more fully, here’s a link to a sermon I preached on it at Bear Valley Church on January 17, 2016.

Also for further reading on resisting the temptation of control, subscribers to daily meditations can simply reply to this email with the word “CHOICE” and I will freely email you an ebook edition of my ECFA Press book, The Choice: The Christ-Centered Pursuit of Kingdom Outcomes.