Meditations

“Light is the property of a star, as simplicity and humility are the property of a holy and God-fearing [person]. Nothing distinguishes more clearly the disciples of Christ than a humble spirit and a simple way of life. The four Gospels should shout this aloud.”

Hesychios the Priest (c. eighth century) in “On Watchfulness and Holiness” 83, in The Philokalia: The Complete Text, compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarius of Corinth, Volume 1 (London: Faber & Faber, 1979) 176.

Thanks for your prayers. The teaching time went well in Milwaukee yesterday. Before flying home tonight I will spend the day with Tim Dittloff and other fellow disciples of Christ to encourage their simplicity and humility, for without these traits, our lives cannot reflect generosity.

“The more they place their hope in the Lord with regard to all things that concern them, whether of soul or body, the more they will find that the Lord provides for them. In the end they will regard themselves as lower than all other creatures because of God’s many gifts, visible and invisible, bestowed on both soul and body . . . The more they give thanks to Him and try forcibly to exert themselves for the sake of His love, the more God draws them through His gifts and longs to fill them with peace.”

Peter of Damascus (twelfth century) Christian monk and theologian in “The Classification of Prayer” in The Philokalia: The Complete Text, compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarius of Corinth, Volume 3 (London: Faber & Faber, 1984) 146.

Today I am teaching on “Extravagant and Impactful Generosity” in Wisconsin, and I picked this meditation from my reading of the Orthodox Church Fathers as it indirectly relates to my topic. Conference attendees are coming today because they want to see extravagant and impactful generosity unleashed in their lives and among those they serve.

Peter of Damascus would suggest that it will happen when God’s people “place their hope in the Lord” in prayer. In so doing, they will be transformed to see the generosity of God, which causes them to live into the power of His love, experience His peace, and subsequently serve as conduits of His blessings as recipients of “God’s many gifts” both visible and invisible. Join me in praying that each hearer today, as well as each reader of these meditations, will grasp that such generosity is rooted in truth, lived out by faith, and empowered by God’s love!

“He who forsakes all worldly desires sets himself above all worldly distress. He who loves God will certainly love his neighbor as well. Such a person cannot hoard money, but distributes it in a way befitting God, being generous to everyone in need. He who gives alms in imitation of God does not discriminate between the wicked and the virtuous, the just and the unjust…He gives equally to all according to their need.”

Maximus the Confessor (580-662) Christian monk, theologian, and scholar, in “Four Hundred Texts on Love” in The Philokalia: The Complete Text, compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarius of Corinth, Volume 2 (London: Faber & Faber, 1981) 55. Of the 400 texts, these are numbered 22-24.

Many people say we should only give to those who are deserving of our assistance. Alternatively, Maximus calls us to imitate God and give as God gives, generously to everyone. How will you and I give? Before we answer, let us reflect on this profound truth recounted by Paul in Romans 5:8. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

I am flying to Milwaukee tonight to speak at a conference tomorrow. Pray for safe travel and good rest tonight. Also please pray that God would show each of us avenues for serving both noble neighbors as well as the most undeserving people we know, and that He will fill us with His love to bless each of them according to their need, so as to imitate the generosity of God.

“Accepting the task of hospitality, the patriarch used to sit at the entrance to his tent (cf. Genesis 18:1), inviting all who passed by, and his table was laden for all comers including the impious and barbarians, without distinction. Hence he was found worthy of that wonderful banquet when he received angels and the Master of all as his guests.

We too, then should actively and eagerly cultivate hospitality, so that we may receive not only angels, but also God Himself. For ‘inasmuch’, says the Lord, ‘as you have done it to one of the least of these My brethren you have done it to Me’ (Matthew 25:40). It is good to be generous to all, especially those who cannot repay you.”

Theodore of Edessa (9th century) monk from the monastery of St. Sabas near Jerusalem in “A Century of Spiritual Texts” in The Philokalia: The Complete Text, compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarius of Corinth, Volume 2 (London: Faber & Faber, 1981) 32-33. These days I am reading from the four volumes of the writings of the Orthodox Church Fathers. Fascinating stuff.

Yesterday we hosted a Connecticut couple here in Colorado, Mark and Kate Whitsitt. They are considering moving here as Mark may study at Denver Seminary. We met them at Camp Spofford in New Hampshire when I taught there this past summer.

What a joy to go for a walk with them near our home, to drive to Idaho Springs to get pizza at Beau Jo’s, and to pray over them regarding their future. Hospitality is a facet of generosity. On the surface it costs you something, but in God’s economy the blessing you receive far outweighs any expense.

“The Lord wants us to love one another. Here is freedom: in love for God and neighbor. In this freedom, there is equality. In earthly orders, there may not be equality, but this is not important for the soul. Not everyone can be a king, not everyone a patriarch, or a boss. But in any position it is possible to love God and to please Him, and only this is important.”

St. Silouan the Athonite (1866-1938) in Wisdom from Mount Athos: The Writings of Staretz Silouan (New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2001) VI.23.

Think of it this way, regardless of our station in life, we can love God and neighbor generously because God has generously lavished His love on us. So what are we waiting for?

I am thankful to be at home for a few days and grateful that God led me to focus on His generous love toward me, because it renews my strength to go love and serve others.

“Human beings have accumulated in their coffers gold and silver, clothes more sumptuous than useful, diamonds and other objects that are evidence of war and tyranny; then a foolish arrogance hardens their hearts; for their brothers in distress, no pity. What utter blindness! …Attend not to the law of the strong but to the law of the Creator. Help nature to the best of your ability, honor the freedom of creation, protect your species from dishonor, come to its aids in sickness, rescue it from poverty…Seek to distinguish yourself from others only in your generosity. Be like gods to the poor, imitating God’s mercy. Humanity has nothing so much in common with God as the ability to do good.”

Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 325-389), one of the four doctors of the Eastern Church in his treatise, On Love of Poor.

What a punchline! “Humanity has nothing so much in common with God as the ability to do good.” The question for each of us is this: Will we?

Will we imitate God’s mercy (that means, not give people what they deserve), and instead, distinguish ourselves from others in our generosity (that means, give them grace and favor they don’t deserve)?

As I explore generous love in the church fathers, it seems they rightly equate it with God and His posture toward us. Again, will we imitate Him and have this posture toward others?

Saint Augustine, a bishop in Northern Africa in the fourth century gave this answer to the question: What does love look like? “It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) as recounted by William C. Graham in 100 Days Closer to Christ (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2014) 92.

Yesterday’s meditation got me thinking about what generous love looks like, and so did a great trip to the Philippines where God’s servants were so loving and kind. I intend to explore that in the minds of the saints through the centuries in the coming days. For Augustine, it is clear: generous love looks like the way Jesus ministered to the poor and needy.

Do people know what love looks like by watching you and me?

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand.

The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing, and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”

Henry Nouwen in Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1974) 36.

Today I make the long journey home from Manila to Denver to be reunited with person who “means the most” to me: my wife, Jenni. She embodies generosity as “a friend who cares” through how she loves people in every day and through her soul care ministry.

“We Westerners preached Christ with our lips, with our actions we brought the slavery of Mammon. We are more guilty than the infidels: for to those that know the will of God and do it not, the greater the punishment.”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) in 7 January 1953 letter to Don Giovanni Calabria as recounted in The Quotable Lewis ed. Wayne Martindale and Jerry Root (Carol Stream: Tyndale, 1990) 91.

I found this gem reading Lewis online while I was exploring the importance of “sharing” in his thinking while sitting here in my hotel in Manila. Westerners often criticize the ideologies in the East, and in snippet of personal correspondence, Lewis rightly exposes the sin of the West: slavery to Mammon.

Do me a favor, Westerners. Should this describe you: eager to preach the gospel of Christ but not willing to live out His teachings with regard to money. Shape up, or please, abandon the faith and serve Mammon, for in the words of Jesus, you can’t serve both! Should you find this too harsh, remember Lewis said it first.

Wes Willmer and I were asked to deliver two more seminars today on faithful administration/governance and fruitful/sustainable ministry. In the end, the only fruitful model for doing God’s work is not Eastern/Western, but abandoning the world’s way and choosing to follow faithfully what the Word says. On that path, God sustains it.

“Avarice starves its possessor to fatten those who come after, and who are eagerly awaiting the demise of the accumulator.”

Fulke Greville (1554-1628), poet and statesman, in Forty Thousand Quotations, Prose and Poetical, compiled by Charles Noel Douglas (London: George G. Harrap & Company, 1917) 136.

Today I had the privilege of preaching at Cosmopolitan Church in Manila on the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. In that text the unfaithful steward lost what he had and it was given to the faithful. He hoarded in fear because he did not know the Master, while faithful stewards show their faith by how they use the Master’s money.

Where do you fit in that story? If the Master were to return today, are you ready to give an account for your stewardship? Or are those around you praying that the Lord will redistribute the resources that you have failed to put in play? Here in the Philippines, God’s stewards don’t have much, but they appear eager to put to work what the Master has given them.