Meditations

“When God made man, male and female, in His own image, He gave them dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). He made them stewards of its resources, and they became responsible to Him as Creator, to the earth which they were to develop, and to their fellow human beings with whom they were to share its riches. So fundamental are these truths that authentic human fulfillment depends on a right relationship to God, neighbor, and the earth with all its resources. People’s humanity is diminished if they have no just share in those resources.

By unfaithful stewardship, in which we fail to conserve the earth’s finite resources, to develop them fully, or to distribute them justly, we both disobey God and alienate people from His purpose for them. We are determined, therefore, to honor God as the Owner of all things, to remember that we are stewards and not proprietors of any land or property that we may have, to use the in the service of others, and to seek justice with the poor who are exploited and powerless to defend themselves. We look forward to the restoration of all things at Christ’s return (Acts 3:21). At that time, our full humanness will be restored, so we must promote human dignity today.”

John R. W. Stott (1921-2011) in his last book, entitled, The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects of Our Calling (Downers Grove: IVP, 2010) 70-71.

What have we learned this Lent? Our prayer time has blessed us with space to connect with God in a noisy world, our fasting has positioned us to feast on what is true and good, and in practicing generosity we have been training ourselves to serve as conduits of God’s material and spiritual blessings.

Moving forward, will we function as “stewards and not proprietors”? We will act like we own the place, or rather, take our place in God’s economy of all things that has been restored in through the work of Christ on the cross. Now that we know this mystery, what way of living will we choose?

He has made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. Ephesians 1:9-10

“The Christian faith, in its earliest forms, is presented as good news. That is the original meaning of the Old English word gospel…We need, I suggest, to ask afresh: What is the good news that Jesus Himself announced and told His followers to announce as well? Most people–including many Christians–never ask themselves this question…

In many churches, the good news has subtly changed into good advice: Here’s how to live, they say. Here’s how to pray. Here are techniques for helping you become a better Christian, a better person, a better wife or husband. And in particular, here’s how to make sure you’re on the right track for what happens after death. Take this advice: say this prayer and you’ll be saved. You won’t go to hell; you’ll go to heaven. Here’s how to do it.

This is advice, not news.

The whole point of advice is to make you do something to get a desired result. Now, there’s nothing wrong with good advice. We all need it. But it isn’t the same thing as news. News is an announcement that something significant has happened…

The good news is primarily that God–the generous God, the loving God–is being honored, will be honored, has been utterly and supremely honored, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.”

N.T. Wright in Simply Good News: Why the Gospel is Good News and What Makes it Good (New York: HarperCollins, 2015) 2, 4, 166.

The reason that all generosity flows from the gospel is because our generous God is at the heart of the good news. As we approach Passion Week and in perpetuity, let us proclaim the good news by lifting up Jesus, whose life, death, and resurrection, brought all glory to the Father. And as we do, may He draw all humankind to himself!

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—’Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. John 12:27-33.

“The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creations. Not to make people with better morals, but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friends, is what it really means to be a Christian. Our religion never begins with what we do for God. It always starts with what God has done for us, the great and wondrous things that God dreamed of and achieve for us in Christ Jesus.”

Brennan Manning (1934-2013) in The Furious Longing of God (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2009) 125-126.

The life-giving work of Jesus Christ on the cross and the empty tomb not only marks the climax of Lent; it is how God has chose to make all who believe “brand-new creations” (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Manning’s description of “what it means to be a Christian” is captivating. Christ has created “a community of prophets and professional lovers.” Jesus not only fulfilled the law for us and gave us one command, to love one another, He has given us the Holy Spirit to empower our obedience!

As we consider life after Lent, may two things be true of each of us. First, may our life be the rooted in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and second, may our generosity be aglow with the “peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love of God.”

“The Church is you, me, all of us. It is not the local priest alone. Christians are the people chosen to give witness, everywhere, that God is love and He is only that!”

Bernadette of Lourdes (1844-1879) in 15 Days of Prayer with Saint Bernadette of Lourdes by François Vayne (Hyde Park, New York, 2009) 70.

As we approach the Passion Week, be sure to take good notes because our greatest act of generosity for the rest of our lives is to “give witness” to the God who is love. Jesus’ work on the cross for us–making atonement for our sins–is not just good news, it’s the best news ever, because He rose from the grave, conquered sin and death, and freely offers life to all who believe (cf. John 3:16)!

“Prayer changes things,” people say. It also changes us. The latter goal is the more imperative. The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us into such a life of communion with the Father that, by the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son…None of of us will keep up a life of prayer unless we are prepared to change. We will either give it up or turn it into a little system that maintains the form of godliness but denies the power of it–which is the same thing as giving it up.

When we begin to walk with God, He graciously and marvelously answers our feeble, egocentric prayers. We think, “This is wonderful. God is real after all!” In time, however, when we try to push this button again, God says to us, “I would like to be more than your Provider. I also want to be your Teacher and your Friend. Let me lead you to a more excellent way. I want to free you of the greed and avarice, the fear of hostility that make your life one great sorrow…” Each day in a new and living way the brooding Spirit of God teaches us. As we begin to follow these nudgings of the Spirit, we are changed from the inside out.”

Richard Foster in Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 57.

What will prayer look like in your life after Lent?

Don’t keep the form without the function! The form is prayer, the function is our transformation, and the agent of that change is the Holy Spirit. When we let God have His way in us, the Spirit produces the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control” in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23). This happens as we follow the “nudgings of the Spirit.” In plain language specifically related to generosity, we won’t be any more generous after Lent if we don’t submit to the work of the Spirit in our lives.

Father in Heaven, have Your way in each of us. As our Provider, transform our greed into generosity. As our Teacher, show us the more excellent way and help us walk in it. And as our Friend, move us from fear to faith by your Holy Spirit. Do all this we ask in the name of our risen Savior Jesus. Amen.

Yet even now, says the Lord, repent and return to me with all your heart. Joel 2:12.

“The real question of the Lenten season is: How will I repent and return to God with all my heart? This begs an even deeper question: Where in my life have I gotten away from God and what are the disciplines that will enable me to find my way back?

How many and how subtle are the ways we “leave” God and the true spiritual journey in favor of other pursuits—even those that seem very noble and even necessary. The cares and concerns of life in this world and even the dreams and visions that God has given us can become distractions from the relationship itself…Returning to God with all our hearts begins with repentance…

Lenten disciplines help us to abstain from the daily distractions that prevent us from seeing and naming reality correctly. As we allow some of the external trappings of our lives to be stripped away, we can return to a truer sense of ourselves and a deeper pursuit of God. We acknowledge the subtle temptations to which we are prone rather than pretending that we are beyond temptation.

The disciplines of fasting and other kinds of abstinence help us to abstain from that which distracts us and numbs our awareness so that we can become more finely attuned to what is going on in our lives spiritually-speaking. We allow ourselves to experience the necessary grief that leads to repentance and we ask God to lead us in a new and everlasting way.”

Ruth Haley Barton in “Practicing Lent: Invitation to Return to God” blog post dated 21 February 2012.

Hopefully what is happening to each of us this Lent is that we are experiencing “necessary grief that leads to repentance” while becoming “more finely attuned” both to God and the things that distract us from God, whether they be good things or bad things.

The prophet Joel instructs us how to do this: Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Joel 2:13. Is it time for a heart-rending and returning exercise?

Let’s take some time today to make a list of things that distract us from God. Father, forgive us, we are brokenhearted for pursuing these other things and missing you in the process. Recalculate our route back to you, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Do this we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“Your charity and care must begin at home but it must not end there. You are bound to do the best you can to educate your children, so they may be capable of being most serviceable to God, but not to leave them rich, nor to forbear other necessary works of charity, merely to make larger provision for them. There must be some proportion between the provision we make for our families and for the church of Christ. A truly charitable, self-denying heart, that hath devoted itself, and all that it hath, to God, would be the best judge of the due proportions, and would see which way of expense is likely to do God the greatest service, and that way it would take.”

Richard Baxter (1615-1691) in The Reformed Pastor, 5th edition, ed. William Brown (London: The Religious Tract Society, 1862) 167.

Baxter lived in a day when Christian parents with resources exhibited a sincere desire to attend of the needs of their children (cf. 1 Timothy 5:8). That desire soon developed into an entitlement pattern: parents felt their children deserved “nothing but the best” of everything. Sound familiar? Many aimed to leave their children rich instead of being rich in charity, so Baxter shined light on this selfish and destructive trend (cf. 1 Timothy 6:17-19).

If you are journeying through Lent with children (or grandchildren), be sure to teach them that the aim of self-denying simplicity is to make space for works of charity and grow as faithful disciples of Jesus. We invest money on resources and outings to impart these lessons. Why? We must train children in grasping the value of sacrifice and charity, so that their souls may be “most serviceable to God” rather than self-absorbed.

“If you love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15. Our Lord never insists on our obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but he never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “if” … If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23…

The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love something I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny.

My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become the pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed.”

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) in “Obedience or Independence?” the November 2 reading in My Utmost for His Highest an updated edition in today’s language (Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 1992).

While Lent is the season for nurturing spiritual growth by focusing on key aspects of the faith, we must not wait for a special call to the mission field or a divine sign from heaven to put what we have learned to practice. We must obey in the “seemingly random circumstances” of life.

Our obedience in loving God and loving others creates “the pinholes” through which we see “the face of God.” That reminds me of the famous statement near the end of Victor Hugo’s, Les Miserables: “To love another person is to see the face of God!” What motivates us to love people?

For disciples of Christ, it’s not a rule; it’s a response to the love we have received from Him. What about you? Do you obey without hesitation? Does He have competition? Take ten minutes in silence today to consider your answers. Do this so that you are prepared to stand face to face with God.

Sometimes, O God, my thirst for you
is pushed aside, ignored,
or simply quenched by something other—
something more reasonable,
something more popular—than you.
But you never go away,
never stop,
never leave the depths of me.
Like an underground spring,
you are fresh and free,
breaking through.
Help me prepare a place for you in the caverns of my soul.
Amen.

Pamela Hawkins in The Awkward Season: Prayers for Lent (Nashville: Upper Room Books, 2009) 36, 38.

What’s bubbling up in the “caverns of your soul” this Lent? I pray it is the living water of Jesus Christ that is the only thing that can satisfy, the only refreshment that causes a person to never thirst again (cf. John 4:14). What happens to those who partake? Hawkins suggests we enjoy and share it freely, and to that end, she invites each of us to pray this prayer:

O Christ, who is Living Water,
who is deep calling to deep.
You call us to carry
hope to the hopeless,
love to the lost,
and water to the thirsty.
Fill me with your love
to overflowing
that I may have a part in you
and freely give it away.
Amen.

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17:19-21

“From their expression, “Why could we not?” it is evident that they had wished and sought to do so; they had probably used the Master’s name, and called upon the evil spirit to go out. Their efforts had been vain, and, in the presence of the multitude, they had been put to shame. “Why could we not?”

Christ’s answer was direct and plain: “Because of your unbelief.” The cause of His success and their failure, was not owing to His having a special power to which they had no access. No. the reason was not far to seek. He had so often taught them that there is one power, that of faith, to which, in the kingdom of darkness, as in the kingdom of God, everything must bow; in the spiritual world failure has but one cause, the want of faith.

Faith is the one condition on which all divine power can enter into man and work through him. It is the susceptibility of the unseen; man’s will yielded up to, and molded by the will of God. The power they had received to cast out devils, they did not hold in themselves as a permanent gift or possession; the power was in Christ, to be received, and held, and used by faith alone, living faith in Himself…

But such want of faith must have a cause too. Well might the disciples have asked: “And why could we not believe? Our faith has cast out devils before this: why have we now failed in believing?” The Master proceeds to tell them ere they ask: “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”

Faith needs a life of prayer for its full growth…And prayer needs fasting for its full growth; this is the second lesson. Prayer is the one hand with which we grasp the invisible; fasting, the other, with which we let loose and cast away the visible…

Fasting helps to express, to deepen, and to confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, to sacrifice ourselves, to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God. And He who accepted the fasting and sacrifice of the Son, knows to value and accept and reward with spiritual power the soul that is thus ready to give up all for Christ and His kingdom.”

Andrew Murray (1828-1917) in With Christ in the School of Prayer (New York: Caledonian, 1912) 76-77.

The aim of Lent for each of us is to learn that prayer is the pathway for grasping “the invisible” and when coupled with fasting, that is the casting away of “the visible,” we gain reward (cf. Matthew 6:18). So what’s the reward? Faith. With faith we learn to live according to the realities of the Christ’s eternal kingdom here and now.