Meditations

“What if I could freely receive and freely give? When Jesus says, “Seek the Kingdom,” I think he is saying, “Learn to receive.” Here’s what I think. To the extent we can receive from God, our lives will be a gift to others. Doesn’t Jesus say as much?

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:32-34

The fundamental brokenness of the human race, the essence of the brokenness that we call sin, is the inability to freely receive. Isn’t that the story of Eden; we preferred to “take” (i.e. steal) rather than receive. Fear and anxiety lead to “taking.” Faith and love lead to receiving.

I’m beginning to think the secret to being a generous person is the ability to freely receive. What if my ability to give is only limited by my ability to receive?

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

J.D. Walt is Chief Sower at www.seedbed.com and today’s Meditation comes from his 6 March 2015 daily text entitled “Learn to Receive”.

During Lent many people think that growing in generosity is learning to “freely give” for a season when in reality, it is the time when we must learn to “freely receive” for life in the kingdom (cf. Matthew 10:8). When we think of generosity as flowing from our finite capacities, it will paltry at best. When it wells up from God’s abundance that we have freely received, we become joyful distributors of material and spiritual blessings.

This means that when Lent is over, we get to keep living this way!

And it is precisely how Jesus’ generosity is described by Luke in Acts. He received God’s anointing, then went about doing good. He freely received and freely gave. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38.

Will we learn to freely receive this Lent so that we can freely give in life? That’s my prayer for every man and woman reading this. Teach us to receive, Father! Anoint our lives with your Holy Spirit and power so that people who see us don’t celebrate our generosity but proclaim: “God is with him!” and “God is with her!”

“The hypocrites of Jesus’ day tried to look as gloomy as possible when they fasted. They had even developed ways of disfiguring their faces with special markings in order to make sure people knew they were fasting…Jesus points out they get what they want. They want to be noticed in being “devout,” and they certainly are noticed. “I tell you the truth,” He says again, “they have their reward” (Matthew 6:16); that is the one they were looking for.

And then he points us in the right direction for fasting as a practice in kingdom living. “Take a shower,” he says “and fix yourself up. Brush your teeth. Put on lotion and cologne and nice clothing so that others won’t know you are fasting. Your Father who is in secret will see your hidden heart and enrich your life” (Matthew 6:17-18). Once again, one is impressed with what refreshing good sense characterizes Jesus’ words.

Of course, if we are not well experienced with fasting in the spirit of Christ, we may think that we will be miserable when we fast. If we are miserable, shouldn’t we look that way? Could Jesus be asking us to “fake it”? And indeed those who do not fast with God alone in view, or who have not yet learned how to do it well, will be miserable–as, no doubt, “the hypocrites” were.

But Jesus himself knew that when we have learned how to fast “in secret,” our bodies and our souls will be directly sustained by the invisible kingdom. We will not be miserable. But we certainly will be different. And our abundant strength and our joy will come in ways a purely physical human existence in “the flesh” does not know. It will come from those sources that are “in secret”…

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. John 4:31-34

Dallas Willard (1935-2013) in The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1998) 195-196.

Last week we celebrated God’s generosity in giving us the the gift of prayer. Likewise as we fast in body and spirit today let us celebrate the divine sustenance we graciously receive from the One whose abundance sustains all of creation (cf. Colossians 1:17) and us as we do the will of the Father. This is the food the world knows nothing about. Not sure how to partake of it? Try this exercise.

What are all the things the world says you need? You need… You need… You need… Write them on a piece of paper. Now consider things you have recently said you need? I need… I need… I need… List those things too. Look at what you have written down. Now take five minutes in silence and ask God what you need. Journal what comes to mind in secret.

“Pride and avarice mean the drive of energy set towards ourselves and our possessions. Lust and gluttony love too much. Sloth and envy love to little. They all turn up in our relation to the things God gives us to deal with–family, friends, work, and the practice of religion. As we wake up more towards spiritual reality and our world grows, the form of our sinfulness probably changes. The great wrong instincts of self-importance, pugnacity, grab, self-indulgence, slackness, are still there, but gradually pass from cruder to more and more subtle forms–spiritual pride, spiritual envy, spiritual greed: these still lie in wait for souls who believe they want nothing but God.”

Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) in “The Mount of Purification” as recounted in Lent with Evelyn Underhill, ed. by G.P. Malice Belshaw (Harrisburg: Morehouse, 1990) 57.

By week three of Lent we are realizing that the disciplines draw our attention to deeper spiritual realities. Few grasped these in the first half of the 20th century like Evelyn Underhill. In “The Mount of Purification” she points the way to overcoming the seven deadly sins (cf. Proverbs 6:16-19).

For Underhill, thanksgiving turns pride into humility; sacrifice transforms anger into tranquility; communion replaces envy with charity; commemoration overtakes avarice with generosity; and mystery is when detachment reigns over greed. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

As we reorient our physical desires in fasting and redirect our perspective toward others in giving and reflect on our experiences in prayer during Lent we realize the “more subtle forms” these sins can take in our lives. May the Holy Spirit help us avoid “more subtle forms” as together we seek nothing but God.

“Listen, sons of the Lord and my brothers, pay attention to my words. Incline the ear of your heart and obey the voice of the Son of God. Observe His commands with your whole heart and fulfill His counsels with a perfect mind. Give praise to Him because He is good; exalt Him by your deeds; for this reason He has sent you into the whole world: that you may bear witness to His voice in word and deed and bring everyone to know that there is no one who is all-powerful except Him. Persevere in discipline and holy obedience and, with a good and firm purpose, fulfill what you have promised Him. The Lord God offers Himself to us as His children.”

Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) in “A Letter to the Entire Order” 116-117 as recounted in Lent and Easter Wisdom from St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi, comp. John V. Kruse (Liguori: Liguori, 2008) 111.

Few in human history lived with the resolve exhibited by Francis of Assisi. This excerpt from “A Letter to the Entire Order” offers at least two significant clues why the Franciscans went on to influence countless people around the world. It drips with Scripture and unswerving commitment!

We can locate at least four verse from God’s Word that echo through his voice: Acts 2:14; Isaiah 55:3; Psalm 136:1; and Hebrews 12:7. Does Scripture flow as readily from your lips and mine? That only happens when we are profoundly familiar with it, which takes an investment of time.

As we begin week three of Lent, consider in prayer the role of Scripture in your life. Do people hear it in your words and see it in your witness? Francis would say to “persevere…with a good and firm purpose” so that people may come to know the Lord! There is no more generous gift we can give them!

“With what eagerness and fervor of mind and body, therefore, must we keep the commandments of God…so that, with the help of the Lord, we may return to Him an increase of talents [cf. Matthew 25:15-23]. For the Lord Himself placed us as a model, as an example and mirror not only for others, but also for our sisters…Since the Lord has called us to such great things that those who are a mirror and example to others may be reflected in us, we are greatly bound to bless and praise God and to be strengthened more and more to do good in the Lord.”

Clare of Assisi in “The Testament” 61 as recounted in Lent and Easter Wisdom from St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi, comp. John V. Kruse (Liguori: Liguori, 2008) 111.

Today marks the end of the second week of Lent. The reason we practice the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and giving is not for God but for us, so that our lives toward others reflect as a “example and mirror” God’s great love to our brothers and sisters and the whole world (cf. 1 Timothy 4:12).

Sit in silent prayer today for ten minutes. Thank God for His love and ask Him if there is some good that He has uniquely equipped you to do. End your time with this prayer. Father in Heaven, give me the strength by your Holy Spirit and help me do this deed to reflect the love of Jesus Christ. Amen.

“I happen to think the whole modern attitude towards beggars is entirely heathen and inhuman. I should be prepared to maintain, as a matter of general morality, that it is intrinsically indefensible to punish human beings for asking for human assistance. I should say that it is intrinsically insane to urge people to give charity and forbid people to accept charity…Everyone would expect to have to help a man to save his life in a shipwreck; why not a man who has suffered a shipwreck of his life?”

G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) in Fancies Versus Fads as recounted in Lent and Easter Wisdom from G.K. Chesterton (Liguori: Liguori, 2007) 90.

Chesterton was brilliant with words. His society decried the giving and receiving of charity–the very heart of the gospel–and he was not ashamed to show them how absolutely crazy they were. He had a knack of doing it with disarming statements like this one, which is worth repeating: “Everyone would expect to have to help a man to save his life in a shipwreck; why not a man who has suffered a shipwreck of his life?”

The power of charity for a shipwrecked humanity is the way in which God personally delivered it. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). The question for each of us is will we succumb to society’s expectations or imitate our Savior for the shipwrecked lives around us? Know anyone who has “suffered a shipwreck” in life? Do something to aid them today.

“The soul that stops praying stops loving Jesus Christ. Prayer is the holy furnace in which the fire of holy love is enkindled and kept alive.”

Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) in Lent and Easter Wisdom from St. Alphonsus Liguori, comp. Maurice J. Nutt (Liguori: Liguori, 2011) 101.

How is the discipline of prayer changing you this Lent? Has the shift taken place yet? About this time in Lent I find something happens within me. Having set aside special time for prayer for many days in a row, I find that even though it’s a feast day, when I can rest from my disciplines, that I don’t want to stop. I want more time with the Father in prayer.

Paul exhorted the Thessalonians church (and us) to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Why cherish prayer? Prayer is the pathway to communion with God by the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord. Sit with someone today and talk about your lenten experience so far. Finish these sentences: In prayer, I am learning…   When I fast, I find…   In giving, I discover…

“Know that to serve God is nothing else than to serve your neighbor and do good to him in love, be it child, wife, servant, enemy, friend; without making any difference, whoever needs your help in body or soul, and wherever you can help in temporal or spiritual matters. This is serving God and doing good works.

O Lord God, how do we fools live in this world, neglecting to do such good works, though in all parts of the world we find the needy, on whom we could bestow our good works; but no one looks after them nor cares for them.

But look to your own life. If you do not find yourself among the needy and the poor, where the Gospel shows us Christ, then you may know that your faith is not right and that you have not yet tasted of Christ’s benevolence and work for you.”

Martin Luther in “The Doctrine of Faith and Good Works” (56) in Through the Year with Martin Luther: A Selection of Sermons Celebrating the Feasts and Seasons of the Christian Year (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2007) 80.

While Luther’s message to the Church can be summarized as “salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone”, He rightly exhorts us, as recipients of Christ’s benevolence, to serve the needy. We are to help with “temporal or spiritual matters”, which means aiding those who are suffering some personal crisis and those who may need our help spiritually.

What about you? As a recipient of divine mercy do you find yourself among the hurting, materially and/or spiritually? Or do you buffer yourself from such people? If you “look at your own life” what do you see? Open your calendar. How do you spend your time? Mark one thing you can do next week to place yourself among the temporally or spiritually needy. Why do this? In the same narrative Luther adds these insightful words.

“Therefore, behold what an important saying it is, “Blessed is he whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me” [Matthew 11:6]. We stumble in two respects. In faith, because we expect to become pious Christians in a different way than through Christ and go our way blindly, not acknowledging Christ. In love we stumble, because we are not mindful of the poor and needy, do not look after them, and yet we think we satisfy the demands of faith with other works than these.”

“Not that we are to imagine, the performing the bare outward act [of fasting] will receive any blessing from God…No, surely, if it be a mere external service, it is all but lost labor…But let us take care to afflict our souls as well as our bodies. Let every season, either of public or private fasting, be a season of exercising all those holy affections which are implied in a broken and contrite heart. Let it be a season of devout mourning, of godly sorrow for sin; such a sorrow as that of the Corinthians, concerning which the Apostle saith, “I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance…[2 Corinthians 7:9]

And with fasting let us always join fervent prayer, pouring out our whole souls before God, confessing our sins with all their aggravations, humbling ourselves under his mighty hand, laying open before him all our wants, all our guiltiness and helplessness. This is a season for enlarging our prayers, both in behalf of ourselves and of our brethren. It remains only, in order to our observing such a fast as is acceptable to the Lord, that we add alms thereto; works of mercy, after our power, both to the bodies and souls of men: “With such sacrifices” also “God is well pleased.” [Hebrews 13:16]

John Wesley (1703-1791) excerpt of Sermon 27.4.3-7. “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon On The Mount: Discourse Seven” on Matthew 6:16-18.

Wesley is spot on: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving must not just afflict our bodies, they must afflict our souls. They must change us to the core. As we journey through Lent, we may feel a change in our bodies, but the real question is whether or not we are feeling it in our souls? Do we have broken and contrite hearts?

In Joel 2:13 the prophet proclaimed: Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead. Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

Before doing acts of mercy this Lent, let’s make sure our hearts are right. We are just getting into Lent, and if our hearts aren’t broken before God, the whole journey will be, in the words of Wesley, “lost labor”. Take five minutes in silence today. Ask God to show you sin in your heart, confess it and experience the gift of forgiveness. Then pursue acts of mercy toward others even as you have received mercy.

“During the troublous times of Scotland…late on a certain night, John Knox was seen to leave his study, and to pass from the house down into an enclosure behind it. He was followed by a friend; when, after a few moments of silence, his voice was heard as if in prayer. In another moment the accents deepened into intelligible words, and the earnest petition went up from his struggling soul to heaven: “O Lord, give me Scotland, or I die!” Then a pause of hushed stillness, when again the petition broke forth: “O Lord, give me Scotland, or I die!”

Once more all was voiceless and noiseless; when, with a yet intenser pathos, the thrice-repeated intercession struggled forth: “O Lord, give me Scotland, or I die!” And God gave him Scotland, in spite of Mary [Queen of Scots] and Cardinal Beaton; a land and a church of noble Christian loyalty to Christ and His crown, even unto this day. How could it be otherwise? The history of the salvation and sanctification of human souls hitherto is the history of such praying as this, in spirit, if not in these, or any, uttered words. Such humble earnestness never offends the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, through Him, is the God of all grace and consolation.”

John Knox (1510-1572) as recounted in The Christian’s Penny Magazine (London: John Snow & Co., 1868) 4.181-182.

Not only does our Father in Heaven welcome our persistent prayers in humble earnestness, they can impact even the hardest people and whole nations. It was widely known that John Knox prayed and fasted regularly and the wicked Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots said “she feared no weapon like she feared the prayers of John Knox.”

Why cite this example in Lent? Last week we considered the gift that prayer is. Today let us assess the power of this gift. It’s unfathomable! But do we pray like we believe this. The God of heaven invites us to approach His throne boldly (cf. Hebrews 4:16). Do we? Let us not just practice the discipline of prayer daily this Lent; let us pray boldly!