Meditations

“The great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor. When the worlds of poverty and wealth collide, the resulting powerful fusion can change the world. But that collision rarely happens…I long for the Calcutta slums to meet the Chicago suburbs, for lepers to meet landowners and for each to see God’s image in the other. I truly believe that when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end.”

Shane Claiborne, Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006) 113-14.

My family has never been the same since getting to know the Treasures (the destitute poor of the garbage dump of Guatemala city) served by Potter’s House. We invite you to get to know them with us.

Check out this YouTube Video (lyrics below):
Jason Gray, With Every Act of Love

Sitting at the stoplight
He can’t be bothered by the heart cry
Written on the cardboard in her hand
But when she looks him in the eye
His heart is broken open wide
And he feels the hand of God reach out through him
As Heaven touches earth

(Chorus)
Oh – we bring the Kingdom come
Oh – with every act of love
Jesus help us carry You
Alive in us, Your light shines through
With every act of love
We bring the Kingdom come

There’s silence at the table
He wants to talk but he’s not able
For all the shame that’s locked him deep inside
But her words are the medicine
When she says they can begin again
And forgiveness will set him free tonight
As Heaven touches earth

(Chorus)

God put a million, million doors in the world
For his love to walk through
One of those doors is you
I said, God put a million, million doors in the world
For his love to walk through
One of those doors is you

(Chorus)

Oh – we bring the Kingdom come
Oh – with every act of love
Jesus help us carry You
Alive in us, Your light shines through
With every act of love
We bring the Kingdom come
With every act of love
We bring the Kingdom come
With every act of love
We bring the Kingdom come

This weekend I am pheasant hunting in Kansas with my 17 year old son, Sammy, who alerted me to this song. He loves it and rightly so, as it reflects his heart and the impact of our Christian generosity.

“Simplicity cultivates the art of letting go and de-attaching from possessions. It brings with its practice, freedom and generosity.”

Excerpt from Stewardship and Spiritual Gifts as part of “Matters of the Heart”, a publication of Chapel Hill United Methodist Church.

“If the church is not developing and strengthening its own authentic approach to the area of money through discipleship, integrating faith and practice, the secular culture will be all too happy to fill the void, and to lead in ways that may not be in the church’s best interests.

It may be noted that an authentic approach to the area of money through discipleship is not something that can be led by church stewardship or mission personnel without the involved commitment of the top denominational leaders whether in formal or informal roles.”

The Kingdom of God, Church Leaders & Institutions, Global Triage Needs, and the Promises of Jesus, Chapter 8 excerpt. ed. John and Sylvia Ronsvalle, Empty Tomb, 23rd Edition (Champaign, IL: 2013) 131.

“God’s acts of love toward humans are acts of gracious generosity, of undeserved kindness to which no rights are correlated. God expects of covenantal communities the same extraordinary generosity.

Hear, then, Jesus’ appeal to his disciples to practice extraordinary generosity: “If anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” [Matt. 5:40-41]…The generosity of the second mile is a duty the Christian should deliver even though the neighbor has no right to it…

Clearly, unmerited generosity of this sort presupposes that Jesus’ disciples possess a character of faith, hope, and love that predisposes them to mercy and forgiveness and not to vengeance and retribution; a character whose habits invite emotions, like gentleness and compassion, that inspire acts of kindness for which the aggressor can claim no right.

What is extraordinary about Christian generosity, then, is that no rights correlate to its acts and when this is the case such acts may very well benefit a wrongdoer. The generosity Jesus showed toward the woman caught in adultery was extraordinary because the grace of merciful forgiveness was directed toward one who was clearly a wrongdoer and deserving of punishment…

The merciful generosity with which God has redeemed the faithful is the same generosity with which the faithful are to redeem the world…By undertaking projects of extraordinary kindness especially toward the undeserving, a covenantal community bears into the world the same extraordinary grace whereby God in Christ redeems and reconciles the world and establishes a kingdom of peace.”

James E. Gilman, Fidelity of Heart: An Ethic of Christian Virtue (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) 84-86.

“When all is said and done,” suggests veteran church consultant Lyle Schaller, “there are only two good reasons why anyone should be asked to contribute money to the church. The first is to help promote the giver’s spiritual growth…The second reason is even simpler. Christian discipleship is Christian stewardship…How else do God’s people grow in grace?”

Lyle Schaller as recounted by Elmer Towns and Warren Bird, Into the Future: Turning Today’s Church Trends into Tomorrow’s Opportunities (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 2000) 206.

“Regrettably, not much intentional training on stewardship is happening in churches today…church members have changed from stewards into consumers. They demand a higher level of comfort and services from their congregations than did previous generations…Stewardship is successfully managing your time, talents, and treasures for the glory of God.”

Elmer Towns and Warren Bird, Into the Future: Turning Today’s Church Trends into Tomorrow’s Opportunities (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 2000) 206-207.

“We must love the unlovable. I have a dear friend who works hard to help other people, especially children in need…she is a giving person. Yet, when we discuss loving those who do evil towards others, those who stand in the shoes of the enemy, she replies that she hasn’t reached that level yet. She doesn’t hate them, but she doesn’t express love toward them either.

Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” Jesus had to apply that love to those who became His enemies, those who were of the household of Israel, and He had to love those who weren’t. God was our first love giver and His Son, Jesus, was a love giver…

Jesus applied His love to the Roman ruler, the enemy. Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire was wealthy, literary and artistic. The Romans worshiped many pagan gods. In 63 B.C., Palestine fell into the hands of the Romans. After this takeover, there was increasing desecration of the Holy land.

In the midst of this political climate that was taking place, Jesus began His teaching ministry. His words were directed to the House of Israel. He profoundly said to love your enemy so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. Rome was the enemy, symbolizing total frustration. But Jesus walked in love.

Christian love conquers all…To walk in love requires us to show respect for others, control our attitudes, words and actions toward others. If we are not doing this we are not walking in love. Love for God is inextricably tied to love for others…

When we truly love one another, Paul contended, we would do everything in our power to strengthen others as we walk with them in the way of Christ…I challenge all of us to live righteously. The challenge is to love Jesus more than we love all else, to serve Him with all of our heart, mind and soul. And then we will walk in love.”

Addie June Hall, Must I Tell It? I Gotta Tell It! A Book of Sermons That Are Promoting, Pronouncing, Propelling, Prospering and Providential (AuthorHouse: Bloomington, 2009) 17-19.

“Stewardship is about much more than how we give. Stewardship is about how we live.”

Mark Alan Powell, professor at Luther Seminary, excerpt from preface to “Stewardship for the Missional Church” video of February 23, 2012.

“One there was a group of people who surveyed the resources of the world and said to each other: “How can we be sure that we have enough in hard times? We want to survive whatever happens. Let us start collecting food and knowledge so that we are safe and secure when a crisis occurs.”

So they started hoarding, so much and so eagerly that other people protested and said, “You have much more than you need, while we don’t have enough to survive. Give us part of your wealth!” But the fearful hoarders said: “No, no, we need to keep this incase of an emergency, in case things go bad for us too, in case our lives are threatened.” But the others said, “We are dying now; please give us food and materials and knowledge to survive. We can’t wait, we need it now!”

Then the fearful hoarders became even more fearful, since they became afraid that the poor and hungry would attack them. So they said to one another: “Let us build walls around our wealth so that no stranger can take it from us.” They started erecting walls so high that they could not even see anymore whether there were enemies outside the walls or not!

As their fear increased they told each other: “Our enemies have become so numerous that they may be able to tear down our walls. Our walls are not strong enough to keep them away. We need to put explosives and barbed wire on top of the walls so that nobody will dare to even come close to us. But instead of feeling safe and secure behind their armed walls they found themselves trapped in the prison they had built with their own fear.”

Henri Nouwen’s “Presbyterian Peace Fellowship Breakfast” address as recounted in Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit (New York: HarperOne, 2000) 73-74.