Meditations

Give to everyone who asks of you, and do not demand your possessions back from the one who takes them. Luke 6:30

“Benefactors gave to those deemed worthy to receive a gift and who could reciprocate. Those who outgave the other gained status as the superior while the other moved down a rung on the status ladder. Gifts were always business deals used to cement friendships among social equals or to gain or assert power over social inferiors. The benefactor became the patron and the recipient the client who must reciprocate through service or public praise.

Jesus command about giving would have struck the listeners as bizarre. He makes no mention about the worthiness of the recipient and effectively erases the social distinctions between the giver and receiver. To Jesus, [his disciples are to give] without expecting any return from the one who receives…The early Christian community lived this ethic out (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32, 34-35), essentially becoming “fools for Christ” (1 Cor 4:10) from the perspective of the world’s value system [in contrast to the rich fool who kept everything for himself and was not “rich toward God” in Luke 12:13-21].”

David E. Garland in Luke: Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament ed. Clinton E. Arnold (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011) 280.

“With the help of the Spirit of God, we are empowered to goodness [also translated “generosity”].  We make changes in our world for the good of all, and we follow Christian ethics in all of our dealings with others—at home, at work, at church and in the community. Acts of goodness include helping those less fortunate than ourselves, visiting the sick, assisting the homeless, comforting the broken-hearted, and working for the equality of all people (Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:16-19). It is through such good deeds that we become messengers of God’s love. It is Christianity at its most practical.”

Bobbie Reed, Listen to the Heart: Story Meditations on the Fruits of the Spirit (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1997) 74. 

“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”


Augustine of Hippo, Source unknown 4th / 5th century A.D.

“Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.”

Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) entitled this prayer, “Suscipe,” which in Latin means “take or receive” as a radical prayer of self-giving offered response to the love of God.

Jenni and I are on retreat in Wisconsin this weekend with some friends who live up in Door County above Green Bay, and interestingly, we were just talking about this yesterday. Picture this: Blue sky, white clouds, and fresh air. We were sitting out on the dock, probably one hundred feet from shore, eating Door County cherries and Wisconsin cheese with some crackers for our lunch.

We could not help but reflect God’s great love and generosity toward us. Of course we discussed how our response in living a life of generosity is not one of deeds to win His favor, but simply having received His generous love and grace by faith, we get to share that love and grace to others as generously as it was extended to us.

I always connect the thinking of Ignatius to my wife, Jenni, as she went on an Ignatian retreat a number of years ago for one of her Spiritual Formation classes at Denver Seminary. They worked through part of his Spiritual Exercises together.

…the fruit of the spirit is…generosity… Galatians 5:22 (NRSV)

“Our generosity is the work of the Holy Spirit— the work of God within us…It appears as though we develop our generosity on our own, but this is not the case. The Holy Spirit brings forth our generosity…To gain some sense of understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit is to overcome the notion that Christian generosity is some form of achievement…

God is the one who set us free from selfish pursuits. God sets us free from the pursuit of the self because he sets us free from the desire for more, and more, and more. He gives us what we truly desire, the gift of himself, in whom all happiness is contained. We will never completely understand this process because it is the work of God and our “unselving,” our conversion, our surrender, is the work of the Holy Spirit.

This means that it is not our achievement, but rather it is a gift, which is cause for us to be grateful to God. It is by God’s grace, not our own achievement that we surrender. This is cause to be grateful, not proud. Our contribution is to surrender to God; this is a matter of humility, not pride.

Generosity is a disposition of “unselving,” of surrender; it is not a skilled method to be accomplished. Generosity must be one with the Holy Spirit, God in us, a submission to God’s movement in us. It is a matter of releasing the desires of this temporal world so that we may connect with God.”

Harry Verhiley in white paper entitled, Generosity-Cause For Pride?

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

“Every benefit which God bestows upon us is evidence to us of His grace, love and power, from which we ought to conceive a stronger confidence for the future. The expressions exceedingly abundantly and above all that we ask or think [in Ephesians 3:20-21] should be noted, so that there should not be excessive fear in true faith. For however many blessings we expect from God. His infinite liberality will always exceed all our wishes and our thoughts.”

John Calvin (1509-1564) in The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996) 170.

“The value of our life does not depend on the place we occupy. It depends on the way we occupy that place.”

Thérèse de Lisieux (1873-1897) in A Guide to Abundant Living ed. M.K. Glavich (ACTA: 2005) 71.

“Christian leaders today need to model generosity in their giving, so that the average church-goer whose offerings prove paltry in comparison, can see that greater sacrifice is both possible and necessary.”

Craig Blomberg, Neither Poverty Nor Riches (Downers Grove: IVP, 1999) 55.

“Nothing seems tiresome or painful when you are working for a master who pays well; who rewards even a cup of cold water given for love of Him.”

Dominic Salvo (1842-1857) as recounted in Quotable Saints ed. Ronda Chervin, 116.

“The Church of the Lord is built upon the rock of the apostles among so many dangers in the world; it therefore remains unmoved. The Church’s foundation is unshakable and firm against assaults of the raging sea. Waves lash at the Church but do not shatter it. Although the elements of this world constantly beat upon the Church with crashing sounds, the Church possesses the safest harbor of salvation for all in distress. There is a stream which flows down on God’s saints like a torrent. There is also a rushing river giving joy to the heart that is at peace and makes for peace.”

Ambrose of Milan (337-397) Letter 2 cf. Witness of the Saints: Readings in the Liturgy of Hours, ed. Milton Walsh (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2012) 359.

This morning I chose to read Ambrose because he is one of the four doctors of the Western Church, and renown as “the Pastoral Doctor” in church history. As I begin teaching my first D.Min. course today at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, I desire to be a pastoral doctor.

I was moved by Ephesians 2 this morning and by the perspective of Ambrose on it. I felt led to remind my students and each of you of the stewardship of the pastor: “the Church possesses the safest harbor of salvation for all in distress.”

Additionally, I loved his statement that “there is a stream which flows down on God’s saints…giving joy to the heart that is at peace and makes for peace” because God granted me the priceless gift of peaceful fly fishing with my son in some alpine streams this month.

Thus, as a bonus today, enjoy this three-minute video Sammy made after one of our outings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGm-F2AiJRQ