John Calvin: Egregiously Mistaken

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches but rather on God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 1 Timothy 6:17

“Command (or charge) those who are rich. There being many among Christians who were poor and in a mean condition, it is probable that they were despised (as usually happens) by the rich; and especially this might be common at Ephesus, which was a wealthy city; for in such cities, for the most part, pride is more extensively prevalent. And hence we infer how dangerous is a great abundance of riches. Nor are there wanting good reasons why Paul addresses so severe an admonition to the rich; but it is for the purpose of remedying faults which almost always follow riches in the same manner as the shadow follows the body; and that through the depravity of our natural disposition, for out of the gifts of God we always draw an occasion for sinning.

That they be not haughty, nor hope in the uncertainty of riches. He expressly mentions two things against which rich men ought to be on their guard, pride and deceitful hope, of which the former springs from the latter. Accordingly, Paul appears to have added, in the same place, “nor hope in the uncertainty of riches,” in order to point out the source of all pride. For whence comes it, that rich men grow insolent, and take extreme delight in despising others, but because they imagine that they are supremely happy? Vain confidence goes first, and then arrogance follows.

Rich in this world. When Paul wishes to correct those faults, he first speaks contemptuously of riches; for the phrase, in this world, is intended to lower them in our esteem. All that is in the world has the taste of its nature; so that it is fading, and quickly passes away. The uncertainty and vanity of the hope that is placed in riches are shewn by him from this consideration, that the possession of them is so transitory that it is like a thing unknown; for, while we think that we hold them, they slip out of our hands in a moment. How foolish is it, therefore, to place our hope in them!

But in the living God. He who understands this will find no difficulty in withdrawing his hope from riches; for, if it is God alone who supplies us with everything for the necessary purposes of life, we transfer to riches what is this prerogative, when we place hope in them. Now observe that there is an implied contrast, when he affirms that God giveth abundantly to all. The meaning is, that, although we have a full and overflowing abundance of all things, yet we have nothing but from the blessing of God alone; for it is that blessing alone which imparts to us all that is needful.

Hence it follows, that they are egregiously mistaken, who rely on riches, and do not depend entirely on the blessing of God, in which consists a sufficiency of food and of everything else. Hence also we conclude, that we are forbidden to trust in riches, not only because they belong to the use of mortal life, but likewise because they are nothing but smoke; for we are fed, not by bread only, but by the blessing of God (Deuteronomy 8:3). When he says πλουσίως εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν, abundantly for enjoyment, he describes how kind God is to us, and even to all men, and to the brute beasts; for his kindness extends far and wide beyond our necessity (Psalm 36:6).”

John Calvin in Commentary on Timothy, Titus, Philemon (CCEL) 137-138.

I am attending the ETS (Evangelical Theological Society), IBR (Institute for Biblical Research), and SBL (Society of Biblical Literature) conferences in Boston, Massachusetts.

I will deliver a paper entitled “Wealth and Worship in Ancient Ephesus” on Thursday. I will share it with Daily Meditations readers on that day.

That said, this week, I will explore and share the comments on texts that relate to stewardship and generosity in a commentary that I just located in PDF form from church history, this gem from John Calvin.

Today two things stand out to me. When we amass wealth, we can easily become prideful or haughty in how we see ourselves as compared to other people. I see how that riches wrongly handled can ruin our relationships with people.

But notice also that when we misplaced hope to pride, we become egregiously mistaken. We forget God is the one who supplied everything. Notice how riches not rightly stewarded can damage our relationship with God.

Pray for me as I travel to learn through interaction with biblical scholars and commentators on biblical passages and speak on texts in 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Ephesians. Thanks.

And be blessed by Calvin’s comments this week. Today, the charge to the rich relates to most everyone reading this. It aims not to rob us but to help us rightly relate to riches with humility, enjoyment, and generosity.

I envision Paul would say, find joy put them to work while maintaining a posture of perpetual dependence on God.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always exceling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58

“Community is the place where people give to one another. We are not God, but we can be mediators (in a limited way) of the unlimited love of God. Community is the place of joy and celebration where we can say to one another, “Be of good cheer: the Lord has overcome the world, the Lord has overcome the evil one. Do not be afraid.” In that sense the victory has already come. It is the victory of the cross, it is the victory of the naked one on the cross, a victory over death. Love is stronger than death, and community is the place where you and I continue to let the world know that there is something to celebrate, something to be joyful about, something to be ecstatic about – ecstasy, ecstasies, in the sense of moving out of the static place of death. Community is the place from which we speak the Good News to the world: “Don’t be afraid. Look, it has already happened. Christ is risen.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, compiled and edited by Wendy Wilson Greer (New York: Crossroad, 1999) 129-130.

Does your generosity include the dispensing of love. Because of the communion we enjoy at the foot of the cross, Jesus has made us “mediators (in a limited way) of the unlimited love of God.”

One of my mentors, Rob Martin, calls this the communion of giving and receiving. We give and receive because of the victory of Jesus on the cross and because of God’s matchless love toward us.

We cannot share, however, what we do not have. We cannot bless others with this love unless we have received it. Take a moment and thank God for His grace lavished on you through Jesus and consider how it might inspire your growth in generosity.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert, and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18

“To pray unceasingly, as Paul asks us to do, would be completely impossible if it meant to think constantly about God… To pray, I think, does not mean to think about God in contrast to thinking about other things, or to spend time with God instead of spending time with other people. Rather it means to think and live in the presence of God. As soon as we begin to divide our thoughts into thoughts about God and thoughts about people and events, we remove God from our daily life to a pious little niche where we can think pious thoughts and experience pious feelings.

Although it is important and even indispensable for the spiritual life to set apart time for God and God alone, prayer can only become unceasing prayer when all our thoughts – beautiful or ugly, high or low, proud or shameful, sorrowful or joyful – can be thought in the presence of God. Thus, converting our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer moves us from a self-centered monologue to a God-centered dialogue.

To pray unceasingly is to lead all our thoughts out of their fearful isolation into a fearless conversation with God. Jesus’ life’s a life lived in the presence of God His Father. Jesus kept nothing, absolutely nothing, hidden from His Father’s face. Jesus’ joys, fears, His hopes, and His despairs were always shared with His Father.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, compiled and edited by Wendy Wilson Greer (New York: Crossroad, 1999) 107-108.

Would you describe your prayer like as a self-centered monologue to a God-centered dialogue?

I found it fascinating how Nouwen deconstructs the way we wrongly tend to approach prayer as thinking about God. Instead, he shows us how to invite God into every moment of every day, thinking and living in His presence.

I see how this becomes both indispensable for the spiritual life and our experience of intimacy with God.

And I notice how this will shape our generosity in exponential ways. Imagine God telling us to do things as a result of what we see with Him. He will undoubtedly nudge us to move toward brokenness with compassion and help.

Many have said they have appreciated my focus on prayer this. I hope that is true for you.

Why do it? In shifting from President & CEO to Founder, I actually think my best years are still yet ahead of me. But I need discernment to develop new rhythms and to reach radical new levels of generosity.

Join me. I call it my journey from “fearful isolation into a fearless conversation with God.”

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“When we think about prayer, we usually regard it as one of the many things we do live a full and mature Christian life… If we are fervent in our conviction that prayer is important, we might even be willing to give a whole hour to prayer every day, or a whole day every month, or a whole week every year. Thus prayer becomes a part, a very important part, of our life.

But when the apostle Paul speaks about prayer, he uses a very different language. He does not speak about prayer as a part of life, but as all of life. He does not mention prayer as something we should not forget, but claims it is our ongoing concern. He does not exhort his readers to pray once in a while, regularly, or often but without hesitation admonishes them to pray constantly, unceasingly, without interruption.

Paul does not ask us to spend some of every day in prayer. No Paul is much more radical. He asks us to pray day and night, in joy and in sorrow, at work and at play, without intermissions or breaks. For Paul, praying is like breathing. It cannot be interrupted without mortal danger.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, compiled and edited by Wendy Wilson Greer (New York: Crossroad, 1999) 107.

What is the role of prayer in your life and related to your generosity?

Today Nouwen uses the example of Paul to inspire us not to compartmentalize it but do it continually. Imagine if we only breathed occasionally. We would be in mortal danger, right?

Sit with the Lord on this on this Saturday morning and make changes as the Spirit leads.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

“In a society that seems to be filled with urgencies and emergencies, prayer appears to be an unnatural form of behavior. Without fully realizing it, we have accepted the idea that “doing things” is more important than prayer and have come to think of prayer as something for times when there is nothing urgent to do…

Concentrated human effort is necessary because prayer is not our most natural response to the world. Left to our own impulses, we will always want to do something else before we pray. Often, what we want to do seems so unquestionably good – setting ups a religious education program, helping with a soup kitchen, listening to people’s problems, visiting the sick, planning a liturgy, working with prisoners or mental patients – that it is hard to realize that even these things can be done with impatience and so become signs of our own needs rather than of God’s compassion.

Therefore, prayer is in many ways the criterion of the Christian life. Prayer requires that we stand in God’s presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without God we can do nothing. This is difficult in a climate where the predominant counsel is “Do your best and God will do the rest.” When life is divided into “our best” and “God’s rest,” we have turned prayer into a last resort to be used only when all our own resources are depleted.

Discipleship does not mean to use God when we can no longer function ourselves. On the contrary, it means to recognize that we can do nothing at all, but that God can do everything through us. As disciples, we find not some but all of our strength, hope, courage, and confidence in God. Therefore, prayer must be our first concern.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, compiled and edited by Wendy Wilson Greer (New York: Crossroad, 1999) 92-93.

When I became CEO of GTP, I wanted to make prayer our first concern.

I praise God in my tenure as president we developed a network of 3,582 prayer journal subscribers and 919 intercessors who joined us for monthly prayer in 76 countries.

If we accomplished a lot for God, it flowed from a posture of surrender and dependence.

What might this look like for the church or ministry where you serve? Is prayer peripheral or central to what you do? How might today’s post inspire you to make prayer the criterion of your Christian journey?

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

“When we enter into solitude we will often hear these two voices – the voice of the world and the voice of the Lord – pulling us in two contrary directions. But if we keep returning faithfully to the place of solitude, the voice of the Lord will gradually become stronger and we will come to know and understand with mind and heart the peace we are searching for.

What do we do in our solitude? The first answer is nothing. Just be present to the One who wants your attention and listen! It is precisely in this “useless” presence to God that we can gradually die to our illusions of power and control and give ear to the voice of love hidden in the center of our being.

But “doing nothing, being useless,” is not as passive as it sounds. In fact, it requires effort and great attentiveness. It calls us to an active listening in which we make ourselves available to God’s healing presence and can be made new.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, compiled and edited by Wendy Wilson Greer (New York: Crossroad, 1999) 82.

When I disciple people at GTP, I remind them that God does His most generous and abundant work through FAT – faithful, available, and teachable – people.

The voice of the world is loud and seeks to drown out the voice of the Lord. But the Lord whispers to us to be still and know Him. To take a posture of attentiveness and availability.

Think of the Good Samaritan. What made him so good? He was attentive and available. The priest and Levite that walked by the man in need were neither. They were fixed on their own agendas.

Not the Samaritan. He noticed the needy person (attentiveness) and moved toward him with compassion (available) and I am sure he did not make it to where he was going on schedule.

How does this post speak to you about your posture? Are you attentive? Are you available?

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

“Prayer is often considered a weakness, a support system, which is used when we can no longer help ourselves. But this is only true when the God of our prayers is created in our own image and adapted to our own needs and concerns. When, however, prayer makes us reach out to God, not on our own but on his terms, then prayer pulls us away from self-preoccupations, encourages us to leave familiar ground, and challenges us to enter into a new world which cannot be contained within the narrow boundaries of our mind or heart. Prayer, therefore is a great adventure because the God with whom we enter into a new relationship is greater than we are and defies all our calculations and predictions. The movement from illusion to prayer is hard to make since it leads us from false certainties to true uncertainties, from an easy support system to a risky surrender, and from the many “safe” gods to the God whose love has no limits.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, compiled and edited by Wendy Wilson Greer (New York: Crossroad, 1999) 33-34.

My North Dakota hunting trip in November tied with my Wisconsin fly fishing trip in June as my top two outdoor adventures this year.

And my travels to many countries offer adventures filled with everything from abundant fruits and faith-stretching moments to real danger and miraculous deliverance.

But since my shift to Founder, I find prayer that I pray more than ever.

George Berlin in my Tuesday morning Bible Study gave me this book yesterday. I started reading immediately and this statement stuck out to me. The life if prayer is a great adventure.

Read this last part again.

“Prayer, therefore is a great adventure because the God with whom we enter into a new relationship is greater than we are and defies all our calculations and predictions. The movement from illusion to prayer is hard to make since it leads us from false certainties to true uncertainties, from an easy support system to a risky surrender, and from the many “safe” gods to the God whose love has no limits.”

The generosity that comes into view links to the invitation to intimacy with the God whose love has no limits. He leads me to true uncertainties and risky surrender.

While most opt for easy support systems and safe living, I give thanks today for the generosity of God who offers peace that transcends all understanding when we surrender everything to Him.

Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything.

But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us[a] but to God!” Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him.

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.” Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things. Acts 5:1-11

“Ananias and Sapphira deserved punishment, for sure. They deserved a stiff sentence. But the death sentence Does the punishment fit the crime? What they did was bad, but was it that bad?

Let’s think about it. Exactly what did they do? They used the church for self-promotion. They leveraged God’s family for personal gain. They attempted to turn a congregation into a personal stage across which they could strut.

God has a strong word for such behavior: hypocrisy. When Jesus used it, people ducked for cover. He lambasted the Pharisees with this blowtorch:

All their works they do to be seen by men . . . They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, “Rabbi, Rabbi.” . . . But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men . . . Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers . . . You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. (Matthew 23:5–7, 13–14, 25

Jesus never spoke to anyone else with such intensity. But when he saw the religious hypocrite, he flipped on the spotlight and exposed every self-righteous mole and pimple. “They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men” (Matt. 6:5).

This is the working definition of hypocrisy: “to be seen by men.” The Greek word for hypocrite, hupokrites, originally meant “actor.” First-century actors wore masks. A hypocrite, then, is one who puts on a mask, a false face.

Jesus did not say, “Do not do good works.” Nor did he instruct, “Do not let your works be seen.” We must do good works, and some works, such as benevolence or teaching, must be seen in order to have an impact. So let’s be clear. To do a good thing is a good thing. To do good to be seen is not. In fact, to do good to be seen is a serious offense. Here’s why.

Hypocrisy turns people away from God.”

Max Lucado in Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010) 64-65.

Today’s post is long so I will be short. Sit with the Lord today related to this idea: “Hypocrisy turns people away from God.”

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you any hypocrisy in your generosity. Root it out. This is serious business. If you had cancer do you let it spread or treat it. You treat it so it does not kill you. Think of hypocrisy in the same way.

God convicted me of wrong motives in one aspect of my life while writing this. As I shift to Founder of GTP, I am learning to listen more and walk in greater humility while asking God to help me not have any hypocrisy.

Join me in this. Lest our living and giving turn people away from God.

And as today marks Veteran’s Day in USA, a day of remembering those who have served, reach out to express gratitude to at least one person in your life for their sacrificial service.

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. Galatians 5:22-23

“If a man worth a billion dollars, if that man exists, if he’s worth a billion dollars and he gives away a million, he’s that much the poorer. If he gains a million, he’s that much the richer. But God can give away grace and still not be any less rich in grace. You can refuse His grace and still God won’t have any more grace because God can’t have any more grace than He has now because He has an infinite grace, which is boundless and limitless. And there isn’t any way possible for God to have any more kindness than he has now. But somebody says, didn’t Jesus, when He died on the tree, didn’t that make God gracious and kind to us? No, it’s exactly the other way. Christ died on the tree because God was gracious and kind, not to make God gracious and kind.”

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) in his sermon entitled “Thou Art Good and Doest Good” delivered on 18 November 1956.

I love this sermon. Tozer taps into the implications of God’s abundant economy.

To explain this to stewards that I disciple around the world, I often use an illustration. I say, if I am kind to a person at the train station on the way to work, and kind to a barista that makes me a coffee in the morning, do I run out of kindness by lunchtime. Of course, I do not.

Why? Because the abundant nature of the fruit of the Spirit in God’s economy.

When God works in us and produces fruit, we don’t end up empty when we share it, but rather enriched for every good work. We have more love, more peace, more patience, more kindness, and more generosity. We can continue to thrive with more faithfulness, more gentleness, and more self-control. It never runs out.

So whether you have a billion dollars, a million dollars, or just a few dollars, give generously. Why?

The world tells you not to do this because you will end up empty. Or it says that you will find yourself in need. I say that you don’t figure it out until you live it out that His grace will abound toward you and you will have all that you need. Try it. Tozer put his finger on it!

And notice, one more thing about God’s abundant economy.

God cannot have any more grace or kindness toward us because it never diminishes. And if you flip that back on us. We cannot ever accumulate enough money because it always diminishes. What does that prove? It proves that accumulation represents a foolish relationship to money. Generosity comes into view as only wise pattern that brings life.

Read this sermon to get the full picture. It’s time well spent.

You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:68

“God is full of kindness and favor and mercy, that God is good-hearted and of good will. Now I looked up the word “good” here as it’s used about God to find out what the Bible did say, what this word does mean. And you know it is one of those words that is so full of meaning that it makes our English language stagger. It means that God is bountiful, that he is cheerful, it means that he is merry and glad and gracious and joyful and kind and sweet and ready.

Now all of those meanings are in the word “good” in Hebrew so that it takes all of those meanings to put it into our English. Thou art good and doest good. Thou art bountiful and doest bountifully. Thou art cheerful and doest cheerfully. Thou art merry and doest merrily. Thou art glad and dost labor in thy gladness. Thou art gracious and doest graciously. Thou art joyful and doest joyfully. Thou art kind and doest kindly. Now it means all that and I suppose it means a good deal more, but it means that God is kind and favorful and merciful, that God has a good heart toward us, that he is a person or a being of good will…

So, you’re not dealing with a sulky, heavy-browed God. You’re dealing with a God who is kind, and then the word ready is in there. I don’t know what the word ready is in there for unless it means that God is there ready to be kind and ready to be gracious and ready to be bountiful. So, He’s a ready, God, and He’s benevolent and cordial and gracious.”

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) in his sermon entitled “Thou Art Good and Doest Good” delivered on 18 November 1956.

Two days ago, I pulled a gem of a quote from this sermon and decided to spend a few more days with it. Today I feel encouraged by the goodness of God, and specifically his “ready” posture toward us.

So related to generosity, God stands ready to give us what we need, whether we need mercy or provision, or gladness or deliverance. He stands ready to come to our aid. Why celebrate this today?

I am at home catching up on emails from taking last week off work. I need divine assistance in so many ways. I can’t serve without it. And guess what? He stands ready to pour out grace, help, and wisdom I need.

The commands of God find roots in the limitless goodness of God. Lest we let anything sway our generous living, giving, serving, and loving, we must root our obediences in His matchless goodness.