Kate Tristram: Open hearts and open arms

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” Psalm 126:2

“There has probably never been a time in history when the majority of people were seriously seeking God. Our Bible sets before us the idea that God may use a minority to serve the majority. It is because of the faithfulness of the few, not the many, that the Christian faith has come down the ages to us and we have the chance to know God in this way. It has always been so. If God has called us and we want to respond to Him, then we must be faithful to our own vision, whatever the many think. But we must do it with open hearts and open arms, not safeguarding our fewness, our specialness. And we must do it in healthy laughter directed at ourselves, because really it is so ridiculous to think that God has chosen us for anything at all, even though it is true.”

Kate Tristram in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 732.

Sweet meetings in Seattle. Deeply spiritual and profoundly strategic.

Funny to think that a group of eight have helped launch a mission sending gateway that has mobilized dozens of Chinese and Mongolians for Christian mission.

Yesterday was a full day, but the dinner at the end was filled with laughter.

Personally, as my season of service has drawn to a close, I can’t believe God gave me the opportunity to do this work with such a great group of people.

Maybe you have experienced a similar feeling at the end of a time of service?

As I reflect, I need open hands and open arms because this work has never been mine. It belongs to the LORD. All our work belongs to Him.

All we can do is sigh to realize the gift that it is to be on God’s team.

News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. Acts 11:22-24

“By far the greatest thing a man can do for his city is to be a good man. Simply to live there as a good man, as a Christian man of action and practical citizen, is the first and highest contribution anyone can make to its salvation. Let a city be a Sodom or a Gomorrah, and if there be but ten righteous men in it, if will be saved. Simple, old-fashioned Christianity did mighty work for the world in that it produced good men. It is goodness that tells, goodness first and goodness last. Good men even with small views are immeasurably more important to the world than small men with great views.”

Finan in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 707.

I’m in Seattle at meetings with good men (and good women). They are encouragers like Barnabas. I like how Finan describes good men as people who bring about salvation for cities.

It’s a cool picture, and happens not because of their power but their humility. They don’t save it with their strength but rather their discipline to follow God’s standards.

It’s a good feeling to wrap up a board commitment and pass the baton to good people. Their mighty work, I pray, will build upon our founding service and bless many.

As our being precedes our doing, Finan is right on to say that the first and best contribution we can make is to “be” a good person where God has planted us. Let’s do it.

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35

“Be respectful to the worthy, merciful to the poor. It is no sin to have wealth, but it is sinful to be attracted to wealth. It is the love of money, not money itself, which is the root of all evil.

Aidan, diring one Easter with King Oswald, was himself ill at east with the feast set before them. Just then a servant arrived to say that many poor people had arrived at the castle asking for alms.

Oswald with a wave of his arm ordered their own meal to be taken away and fed to the people outside, and the silver plate broken and distributed between them.

Aiden was so overcome that he exclaimed, ‘May the hand that did this never perish.’ Any society or civilization may best be judged by the way it treats its weakest members.”

Aiden and King Oswald as recounted in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 676-677.

What an amazing scene! The king not only distributed the feast to the poor seeking alms, he has his servants break up the silver plate to resource those in need.

It is vital to understand alms as going to the destitute, that is, people who could not help themselves, but whom we get to assist to demonstrate our Christian faith.

Two elements of this scene touch me. Oswald sacrificed his meal and converted a costly asset into aid for people in crisis. Imagine the impact on Aidan and others looking on.

Today I fly to Seattle to complete nearly seven years of service as a founding member of board that mobilizes Christian workers to serve as missionaries from Asia to the world.

I sit around a table with people like Oswald. They could feast in self indulgence, but instead they sacrifice and convert their wealth into eternal riches through giving.

Their living and giving inspires me. Let’s all resolve together to see the basic necessities and the wealth we possess as tools for showing God’s love to the needy.

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Philippians 4:5

“Be gentle in generosity, untiring in love, just in all things. Bede speaks of Bishop Colman and his predecessors, Aidan and Finan: The sole concern of the teachers of those days was to serve God, not the world, and to feed the soul, not the belly. The religious habit, therefore, was held in great respect at that time, so that whenever a cleric or monk appeared he was welcomed gladly by everyone as a servant of God. Even if one was discovered passing on the roads they would run up to him and bow their heads, and were glad to be signed with the cross by his hand or blessed by his lips; and they paid close heed to such men’s exhortations. On the Lord’s Day they gathered eagerly in the church or monasteries, not to get food for their bodies but to listen to the Word of God; and if a priest came by chance to their village the people at once came together, eager to receive from him the word of life. The priests and clerics themselves visited the villages for no other reason than to preach, baptize, visit the sick and, in sum, to care for the souls…”

The Venerable Bede on Colman, Aidan, and Finan of Lindisfarne in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 675-676.

There is wisdom in following in the footsteps of these saints.

We must “be gentle in generosity, untiring in love, just in all things.” We must be people who “serve God, not the world, and to feed the soul, not the belly” so that we remain fruitful in all things. And we must be people who “care for the souls” of people by giving them the “word of life.”

Let’s pause and remember the setting.

Colman, Aidan, and Finan lived in the 500s-600s, when the people did not have Bibles. They were living conduits to dispense the Word that was being copied by monks by hand. So “attending church” in those days was getting the bread of life to feed the soul and not just fellowship.

Common folk did not have Bibles in those days.

In present day if you want to pursue this way of service, I recently endorsed a great book. Stewardship for the Care of Souls by Nathan Meador and Heath R. Curtis. Nathan is a friend and Daily Meditations reader. Consider Nathan and Heath as modeling how to care for souls like Colman, Aidan, and Finan.

Check it out.

God shall likewise destroy thee for ever; He shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of [thy] tent, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him, [saying,] Behold the man that made not God his strength, but put confidence in the abundance of his riches, strengthened himself in his avarice. But as for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God: I will confide in the loving-kindness of God for ever and ever. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done [it]; and I will wait on thy name, before thy godly ones, for it is good. Psalm 52:5-9

Bede says of Aidan: “He cultivated peace and love, self-discipline and humility. His heart had the mastery over anger and avarice, and was contemptuous of pride and vainglory. He spared no effort in carrying out and teaching the commands of heaven, and was diligent in his reading and keeping of vigils.”

The Venerable Bede of Aidan of Lindisfarne in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 674.

Either we place it in an abundance of riches, which in a word is avarice, or we place our hope in the loving-kindness of God. Aiden’s reputation was rooted in the latter.

Practices that strengthened this way of living included reading the word, prayer at the divine hours (vigils), teaching the commands of Christ and cultivating peace and love, self-discipline and humility.

What will be said about you and me? God make us like the green olive trees that bear fruit for years and flourish for the good of others and for your glory. Amen.

Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf. Proverbs 11:28

“Never be greedy, but always be generous — if not in money then in Spirit. Bede describes the lifesytle of Colman and His Community on Lindisfarne:

They owned no wealth apart from their livestock, since any money they received from the rich was at once given to the poor. They had no need to save money or provide accommodation in order to receive the rulers of the world, who only came to the church for the purpose of prayer and to hear the word of God.

King Oswy himself, whenever the opportunity allowed it, came with only five or six thanes [that is, fellow landowners], and went away after completing his prayers in the church. Even if it chanced that they had a meal there they were content with the simple daily fare of the brothers, and asked for nothing more.”

The Venerable Bede on Colman and His Community at Lindisfarne in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 672.

What would people say about your lifestyle and mine? Would they say were were never greedy and always generous?

The community rule that guided Colman and others at Lindisfarne focused on simple living, even when royalty visited. This is a good lesson for all of us. To treat the poor as Christ and to treat those with worldly status simply as brothers and sisters.

When we exhibit such a lifestyle, our actions speak louder than words and they show people a pathway for generosity in a greed-filled world.

Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:23-26

“You are a Father, all powerful and infinitely wise and good and tender. You say to us as your children, so frail we are and hardly able to walk expect with our hands in Yours, ‘All that you ask I will give you if only you ask with confidence.’

If we ask You for dangerous playthings You refuse them in goodness for us, and you console us by giving us other things for our good. If we ask You to put us where it would be dangerous for us to be, You do not give us what is not for our good, but You give us something really for our welfare, something that we would ask for ourselves if our eyes were open.

You take us by the hand and lead us, not there where we would wish to go, but there where it is best for us to be.”

Richard Foster in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 652.

Today’s post resets our perspective on God’s goodness toward us, which when we focus on it, shapes our generosity toward others.

Notice that when we desire dangerous playthings or to go to dangerous places, He does not beat us up but gives us and guides us to goodness.

This is why the Psalmwriter elsewhere says that surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life because God pursues us with these traits.

So, what about us? Will we allow others to chase what is dangerous or will we pursue them with goodness? When we do the latter we imitate the goodness of God.

I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City. Isaiah 1:26

“If the faith that I was raised in had a fault, and it did, it was precisely that it did not allow for mistakes. It demanded that you get it right the first time. There was supposed to be no need for a second chance. If you made a mistake, you lived with it and, like the rich young man, were doomed to be sad, at least for the rest of your life. A serious misake was a permanent stigmatization, a mark that you wore like Cain.

I have seen that mark on all kinds of people: divorcees, ex-priests, ex-religious, people who have had abortions, married people who have had affairs, people who have made serious mistakes with their children, and countless others who have made serious mistakes. There is too little around to help them.

We need a theology of brokenness. We need a theology which teaches us that even though we cannot unscramble an egg, God’s grace let’s us live happily and with renewed innocence far beyond any egg we may have scrambled. We need a theology that teaches us that God does not just give us one chance, but that every time we close a door He opens another one for us.”

Ronald Rolheiser in “Forgotten Among the Lilies” in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 630-631. The new header photo is of my favorite lamppost in the new apartment complex.

I hope after reading this today you simply, in your mind, affirmed that we do need such a theology lived out as followers of Christ. And, as Rolheiser notes, it requires a generous measure of grace.

Got a sign for the apartment a few weeks ago. It reads: “Grace isn’t a little prayer you say before receiving a meal. It’s a way to live.” What if we all adopted this approach for our living?

Here is a basic theology of brokenness: We are all marked by sin but the grace of Jesus removes the stigmatization and sets us free to a future marked by forgiveness, love, hope, and peace.

So, for our generosity, let’s soak in grace and share it widely. In so doing, we bring the restoration and righteousness that Isaiah envisioned so long ago.

Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! Psalm 100:2

“To worship God means to serve Him. There are two ways to do it. One way is to do things for Him that He needs to have done — run errands for Him, carry messages for Him, fight on His side, feed His lambs, and so on. The other way is to do things for Him that you need to do — sing songs for Him, create beautiful things for Him, give things up for Him, tell Him what is on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in Him and make a fool of yourself for Him the way lovers have always made fools of themselves for the one they love.”

Frederick Buechner in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 630.

Buechner shows his brilliance here. We do things for God that shape the world around us, and we do things for us in our service that shape us into the people God wants us to be and become.

Notice one of the acts we need to do is to “give things up” for Him. When we do this, our hands are free to take hold of Him, which is the posture we need to have to be conduits of generosity.

On this Saturday, ask yourself two questions: What do I need to do for God that He needs to have done today? And, what do I need to do for God that I need to do?

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. Ecclesiastes 12:13

“The monk is not defined by his task, his usefulness; in a certain sense, he is supposed to be useless, because his mission is not to do this or that job but to be a man of God.”

Thomas Merton in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 628.

Why are we on this round ball called earth? Good question for a Friday morning. It’s not for all the fun we may want to pursue this weekend.

In Eccleasiastes, Solomon sums up this purpose as fearing God and keeping His commandments. I love how this intersects with the thought from Merton today.

In a way, we are all called to be monks, to be set apart unto God and for God.

We don’t need to try to make ourselves useful. God takes care of that. So, to be useless is to get ourselves out of the way and aim at honoring God and keeping His commandments.

If this sounds too lofty, just think about it this way.

Fearing God and keeping His ways transforms us into different people, or as Merton put it, into men and women of God.

Generosity flows from useless people made useful by God. There is no generosity apart from God, and yet He has chosen to dispense it through those that keep His ways.

He can do His best work through those the world deems useless.