Gregory of Nyssa: Necessary

Give us today our daily bread. Matthew 6:11

“Who gives you the day will give you also the things necessary for the day.”

Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-395) in his sermon “The Lord’s Prayer” as recounted in 1001 Quotations That Connect Timeless Wisdom for Preaching, Teaching, and Writing (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009) 135.

That meditation is short and sweet! Could it be any sweeter?

The God who gave us today will provide whatever we need. That means if He allows us to suffer, He will give us grace. If He causes us to prosper, He will give us resources to enjoy and share.

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:1-2

“Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines. It is not to lead our neighbor into a corner where there are no alternatives left, but to open a wide spectrum of options for choice and commitment. It is not an educated intimidation with good books, good stories, and good works, but the liberation of fearful hearts so that words can find roots and bear ample fruit….The paradox of hospitality is that it wants to create emptiness, not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly emptiness where strangers can enter and discover…Hospitality is not a subtle invitation to adopt the lifestyle of the host, but the gift of a chance for the guest to find his own.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen in Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life (New York: Image, 1975) 71-72.

One of the most generous things we can do in relationships is to show fearless hospitality with friendly emptiness. Hang with me. This will make sense.

The fearless part is finding freedom Christ from all our fears. This is freedom from control, idolatry, and pride—the three sins Jesus resisted before His ministry began—so we can interact with people with fearless hospitality in a way that creates friendly emptiness.

In plain terms, they will want what Jesus offered when He walked the earth and what we have to offer. It is what welcomes the stranger to become a friend.

We often think of generosity and compassion merely as good works. That is a huge part but not the whole picture. We do well to also think in terms of showing fearless hospitality in a broken, divided and corrupt world with the aim of creating friendly openness.

It just might be gracious and compassionate generosity at its best. I have so much to learn about all these things. God help me. You too? God help us.

Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:25

“[Christ] always lives to make intercession for us. How good and truly mystical and generous to humans! For to intercede does not imply, as it ordinarily does for most mortals, to seek vengeance – there would be a hint of inferiority in that – but it is to act as a representative for us by virtue of His mediation, just as the Spirit also is said to intercede for us. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human…

Likewise, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, not in the sense that He prostrates Himself for us before the Father and falls at the Father’s feet like a slave – away with a notion so truly slavish and unworthy of the Spirit! For the Father does not require this, nor does the Son submit to it. Has anyone the right to think such a thing of God? But by what He suffered as human being, He as the Word and the Counsellor persuades me to endure. I think this is the meaning of His advocacy.”

Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390) in “Theological Orations 4: On the Son” 2.9, translated by Stephen Reynolds (Estate of Stephen Reynolds) 86-87.

When life is hard, we must remember that Jesus is pulling for us. What a non-stop generous intercessor we have! As we journey with Christ, let us consider today what it would look like to generously intercede for others, to persuade them to endure.

It starts with slowing down, checking in, and asking people how they are doing. From there, we listen. I am learning to tune in beyond the words to the heart behind them. Is the person suffering, struggling, or searching? My tendency is to give answers and solve problems.

To be like Jesus, we advocate for them to the Father, not once but repeatedly. We pray that He will save and sustain them. We so truth into their lives at random times and just love them. I fail at this most of the time, but I think intercession is compassion at its best.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

“O Lord Almighty, God of hosts and of all flesh, Who dwellest on high and lookest down on things that are lowly, Who searchest our hearts and innermost being, and clearly foreknowest the secrets of men; O unoriginate and everlasting Light, in Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning; do Thou, O Immortal King, receive our supplications which we, daring because of the multitude of Thy compassions, offer Thee at the present time from defiled lips; and forgive us our sins, in deed, word, and thought, whether committed by us knowingly or in ignorance, and cleanse us from every defilement of flesh and spirit. And grant us to pass through the night of the whole present life with watchful heart and sober thought, ever expecting the coming of the bright and appointed day of Thine Only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ, whereon the Judge of all shall come with glory to reward each according to his deeds. May we not be found fallen and idle, but watching, and upright in activity, ready to accompany Him into the joy and divine palace of His glory, where there is the ceaseless sound of those that keep festival, and the unspeakable delight of those that behold the ineffable beauty of Thy countenance. For Thou art the true Light that enlightenest and sanctifiest all, and all creation doth hymn Thee unto ages of ages. Amen.”

Basil the Great (330-379) bishop of Caesarea, one of the three Cappadocian Fathers, and doctor of the Eastern Church in Prayer 5 (Indiana University: Holy Trinity Monastery, 1996) 18.

As the early church was taking shape, Basil was a prolific writer. He was a voice calling the church to live with watchfulness in thinking and uprightness in activity. Such keen perspective and sober living is needed for the “night” in which we find ourselves.

To unite the hearts of God’s people together, Basil wrote prayers. This is a famous one. Read it again out loud from your heart. Our days are numbered. Only God knows the number. Let us live each one with readiness, generosity, and anticipation. Come Lord Jesus.

Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them. Galatians 6:6

“Here he proceeds to discourse concerning teachers, to the effect that they ought to be tended with great assiduity by their disciples. Now what is the reason that Christ so com- manded? For this law, “that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel,” (1 Cor. 9:14) is laid down in the New Testament; and likewise in the Old, (Num. 31:47; 35:1–8) many revenues accrued to the Levites from the people; what is the reason, I say, that He so ordained? Was it not for the sake of laying a foundation beforehand of lowliness and love?

For inasmuch as the dignity of a teacher oftentimes elates him who possesses it, He, in order to repress his spirit, hath imposed on him the necessity of requiring aid at the hands of his disciples. And to these in turn he hath given means of cultivating kindly feelings, by training them, through the kindness required of them to their Teacher, in gentleness towards others also. By this means no slight affection is generated on both sides…

To ask for aid bears the semblance of disgrace, but it ceased to be so, when their teachers with all boldness urged their claim, so that their disciples derived from hence no small benefit, taught hereby to despise all appearances. Wherefore he says, “But let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things,” that is, let him show to him all generosity; this he implies by the words, “in all good things.” Let the disciple, says he, keep nothing to himself, but have everything in common, for what he receives is better than what he gives,—as much better as heavenly are better than earthly things.”

John Chrysostom in Homilies on Galatians (Grand Rapids: CCEL) 87-88.

Be generous to your teachers. Pause and think about those who feed you spiritually. Consider how you may bless them. Help them sort their daily challenges as they help you grasp biblical ideas. Do this because whatever you exchange is no match for that which you receive. Share generously.

I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

“What, then, must I do? The task is beyond me, and yet I dare not decline it. I am a mere unskilled passenger, and I find myself placed in charge of a freighted ship. I have not so much as handled a rowboat on a lake, and now I have to trust myself to the noise and turmoil of the Euxine. I see the shores sinking beneath the horizon, “sky and sea on every side”; darkness lowers over the water, the clouds are black as night, the waves only are white with foam. You urge me to hoist the swelling sails, to loosen the sheets, and to take the helm. At last I obey your commands, and as charity can do all things, I will trust in the Holy Ghost to guide my course, and I shall console myself, whatever the event. For, if our ship is wafted by the surf into the wished-for haven, I shall be content to be told that the pilotage was poor. But, if through my unpolished diction we run aground amid the rough cross-currents of language, you may blame my lack of power, but you will at least recognize my good intentions.”

Jerome of Stridon in “Letter to Innocent” (c. 370) in The Principle Works of St. Jerome (Grand Rapids: CCEL).

Ever feel like the challenges you face are so great that you can’t do it. Ever think that the task God has called you to do is a course that you will never be able to navigate. You are not alone.

Jerome was the fourth of the four doctors of the Western Church. We have enjoyed hearing from the other three in the past three days: Augustine of Hippo, Gregory the Great, and Ambrose of Milan.

The challenges he was facing were beyond his ability to handle. Perhaps you feel the same way right now? Remember this: charity can do all things. With the generous help of the Holy Spirit, let’s do our best.

We may run aground. Seriously, we may crash. But let’s give it our best shot and trust in God to help us. We must not let fear of failure hold us back. Let us move boldly and trust God to sustain us.

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:6-10

“That man therefore, ought by all means to be drawn with cords to be an example of good living who already lives spiritually, dying to all passions of the flesh; who disregards worldly prosperity; who is afraid of no adversity; who desires only inward wealth; whose intention the body, in good accord with it, thwarts not at all by its frailness, nor the spirit greatly by its disdain:

One who is not led to covet the things of others, but gives freely of his own; who through the bowels of compassion is quickly moved to pardon, yet is never bent down from the fortress of rectitude by pardoning more than is meet; who perpetrates no unlawful deeds, yet deplores those perpetrated by others as though they were his own; who out of affection of heart sympathizes with another’s infirmity, and so rejoices in the good of his neighbor as though it were his own advantage; who so insinuates himself as an example to others in all he does that among them he has nothing, at any rate of his own past deeds, to blush for;

Who studies so to live that he may be able to water even dry hearts with the streams of doctrine; who has already learnt by the use and trial of prayer that he can obtain what he has requested from the LORD, having had already said to him, as it were, through the voice of experience, While thou art yet speaking, I will say, Here am I (Isaiah 58:9).”

Gregory the Great (c. 339-397) in The Book of Pastoral Rule, Chapter X.

What example are you setting? What message do your pursuits communicate to others? Read this again and assess your own life and generosity.

Father, make us people of compassion, whose inner wealth from service and study, waters dry hearts and sympathizes with those who suffer.

Holy Spirit, empower us to work for the good of our neighbor and to set an example for all who see us of disregard for worldly prosperity.

Jesus, thanks for showing us that prayer and trusting God are the disciplines that will sustain us and show the world the only way to life.

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. Ecclesiastes 7:2

“Compassionate those who are kept in bondage, as though ye also were bondsmen. Console those who are under sorrow. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. From the one we win the merit of discharging a duty, from the other the stain of a transgression. And again, in the one case the reward is yet hoped for, in the other it is received. Sympathize with those who suffer as if ye suffered together with them.”

Ambrose of Milan (c. 339-397) in Letter 63.106.

In A.D. 396, Ambrose wrote this letter less than a year before His death to the Church of Vercellæ. Among his exhortations were the benefits of self-denial, the profit of fasting, and he bids them ‘stand fast,’ and not be led astray by false teachers.

His counsel has never been more appropriate. He knew death would someday claim his life so he sent a message to the living. They were to compassionate those in bondage, console those in sorrow, and sympathize with the suffering.

If we live for ourselves we create havoc all around. If we live for others we, in effect, remove stain by spreading blessing. This impact reaches all the lives we touch. I am praying for my neighbors locally who are in bondage and for friends under sorrow or suffering globally.

God, forgive us for our selfishness and sinfulness. Help us say ‘no’ to ourselves so we can say ‘yes’ to others. Cause us to stand fast in world filled with corruption and false teaching. Renew our strength to lift up others. Do this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:2-5

“With the help of the mercy of the Lord our God, the temptations of this age, the crafty traps of the devil, the toils of this world, the allurements of the flesh, and the swirl of turbulent times, and all bodily and spiritual adversity, are to be overcome by almsgiving and fasting, and prayer…

“Alms,” of course, comes from a Greek word meaning “mercy.” What greater mercy, though could there be toward the miserable, than that which pulled the creator down from heaven, and clothed the founder of the earthy in an earthly body; which made the one who abides equal in eternity to the Father, equal to us in mortality, imposing the form of a servant on the Lord of the world; so that bread itself would be hungry, fullness be thirsty, strength become weak, health would be wounded, life would die?

And all this to feed our hunger, water our drought, comfort our infirmity, extinguish our iniquity, kindle our charity…And so let us perform our alms and deeds of kindness all the more lavishly, all the more frequently, the nearer the day approaches on which is celebrated the alms, the kindness that has been done to us. Because fasting without kindness and mercy is worth nothing to the one who’s fasting.”

Augustine of Hippo in Sermon 207 in Essentials Sermons (New York: New City Press, 2007) 259.

As we enter the last quarter of a challenging year, let’s start it by reflecting on all the benefits we have enjoyed from our compassionate God and apply ourselves to fasting with kindness and mercy.

This is the season when the world will beckon us to self-indulgence, entitlement, and gratification because we ‘deserve’ it. We must not be allured, but must attune to God, setting aside our desires.

Don’t pursue that which will not satisfy. It’s counterintuitive and other worldly. Join the community of stewards around the world aiming to live this way, extending mercy to the world.

When we add kindness and mercy to your fasting, see what happens. It’s God’s design for overcoming the brokenness of this world. And it transforms both us, and the world around us in heavenly ways.

For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness—God is witness. 1 Thessalonians 2:5

“The fact that you are giving money to a charity does not mean that you need not try to find out whether that charity is a fraud or not.”

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity (Quebec: Samizdat University Press, 2014) 45. I could mine the writings and letters of C.S. Lewis for a lifetime. I think this will be the last such post for now. In the final three months of the year, I will return to the theme of ‘compassion’ in the writings of saints.

Tomorrow we enter the fourth quarter of 2020. It’s the season when most charitable giving happens in the USA. At this time and throughout the year, look for organizations that have the ECFA seal. It means they follow seven standards of responsible stewardship, and their faithfulness is verified with peer accountability.

There are many charlatans out there. They say they are doing one thing and yet, it is a “cloak for covetousness.” Seriously, look up their 990 nonprofit tax files using Guidestar or some other service to see what the top executives are paid. Ask the charities you support to see their financials to know where the money is going.

Once you have done this, then give generously. Invest as a partner. Increase your giving to match your capacity. And reach out to the CEO with a word of encouragment. Take it from me. He or she would appreciate it. Do it because these are challenging times.