John Chyrsostom: Uninterested or doing all you can

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Colossians 4:5

“There is no one colder than a Christian who is uninterested in the salvation of others. You must not use your poverty as an excuse. The widow who gave her mite will accuse you. Peter himself said, ‘Gold and silver have I none’ (Acts 3:6). And Paul was so poor that he often suffered hunger and was lacking in what he needed to live. You must not use as an excuse your humble background. They too were humble, of modest background. Nor should your lack of knowledge be an excuse. They were unlettered men. Slave or fugitive, you must do what you can. Such was Onesimus, and be mindful of his vocation… Do not use your poor health as an excuse. Timothy was frequently ill… Each of us can be useful to our neighbor if we do all we can.”

John Chyrsostom in Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles 20.

We live in times when we have too many distractions that capture our interest and leave us uninterested in doing all we can and making the most of every opportunity in interacting with ‘outsiders’ or those not yet part of the community of faith.

And we also allow our limitations to serve as hindrances. If that’s you, I want to challenge you do have mindset change. Don’t focus on what you cannot do because of what you don’t have but focus on using what you have and making that your gift to God. I want to offer a personal story to illustrate this.

In October 2009 (15 years ago this month), I bent over to put my pants on and that act was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. I fell to the floor writhing in pain having suffered a massive herniation extrusion of my L5/S1, and the disk material when down my spinal column leaving me with stenosis.

In plain terms, like toothpaste out of a tube, my disk material went down my spinal column and pressed against the nerve root, which caused the pain. After the incident, only about 60% of the messages would make it down my leg. It left me with a limp. Since then I have not been able to do cardio, eat as much food, or play sports.

But I thank God for this thorn that happened at 40 years old. With the prognosis of successful surgery at only 50/50, it led me to take inventory of my life. I chose to let go of many things and to chose to use the parts of my body that worked completely for God, such as my mind.

I went on to finish my PhD in the UK by 2013. That changed how I used my time and my capacities. So, in the 15 years I have written 15 books. And as for activity, I walk. That’s it. I love to walk a field with our dog, a stream with a fly rod, or a path through life with people.

Let me conclude my story and this post by saying this. The decision to have mindset change, to go from self-absorbed and uninterested in the lives of others to doing all I can is not a one-time decision. It’s a daily choice. This choice has kept me posting Daily Meditations, now for 5,578 days in a row.

Stop what you are doing. Right now. Stop. Take inventory of what you have. And now, to the best of your ability, spend yourself for God. Don’t focus on what you don’t have – money, health, position – focus on what you have and use what you have for God in a manner that is useful for your neighbor.

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44

“Our Lord did not comment at all on the many people who contributed large amounts. But Jesus saw a woman come up who was dressed in the typical garb of widows, and who was obviously poor. She had perhaps waited for the crowd to thin out before depositing two small coins there…

If anybody had been keeping a record of the offerings made that day in the Temple, he would probably have thought it was not worth recording this widow’s contribution. We see in fact that this was the most valuable contribution of all!

It would be so pleasing to God that Jesus called together His disciples, who were scattered around the place, so that they might be taught the lesson to be learned from the widow. Those tiny pieces of copper could scarcely be heard falling into the treasury box. Jesus however clearly perceived the love of this woman who said nothing but who was giving God all her savings…

In this passage of the Gospel, we also learn the true value of things. We can turn everything that happens, no matter how inconsequential it may seem, into something very pleasing to God. And because it is pleasing to Him, it is turned into something of great value. Only those things we make pleasing to God have any true and eternal value.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 524-526.

As we continue to follow Jesus, we discover that little things are not little – “no matter how inconsequential it may seem” – our small gifts given with great love and sacrifice are pleasing to God.

Recently, I was training a Christian worker from a poor country. He asked pointedly, “What difference do my small gifts make?” I explained that Christ looks not at what we give but what we don’t give.

I elaborated that when Jesus celebrated the widow’s gift, He emphasized that she put in everything she had to live on. It was not the size of the gift, but her willingness to sacrifice that He celebrates.

This inspires me to challenge everyone reading this to “turn everything that happens, no matter how inconsequential it may seem, into something very pleasing to God.”

Take note of the small spaces in your schedule. Look at the little things in your life. Consider how giving that extra time or putting those remaining resources to work, could produce much fruit.

And put a smile on the face of Jesus.

Speaking of smiles, I have a smile today too. Today’s a special day for our son and his wife. It’s Sammy and Emily’s fifth wedding anniversary. Wow, how time flies!

We plan to give them our evening and credit card so they can enjoy a special date night. Of course, this returns to use the precious gift of grandma and grandpa time. Not a small thing.

And [Jesus] asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Matthew 22:20-21

“Caesar looks for his own likeness, give it to him. God looks for His own likeness: give it back to Him. Do not cause Caesar to lose his coin because of you. Do not cause God to lose His coin among you.”

Augustine of Hippo in Commentary on Psalm 57, 11 as cited by Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 503-504.

As we explore this powerful response of Jesus, the words ‘give back’ stand out to me.

Jesus wants us to demonstrate responsible citizenship on earth while living our lives wholly and completely for Him. Since God owns everything, including us (remember He purchased you and I with the blood of Christ), we get to give our lives back as living sacrifices.

This runs contrary to worldly thinking which beckons us to live for ourselves, to keep as much of the money we earn for ourselves, and to contribute as little as possible to the advancing the gospel as well as the common good.

I am not saying stewards should not minimize their taxes to maximize their giving. I am merely urging us to see everything as belonging to God so that “He does not lose His coin among us.”

In plain terms, if we say we belong to Him but we don’t look like Him, He loses His coin among us.

Father in heaven, in a world filled with toxic ownership and entitlement thinking, we want to live out faithful stewardship and generosity. Help us give back by reflecting your likeness in all we say and do, by the power of the Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch Him in his words. They came to Him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” He asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and He asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at Him. Mark 12:13-17

“Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to catch Him out in His speech, so they might bring an accusation against Him. With this end in view, they asked Him maliciously whether it is lawful to pay the tribute to Caesar or not… They wanted to see Jesus taking sides, letting everybody know whether He was in favor of this Roman tax or against it… If our Lord were to say ‘yes’, they would be able to accuse Him of recommending collaboration with the Roman power, a foreign denomination which the Jews hated because it was imposed on them by an invading force. If He answered ‘no’, they would be able to accuse Him of rebelliousness against Pilate, the Roman authority.

To come down either in favor of the tax or against it would mean, after all, that He would be telling them whether He approved of or rejected the lawfulness of the politico-social situation in which the Jewish people found themselves. Whatever He said, He would appear either to sympathize and collaborate with the occupying power or to encourage the latent rebelliousness of the Jews… Jesus does not evade the question, but by His answer expresses it in its true terms. The State should not elevate itself to the divine level, and the Church should not take sides in temporal affairs which are constantly changing and which are of no more than relative importance.

By replying as He did, He showed His opposition as much to the Pharisees’ widespread error of the day about a messianic mission that was political, as He did to the error of the Roman State’s – or of any State’s – interfering in religious matters. By His answer, our Lord clearly establishes two separate and distinct spheres of competence… As Christians, therefore, we must never fall into the mistake that Christ Himself was so careful to avoid: of uniting the gospel message, which is universal, to a particular political system – ‘Caesar’.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 498-500.

As we find ourselves in election season in the USA, this text and lesson seem fitting to ponder over the next few days as we think about generosity in a world filled with political debate and diverse opinions.

Let us be generous with our carefulness not to connect the universal gospel with a political system. That may sound odd, but it emerges in my mind as the message from the Lord for us today.

Notice, Jesus finds Himself in the presence of some really smart people, in what we might describe as a no-win situation. We learn what to do in such situations by watching Him and taking good notes.

He does not join the fight for one side or the other or attach the gospel to either side. He rises above the debate. That’s what we must be careful to do in divisive times to preserve and advance the gospel.

And we must follow the example of Jesus who both demonstrates carefulness and renders everything to God. May this example help each of us in human interactions and our generosity over the next two weeks in USA.

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

“The lack of real fruit in our apostolate can also arise from passivity, from the absence of deeds of love. And if activism is bad and sterile, passivity is deadly, for it can lead us to think that we love God because we perform works of piety: it is true that these pious exercises are carried out, but not perfectly, since they do not move us to good actions.

Such barren pious practices are like the useless and sterile foliage of the fig tree, because true interior life will inevitably lead to a vigorous apostolate: in every situation it impels us to act with courage, daring, and initiative… Today, as we converse with our Lord in these moments of prayer, we can examine ourselves as to whether there is fruit in our life, now, this very moment.

Do I have initiative, as an overflow of my interior life, of my prayer? Or do I think, on the contrary, that in my surroundings – in my class, in the factory, in the office – I can do nothing, that it’s impossible to anything more for God? Do I give my time, do I help effectively in apostolic tasks… or do I ‘only pray’? Do I try to justify myself, saying that between my work, my family, and my devotional practices ‘I haven’t got any time’?

If that were the case, it would also mean that the circumstances of work and family life had cease to be an occasion for apostolate…And if our Lord were to find us passive, content to perform pious practices without the accompaniment of a cheerful and constant apostolate, then perhaps He might say to us in our heart: more deeds, please and fewer excuses.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 463.

Don’t let the word ‘apostolate’ intimidate you. Hear it as ‘missional living’ with intentionality and cheerfulness. And hear the call to avoid the extremes of activism (yesterday) and passivity (today).

Our lives, our families, our work, and our everyday focus will be ‘missional’ in nature if we have a vibrant interior life. I represents the overflow. So, if you want to grow in generosity, cultivate your walk with Jesus.

He wants to see the fruit of generosity in your life more than you do. Cultivate that connection with Him and then let Him deploy you. Remain faithful, available, and teachable. But know this.

While the Spirit will not lead you to activism nor passivity, it will lead to joy-filled generosity and also make you feel uncomfortable. You will have indescribable peace and yet have your faith stretched.

Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Mark 11:13

“Jesus finds only leaves… Having an interior life means living with God’s vision, seeing our apostolic task from His viewpoint. Apostolic fruit cannot be lasting when a Christian falls prey to activism, which is the tendency to be ‘doing things’, to rush around, without the support of a deep prayer life. In the end, the furious activity turns out to be sterile and ineffective, and is often the sign of a lack of rectitude of intention.

It is purely human activity without any supernatural perspective. It is perhaps the consequence of ambition, of a desire to attract attention, which can infect everything we do, even the most sublime of undertakings. So there is good reason for stressing the danger of activism – of multiplying deeds which, though good in themselves, have no interior life to support them. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, and many authors after him, called such works accursed occupations.

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 463.

This year the garden at my home produced an abundance of cucumbers. There were lots of leaves and a load of cucumbers, so Jenni and I had enjoyed and shared many cucumbers and had fun learning to make pickles.

It has been quite a joy for us to find much fruit on those cucumber vines.

But the pumpkins have been another story. The vines have taken over the garden side of our house, but like the fig tree, when we have searched for pumpkins, like Jesus when He looked for figs, largely speaking, we found only leaves.

The vines look great with big green leaves, but we found little fruit.

I guess the pumpkin plant needed pollination for the flowers to make pumpkins. That pollination reminds me of the interior life that needs to be cultivated, the soul that must be fed, before fruit will blossom.

To avoid the danger of activism (doing things for God), abide in Christ and you will bear much fruit.

Ponder this. Are you doing yourself to death? Or is God producing 30-, 60-, or even 100-fold fruit in your life in a way that brings Him glory. Only you can answer this.

Avoid the danger of activism which links to doing things for God.

Jesus neither wants nor needs our help, and yet, He really wants to produce a bumper crop in and through us. He wants to see more than leaves but to do this we must abide in the vine.

When evening came, Jesus and His disciples went out of the city. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:19-24

“We need to live by faith and use the means within our reach in every situation. We cannot sit with our arms folded waiting for the ideal moment, which perhaps will never come… We cannot wait for everything to be just right in order to work for God. We have to show by our present actions the love we have in our heart. We will see how God will multiply and bless our efforts, puny though they may be.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 462.

I love how Fernandez puts things in perspective for us with the words “multiply” and “puny” in today’s reading linked to another one of the fig tree scenes in the Gospels.

God multiplies what we contribute, though we may feel like our efforts or gifts are puny in proportion to the size of the need. What God wants to see is faith and trust in Him.

I love that when Jesus or Paul encourage giving in the New Testament it always links to the capacity of the giver and not the size of the need.

This is the case because giving is about something bigger than the need. It’s about growth in our faith. So, if you are sitting with your arms folded or if you are waiting for an ideal moment, please realize that it may never come.

The time to act generously is now. The time to grow in faith is today.

I was training a group of 200 from the Philippines online last week. They logged in from many island communities. One person asked, “Why give if I have very little? What difference will it make.”

I reminded him that what matters first is the faith in his heart. And though I did not use the words “multiply” and “puny” my comments were similar to my words in this post.

I also told him that if he is ready to give cheerfully, what Jesus looks at is not the size of his gift but what he has not given and what it says about his heart.

I continued saying that giving is not about the money, which may seem puny. It’s an exercise that strengthens our faith muscles. That’s what God wants to see grow growing on our fig trees.

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on His way back to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then He said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked. Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:18-22

“You also ought to guard against becoming a fruitless tree, in order to offer Jesus, who has become poor, the fruit which He needs.”

Venerable Bede (672-735), a monk at the Northumbrian Monastery in Commentary on St. Mark’s Gospel.

As we ponder the fig tree this week, we find many lessons in looking at the leaves.

Bede points one out. We must guard against becoming fruitless. Our proclivity or tendency is to fruitlessness. But how do we give Jesus the fruit He wants and needs.

The secret is in the second half of the text.

If you have faith, even the impossible can happen. You can have fruit out of season or when no one would expect it. This encourages me today. It’s deeply biblical thinking.

At this point I want to make a last call. Take advantage of this and share it with others.

Register for one or more free GTP courses to sharpen your faith, click here to read about the four course that run from 21 October to 21 November 2024.

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And His disciples heard Him say it. Mark 11:12-14

“Jesus knew that it was not the season for figs. He knew that there were none on the fig tree. He wished, however, to teach His disciples, in a way they would never forget, how God had come to the Jewish people, hungry for fruits of holiness and good works. All He had found were mere lifeless observances: worthless leaves.

On that occasion too, the Apostles learned that every moment presents a good opportunity for giving results. We cannot wait for special circumstances in order to sanctify ourselves. God comes to us looking for good deeds in moments of sickness, in our ordinary everyday occupations, both when we are overworked and when everything is going well and all is ordered and peaceful.

He visits us as much in our tiredness as in our rest, in success and failure, in financial ruin – if God allows it – and in times of prosperity. It is precisely those circumstances which can and should produce fruit – all different, perhaps, but unique and wonderful. We should find God in all circumstances because He gives us the graces we need.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 460-461.

We shift our focus in Scripture from Jesus and the blind man to Jesus and the fig tree. This one, unfortunately, has nothing but leaves.

Related to generosity, I so often hear people procrastinate instead of act. Let me explain. They reason that if a deal goes through, then they will be generous. If they have extra time in their schedule, then they will serve.

And they suggest that life is first about preserving comfort for themselves and their families, all the while, in so doing they teach their own to be selfish and self-centered.

Meanwhile, as I walk with my dog, Grace, pictured above, and as I walk with Jesus, I see a Lord who had no place to lay his head, that means he had no cushy bed. He was walking along in today’s text and hungry.

I see His humanity up close. I hear his stomach growl.

And in that moment of His hunger, he expects the tree to always be ready to provide fruit. That’s His call for us. When Jesus comes to us, whispers to us, beckons us to give, serve, or love, let us be sure He finds more than leaves.

As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to Him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. Luke 18:35-43

“The story of the blind man is our own story, since we are blind in many matters. Jesus passes near us. Perhaps the moment has come for us to leave the ditch by the roadside and accompany Him…

From Saint Luke we. know that he followed Him, glorifying God and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God… We also have received many graces, as great as or greater than that received by the blind man of Jericho. And our Lord is hoping also that our life and our conduct will help many find Jesus in the world of today.

And he followed Him on the way, glorifying God. This is a summary of what our own life may be if we have the living and operative faith of the blind man.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 458-459.

Are you in the ditch? That’s where I find myself sometimes.

Notice those leading the proverbial procession don’t help the blind man out of the ditch; they rebuke him and tell him to stay there.

Too often we listen to the lack of faith of others and we let it immobilize us.

Not this blind man. And not you and me, I pray. The blind man in Luke’s account had a living and operative faith. No naysayer would come between him and the Healer.

The generosity in this scene for us to imitate, is the generosity of our Lord Jesus. He sees and hears the faith of the person and affirms it.

Do we hear the faith of improbable people and beckon them to leave the ditch?

This may be my greatest joy as part of GTP. We invite people out of the ditch and empower them. to exercise their living and operative faith. Need help in this area.

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