Meditations

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. Matthew 6:2

“They receive their pay then and there, and they receive it in full…God owes them nothing. They were not giving but buying. They wanted the praise of men, they paid for it, and they have got it. The transaction is ended and they can claim nothing more.”

Alfred Plummer in An Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St. Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956) 91.

I am thinking about the posture of our hearts as we approach the giving of alms. Plummer’s notion that some are giving while others are buying is a profound one. With our giving of money, with our giving of service, with our giving of ourselves, let’s avoid any getting attention for it.

Remember, God sees everything, including our almsgiving. Think of alms as sharing your “more than enough” with someone else’s “less than enough” and consider how you can do this so that God receives all honor. Approach almsgiving with such strategic thinking and sacrifice and see what happens.

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will reward them for what they have done. Proverbs 19:17

“Those who give alms often receive greater benefit than those who receive them.”

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) in Day’s Collacon, compiled and arranged by Edward Parsons Day (New York: IPPO, 1884) 26.

When we give alms to the poor, when we help a weak person in need, when we serve someone who cannot repay us, the LORD sees and will rewards us.

Seeing “LORD” in the text reminds me of the personal nature of God. He sees what each and every person does. Nothing is hidden from His sight.

Also notice the future tense “will” word in there, lest we aid people to get something in return. God will sort out the rewards in His timing. We are here to help people with kindness.

Personally, I can’t describe the blessing I am receiving in serving nearly 100 ministry board members and administrators from some 43 countries this week. I am a word person, and I am at a loss.

Let me challenge you. Pray about someone to serve, someone to financially assist, someone to help with a challenge this Lent. Give alms, either in the form of money or in giving yourself.

The only way to discover what Bernard is talking about is to give alms and find out.

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4

“Not to let our left hand know what our right hand does when giving alms is possible only by the overwhelming self-forgetfulness that comes from Jesus’ call to discipleship. We are called to righteousness as well as called to give alms; these are possible because of what we have received. (Alms can take many different forms. Giving money may be one of the lesser forms of alms. The virtues themselves are alms if we rightly understand that we are to give ourselves.) That is why, for Christians, acquiring the virtues is not to be understood as what we do, but rather as what has been made possible by the gifts we have received. We can do only what we have been given.”

Stanley Hauerwas in Matthew (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006) 76. Special thanks to my mate down under, Tim Macready, who suggested I check out this commentary. I was glad to locate it online from South Africa, where the receptivity of my global audience has far exceeded my expectations.

Today marks the beginning of week three of Lent. We will turn our attention from fasting (week one) to prayer (week two) to giving alms (week three). That’s not any set pattern, but rather my personal focus this Lent. My wife is good at concentrating on three things simultaneously. I often do better when I give one thing priority.

I loved these comments by Hauerwas because they reflects what I have discovered from my study as the posture of the Apostle Paul toward the needy: “help the weak” by basically giving them yourself (Acts 20:32-35). Giving ourselves and the virtues we have received from God on our spiritual journey are the greatest gifts we can give people.

This requires “overwhelming self-forgetfulness” because our aim wherever we go and whatever we do tends toward caring for our own needs. It’s only possible with God’s help because our fleshly limiters kick in. In Christ, however, we know that only through enjoyment and sharing of all God’s blessings, spiritual and material, do we take hold of life.

May God the Father, by the Holy Spirit give us the mind of Christ so that following the example of the Apostle Paul we may help the weak by giving them money as needed, but go way beyond that. May we sacrifice our lives with overwhelming self-forgetfulness, sharing freely all the good gifts God has given us for His glory. Amen.

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When He had gone indoors, the blind men came to Him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. Matthew 9:27-30a

“Faith needs a life of prayer for its full growth. In all the different parts of the spiritual life, there is such close union, such unceasing action and reaction, that each may be both cause and effect. Thus it is with faith. There can be no true prayer without faith; some measure of faith must precede prayer. And yet prayer is also the way to more faith; there can be no higher degrees of faith except through much prayer. This is the lesson Jesus teaches here. There is nothing needs so much to grow as our faith…

When Jesus spoke the words, ‘According to your faith be it unto you’ [Matthew 9:29], He announced the law of the kingdom, which tells us that all have not equal degrees of faith, that the same person has not always the same degree, and that the measure of faith must always determine the measure of power and of blessing. If we want to know where and how our faith is to grow, the Master points us to the throne of God. It is in prayer, in the exercise of the faith I have, in fellowship with the living God, that faith can increase. Faith can only live by feeding on what is divine, on God Himself.”

Andrew Murray (1828-1917) in With Christ in the School of Prayer (Fleming H. Revell: New York) 67.

It’s fitting to read Murray as he was a famous South African Christian writer, pastor, and teacher, and God has me ministering in Johannesburg this week (as pictured above). Today I want to explain briefly what I think Jesus aims at in today’s Scripture cited by Murray and show how it relates to generosity.

Let’s begin with the prayer of the blind men: “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

Jesus works in the lives of people who realize that they can’t navigate life on their own. They are blind. They come to Him blind and go away with sight. Others come to Him empty and go away filled. Miracles happens because the seeker believes Jesus can do the impossible. They believe and demonstrate that belief by coming to him. What humility coupled with courage!

Notice the response of Jesus: “According to your faith let it be done to you.”

Jesus responds to people who come to Him with humility and courage. They go no other place to find help, hope, and life. Wherever we run in times of need shows where we place our trust. Whatever we depend on in times of trouble reveals where we have fixed our hope. Sadly, for many in modernity, if they consider this idea honestly, they would say rely on money stored up for themselves as their source of help.

Read now Murray’s statement: “There is nothing needs so much to grow as our faith.”

My teaching and facilitation with nearly 90 men and women from over 40 countries is going well so far. My prayer is “full growth” for their faith as well as yours and mine. How do we move that direction as we wrap up the second week of Lent with our focus on prayer coupled with faith? We must live like we believe this “law of the kingdom” (as Murray describes it), that power and blessing only come through abandonment and dependence on God.

If this hard for you, make Mark 9:24 your Lenten centering prayer: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:11-12

“Consider the lively examples set us by the saints, who possessed the light of true perfection and religion, and you will see how little, how nearly nothing, we do. What, alas, is our life, compared with theirs? The saints and friends of Christ served the Lord in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, in work and fatigue, in vigils and fasts, in prayers and holy meditations, in persecutions and many afflictions. How many and severe were the trials they suffered — the Apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, and all the rest who willed to follow in the footsteps of Christ! They hated their lives on earth that they might have life in eternity.

How strict and detached were the lives the holy hermits led in the desert! What long and grave temptations they suffered! How often were they beset by the enemy! What frequent and ardent prayers they offered to God! What rigorous fasts they observed! How great their zeal and their love for spiritual perfection! How brave the fight they waged to master their evil habits! What pure and straightforward purpose they showed toward God! By day they labored and by night they spent themselves in long prayers. Even at work they did not cease from mental prayer. They used all their time profitably; every hour seemed too short for serving God, and in the great sweetness of contemplation, they forgot even their bodily needs.

They renounced all riches, dignities, honors, friends, and associates. They desired nothing of the world. They scarcely allowed themselves the necessities of life, and the service of the body, even when necessary, was irksome to them. They were poor in earthly things but rich in grace and virtue. Outwardly destitute, inwardly they were full of grace and divine consolation. Strangers to the world, they were close and intimate friends of God. To themselves they seemed as nothing, and they were despised by the world, but in the eyes of God they were precious and beloved. They lived in true humility and simple obedience; they walked in charity and patience, making progress daily on the pathway of spiritual life and obtaining great favor with God.”

Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380-1471) in “The Example Set Us by the Holy Fathers” in The Imitation of Christ (Grand Rapids: CCEL) 24.

I have arrived safely in South Africa. Today is the first of 4 days of meetings I will facilitate with about 80 board chairs and ministry administrators from 43 countries. What a privilege! Today our theme is Locating a Biblical Mindset for Board Governance. We will tackle this theme with what I call a “spiritual discernment” approach with four parts.

(1) We will read Scripture. Today our reading is Numbers 11.

(2) We will sit in silence asking the Holy Spirit to teach us.

(3) Sharing will come from 20 of the 80 participants. I will teach from God’s Word. A panel of elders will share their thoughts on the topic. Then everyone will discuss it and ten table reporters will share key insights from their tables.

(4) Our time will conclude with supplication by five people praying in multiple languages. Understanding and applying biblical teaching is only possible with God’s help.

Why share all this, and what’s it got to do with Thomas à Kempis and generosity in this season of Lent as we focus on prayer?

Because I believe that God is generous and that every good gift comes from Him for our enjoyment and sharing, then my role in facilitating this event, is to position the group with “pure and straightforward purpose” to receive wisdom from God through the contributions of all 80 participants over 4 days and to call God’s people to pray with “frequent and ardent prayers” so that we will have courage to serve sacrificially and govern in “true humility and simple obedience” for God’s glory.

It pertains to generosity because, the world needs more people “rich in grace and virtue”. In so doing, our lives become our gift to the world. Walk with us, like the saints of old, “in charity and patience”.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Psalm 42:2

“Not only in Christ is there the perfect supply of all these necessities, but also that the fulness becomes ours on the simple condition of desiring it. The thirst for the living God in a man [or woman] who has faith in Christ Jesus, is not a thirst which amounts to pin, or arises from a sense of non-possession.

But in this divine region the principle of the giving is this — to desire is to have; to long is to possess. There is no long interval between the sense of thirst and the trickling of the stream over the parched lip; but ever it is flowing, flowing past us, and the desire is but the opening of the lips to receive the limpid and life-giving waters.

No one ever desired the grace of God, really and truly desired it, but just in proportion as he desired it, he got it; just in proportion as he thirsted, he was satisfied. Therefore we have to preach that grand gospel that faith, simple, conscious longing, turned to Christ, avails to bring down the full and perfect supply.”

Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910) in his sermon “Thirsting For God” in Sermons Preached in Manchester: First series (London: MacMillan and Company, 1871) 131-132.

Giving someone something that causes them to thirst again leaves them empty. Giving someone something that is life-giving leaves them enriched. People need “perfect supply” that is free for all. As we lean into prayer and add faith to it during Lent we discover that to grow in generosity we must seek God in prayer with greater faith than ever.

Texts like John 4:13-14 help bring this into view. Consider this interchange between Jesus and the woman at the well. Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

I read this sermon online on Saturday at London Heathrow prior to departing for Johannesburg. It seemed fitting to hear from a brilliant UK preacher from days gone by to nourish my soul on this long journey. I feel God reminding me through reading Müller yesterday and Maclaren today to point those I will serve this next week to combine their prayers with faith.

I want that for meditations readers too. Don’t overthink it. It’s not an esoteric or enigmatic idea. It’s as down to earth and practical for anyone as any biblical. David the psalmist in today’s Scripture is eager to “go and meet with God” because God is the only thirst-quencher. We can too. I heard testimony of this from my neighbor who drove me to the airport on Friday.

“Ken, thanks again for the ride.” I said. “Happy to do it, Gary,” he said with a smile. “It’s my contribution to your global ministry this week.” Time passed. I asked, “What are you doing for Lent?” He replied. “Watching less TV, reading a Lent devotional, and spending more time talking to God and Jesus!” What a reply! The world’s channel leaves us wanting. Time with God satisfies!

While I have my remarks largely planned for the week of teaching and facilitating discussions in South Africa with about 80 board members and ministry administrators from 43 countries, I sense God nudging me to remind them to combine prayer and faith, so they too experience “secret joy” (yesterday’s post) along with “perfect supply” (today’s post). He graciously blessed me with an abundance of both on my long, yet uneventful, journey.

For His namesake, may the Holy Spirit give me ears to listen, a heart to love, and lips to speak as God leads me.

Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; You are exalted as head over all. 1 Chronicles 29:11

“The greatness of the sum required affords me a kind of secret joy; for the greater the difficulty to be overcome, the more it will be seen to the glory of God, how much can be done by prayer and faith; and also, because when God himself overcomes our difficulties for us, we have, in this very fact, the assurance that we are engaged in His work and not in our own.”

George Müller (1805-1898) in A Narrative of Some of the Lord’s Dealings with George Müller as recounted in Heaven and Earth: Sermons from the 2016 National Festival of Young Preachers, edited by Dwight A. Moody (Lexington: Academy of Preachers, 2017) 178.

I have secret joy today, so I have resolved to worship with the words of David in today’s Scripture. My secret joy is not linked to my situation. Far from it! I am traveling on my longest set of consecutive flights ever (departing Friday afternoon from Denver to Los Angeles to London and arriving in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday morning). My back hurts thinking about it. I find “secret joy” as Müller calls it, when I combine prayer and faith.

As we focus on prayer this week during Lent, let’s consider what happens when we combine it with faith. We move beyond trying to navigate life on our own and then taking to God the things we can’t sort out, such as illnesses or challenges, to taking everything to God. It leads to secret joy because when we do, we become more aware of God and His work around us, which beckons us to engage with Him in His work.

I don’t know how else to describe it. While I’d appreciate your prayers for safe travel and a fruitful week of facilitating meetings with 80 men and women from 43 countries, I want something more from you, or rather, for you.

I want to join me in living like George Müller. As he would say, let’s show the world that God is still the living God but trusting Him for everything we need to live, give, serve, and love others like Jesus. And Müller would add, as God supplies, we must put it to work so that we remain in a posture of dependence, of prayer and faith, so that the world sees the living God through the way He faithfully provides.

Whatever you are afraid to trust God about, I pray you will trust Him for that this Lent. He not only can handle it, letting go will transform you. God is bigger than any challenge you can face or comprehend.

That’s what it happens when we combine prayer and faith. When we live like we believe God cares for us and that He will provide everything we need, we discover that His care has been there all along. And a watching world notices because they are straining at the oars of life trying to sort things out themselves. When we share this secret joy with others, our generosity moves from giving something tangible with a monetary value to giving something intangible that is priceless.

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children. Psalm 103:17

“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.”

Billy Graham as recounted by Robin M. Bertram in No Regrets: How Loving Deeply and Living Passionately Can Impact Your Legacy Forever (Lake Mary: Charisma House, 2017) 148.

I have two thoughts today as we remember the legacy of Billy Graham in light of his death this week.

The first one actually relates to my father, John Hoag, who turned 79 today. Happy Birthday Dad! My dad is in the process of leaving what Graham described as “the greatest legacy” which is not leaving “money or other material things accumulated in one’s life” but something greater, a legacy of character and faith. I hope to see him and mom during Holy Week this year before their move from Ohio to Florida to live near my brother, David, and his wife, Joanna.

The second thought I have today relates to Dr. Graham in light of his passing and our focus on prayer this week. In 2015, I wrote a Lenten devotional called Lenten Companion. Therein, on one of the days, I included a thought on prayer by Billy Graham. But here’s what’s surreal. The very day Graham died this week was the second Wednesday of Lent, which in God’s providence, was the day Graham’s reading appeared in the Lenten Companion.

A few people have emailed me saying that they stunned to read the excerpt early on Wednesday and then learn of his passing. They could not get the post out of their minds. I can’t either. Download Lenten Companion to read it for yourself or check out the original post, “Billy Graham: Fruit of Travail”, from three years ago. But don’t stop there. Join me in taking “the greatest legacy” baton from Graham: fast, pray, and travail for a lost soul whom you know to find life in Jesus this Lent.

And while you are praying, please remember me as I hope to travel safely as far as London today en route to Johannesburg. Thanks.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16

“The idea of being salt and light says that God wants me to be different from, not better than, others in the world. The Christian, therefore, may or may not have more than his neighbor, but that does not distinguish him. What does distinguish the Christian from the world is the absence of his anxiety, which might have come as a result of the loss of something he has managed or even God’s denial of something He wants. Why? Because the Christian’s treasure is not on earth. The world and its temporal toys do not possess him.

He is prayerful. He plans. But he is not the least bit anxious about the uncertainty facing our national and world economy. He understands Christ’s promises of abundance do not mean financial security but peace and knowledge of Christ. He is content with all that he has been given. Such an attitude is not “normal” but rather “different,” and its comes from having an entirely different perspective. The Christian’s perspective is eternal, the attitude is one of holding possessions lightly, and the lifestyle is free from worry and anxiety. Truly that is different!”

Ron Blue and Michael Blue in Master Your Money: A Step-by-Step Plan for Experiencing Financial Contentment (Chicago: Moody, 2016) 20.

What a privilege to attend the university track of the Kingdom Advisors Conference representing Colorado Christian University and to get to room with my brother, David, who represents Warner University. It’s a double blessing, though time here is short as I return to Denver tonight.

Both Ron and Michael Blue are here. I will share a few copies of my Faith and Finances course which uses Master Your Money as one of the texts, so it is fitting to quote from it. As our focus for Lent is on prayer this week, today’s post reminds us to be both prayerful and different.

By prayerful, our posture reflects dependence on God, trust in His provision, and confidence in Christ’s promises of abundance and peace. By different, we live for the eternal with no fear of the national or world economy because we are content in Christ.

What does the intersection of prayer and money look like in your life? Do you look prayerful and different? As a Lenten discipline, every time you think about, spend, or manage money this week, consider taking an equal amount of time praying. See what happens in your mind and heart.

So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child, to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors’? Numbers 11:11-12

“God receives us just as we are and accepts our prayers just as they are. In the same way that a small child cannot draw a bad picture, so a child of God cannot offer a bad prayer. So we are brought to the the most basic, the most primary form of prayer: Simple Prayer. Let me describe it for you.

In Simple Prayer we bring ourselves before God just as we are, warts and all. Like children before a loving father, we open our hearts and make our requests. We do not try to sort things out, the good from the bad. We simply and unpretentiously share our concerns and make our petitions. We tell God, for example, how frustrated we are with the co-worker at the office or the neighbor down the street. We ask for food, favorable weather, and good health.

In a very real sense we are the focus of Simple Prayer. Our needs, our wants, our concerns dominate our prayer experience. Our prayers are shot through with plenty of pride, conceit, vanity, pretentiousness, haughtiness, and general all-around egocentricity. No doubt there are also magnanimity, generosity, unselfishness, and universal goodwill.

We make mistakes — lost of them; we sin; we fall down, often — but each time we get up and begin again. We pray again. We seek to follow God again. And again our insolence and self-indulgence defeat us. Never mind. We confess and begin again … and again … and again. In fact sometimes Simple Prayer is called the “Prayer of Beginning Again.”

Simple Prayer is the most common form of prayer in the Bible. There is little that is lofty or magnanimous about the faith heroes who journey across the pages of Scripture. Think of Moses complaining to God about his stiff-necked and erstwhile followers…”

Richard Foster in Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (New York: HarperCollins, 1992) 14-16.

Today begins the second week of Lent, so I have chosen to shift from fasting to prayer. I am teaching on the Council of Moses in Numbers 11 this next Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa, so this piece on Simple Prayer which features the prayer of Moses as one of many examples seemed fitting.

We serve a generous God who received Moses just as He was and who “receives us just as we are and accepts our prayers just as they are.” Whether or not you have any disciplines related to prayer, start praying this Lent. And perhaps begin with what Foster and others describe as “Simple Prayer” or the “Prayer of Beginning Again”.

Pick a time every day to pray, such as in the shower or on your morning walk. Share with God whatever comes to mind. Take solace in the fact that people of great faith like Moses prayed everything from ordinary to frustrated prayers. God heard them and hears you. Take whatever ails and overwhelms you to God this Lent. Lent is a time of beginning again.

My Simple Prayer this morning is for safe travel for myself to Florida to attend the university track at the Kingdom Advisor’s conference, for fruitful substitute teaching for Jenni, for fulfilling work for Sammy, and for continued growth for Sophie in her studies and service at college.

If you want to become generous from the inside out, then talk daily (or many times each day) with our generous God in prayer and see what happens.