Edwina Murphy: Impoverished

Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:10-11

“It is not the generous who are impoverished, but rather those who neglect the poor. Those who have their priorities right will not only increase, rather than decrease, their wealth, but will also receive a crop of righteousness.”

Edwina Murphy in her article entitled, “Cyprian, Paul, and Care for the Poor and Captive: Offering Sacrifices and Ransoming Temples,” Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum 2016; 20(3): 432.

I have determined to shift from looking at facets of generosity in Christian Mystics to Early Church Fathers. I will start with this quote from a modern-day scholar and friend, Edwina Murphy, the wife of a good mate down under, Peter Murphy. I am privileged to preach at their church in Sydney this weekend.

Edwina kicks off this fresh focus with today’s post from her splendid scholarly article that explores generosity in the thinking of Cyprian of Carthage. Sowing generously is the only option if you want your bags refilled and want to expect a great crop of righteousness.

This reveals that one’s mentality becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you embrace a “scarcity” mentality mindset, then you will keep most of what you have for yourself and see little heavenly refilling, and you will reap a meager harvest. People who live by this mindset live by sight and not by faith.

Conversely, should you follow the passionate call of Cyprian and Edwina long after him and adopt an “abundance” mentality, then brace yourself. You will discover life like you never imagined. You will hold nothing back and not end up empty but enriched. And your harvest will be unimaginable.

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:19-20

“Lord, shake us with the force of love,
To rouse us from our dreadful sleep;
Remove our hearts of stone, and give
New hearts of flesh, to break and weep
For all your children in distress
And dying for the wealth we keep.
Help us prevent, while we have time,
The blighted harvest greed must reap.

And then, in your compassion, give
Your Spirit like the gentle rain,
Creating fertile ground from which
Your peace and justice spring like grain;
Until your love is satisfied,
With all creation freed from pain,
And all your children live to praise
Your will fulfilled, your presence plain.”

Alan Gaunt in the second and third stanzas of “Great God, Your Spirit Like the Wind” (1991).

Special thanks to Nigel Grant who welcomed me to Australia, reads these daily posts, and alerted me to this hymn from church last Sunday. These lyrics are richly associated with Pentecost Sunday in recent church history because they speak of the work of the Spirit in our lives.

The Spirit changes everything. Our hearts of stone turn to hearts of flesh. Unrest and oppression turn to peace and justice. Greed is exchanged for generosity. The power of love shakes and wakes us. When love is expressed generously, nothing matches its beauty.

Those who sow sparingly are not the ones who sow only a few seeds, but rather they are the ones who don’t sow all the seed God has entrusted to them. The “wealth we keep” is what God sees. Those who sow generously are not the ones who sow lots of seed, but rather those who make sure they leave no seeds in the bag.

Avoid a “blighted harvest” while you still have time. Empty your bag to make God’s presence plain, and God will replenish your supply.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27

“Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance, and none can say why some fields will blossom and others lay brown beneath the August sun. Care for those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices in life no more easily made. And give. Give in any way you can, of whatever you possess. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than how it is shared, and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.”

Kent Nerburn in Letters to My Son: A Father’s Wisdom on Manhood, Women, Life and Love (Novato: New World Library, 1999) 189.

Special thanks to my mother, Patsy Hoag, for sharing this quote with me. The timing is perfect as I have flown from Melbourne to Sydney to serve the board of Christian Super, an organization that helps 25,000+ members live life with financial health and understanding based on biblical principles. My prayer today and tomorrow is to serve them well with spiritual truths so they can add true richness to the lives of all those they serve.

I pray my wife and I and our children grasp this too. The best assurance that our children will live this out is to run this race ourselves. The image of running a race is in my mind as my hotel room overlooks a track at the Sydney Olympic Park (pictured above) where runners are training. Like watching athletes compete, the world is watch how we live. “Give in any way you can, of whatever you possess.” I pray this thinking transforms 25,000+ lives to impact the nation of Australia!

Let all your things be done with charity. 1 Corinthians 16:14

“Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them bravely, remembering Whom you are trying to follow. Do not be afraid. Love one another, bear with one another, and let charity guide you all your life. God will reward you as only He can.”

Mary MacKillop in Lectio Divina | Praying the Scriptures in Lent | Year A 2017 (Pennant Hills: Diocese of Broken Bay, 2017) 54.

Mary MacKillop, originally from Melbourne, is a famous Australian saint. She trusted in God’s providence despite the ups and downs of life and ministry. What was her secret, or at least one of her secrets? She let charity guide her.

Today at the CMA conference in Australia I am leading a seminar called “Four Spiritual Practices for Discerning Direction” based on an article I wrote on 12 April 2017 for the CLA Blog. It’s practical counsel for groups that are “trying to follow” Jesus.

When charity guides us, it means we do everything with love and grace. We are propelled to love everyone the same: that includes those society deems deserving to people labeled as undeserving. When we live this way, our generosity reflects our Lord Jesus Christ.

MacKillop also rightly reminds us that a reward awaits us when we live this way. I am learning the reward comes both now and in eternity. When charity guides us, it transforms all our earthly relationships. While it has not always guided mine, this is an area where God is working on me.

Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15

“Everyone wants to cling to his ways, refusing to give up any of his attachments. As a result such people feel neither thought to this and turn their attention again to their beloved possessions. And yet many of them have been wearing a religious habit for forty or fifty years. It is questionable indeed whether they will be saved at the Day of Judgment, for their spirit is habitually chained to created things and willfully entangled in them. You may be sure that such people are not aware of their state.

Of course they find numerous excuses: “I must have such and such a thing,” they will say. “Surely, it will do me no harm.” And thus they offer these obstacles a seat within themselves, and there they unite with their natural inclinations to such a degree that they can no longer feel any compunction and so they ignore them. These are strong and powerful obstacles, veritable fortresses erected against God’s work, and yet such people are not aware of them.”

Johannes Tauler (c. 1300-1361) in Sermons (CWS; Mahwah: Paulist, 1985) 112.

Today in Australia I have various speaking commitments at the CMA Conference in Melbourne. Among them is a seminar on nurturing generosity. Part of pathway to doing that is helping wake people up, spiritually-speaking, to the way in which possessions can tempt us into becoming attached or “habitually chained” and “willfully tangled” to them.

In plain terms, the work of Christian ministry workers is not to try to rob people but to help them. That happens not when we ask for something from them, but when we sow truth into them that they have been blessed to participate in God’s work. By identifying the strong and powerful obstacles to generosity that surface in our own lives, we are able to help others take hold of life with us.

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. 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 103:1-5

“I want to be merciful to the world and provide for my reasoning creatures’ every need. But the foolish take for death what I give for life, and are thus cruel to themselves. I always provide, and I want you to know what I have given to humankind is supreme providence. It pleased me to create you in my image and likeness with great providence.

I provided you with the gift of memory so that you might hold fast my benefits and be made a sharer in my own, the eternal Father’s power. I gave you understanding so that in the wisdom of my only-begotten Son you might comprehend and know what I the eternal Father want, I who gave you graces with such burning love.

I gave you a will to love, making you a sharer in the Holy Spirit’s mercy, so that you might love what your understanding sees and knows. All this my gentle providence did, only that you might be capable of understanding and enjoying me and rejoicing in my goodness by seeing me eternally.”

Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) in The Dialogue, translated by Suzanne Noffke (CWS; Mahwah: Paulist, 1980) 277.

In modernity, many enjoy Jesus Calling daily as it reads as though Jesus is talking directly to the reader. Though its not packaged as a daily reader, The Dialogue reads a bit like a Middle Ages edition of Jesus Calling because parts are written in the first person. When I travel and teach, I like a quiet hotel room so that in solitude, I can listen for His voice.

Today I am also meditating on Psalm 103 because my wife is teaching on it next week in her Women’s Bible Study so I am praying for her. Also I am giving thanks for “the gift of memory” as it helps us hold fast to and not soon forget all His benefits! He continues to show up powerfully and unexpected ways in these meetings Down Under.

As you recount His benefits and rejoice in His goodness toward you, I pray it transforms your living, giving, serving, and loving.

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20

“Be reconciled to God.” This means nothing less than let a king give you His kingdom, take heaven as a gift. Let the Lord of lords of all the world give you His love, and be His friends, His children, those whom He protects.

Come, surrender yourselves to Him and to His will, and you will be free from every evil, from all guilt, and from all bondage. You will be free from your own selves, you have found your way home, you will be at home with the Father…

O Lord, give all of us new hearts, open and obedient to you: hearts that love our neighbor and pray to you for our church. Lord, give us a good beginning; open your fatherly heart to us and lead us…”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) in his sermon entitled “Ambassadors for Christ” in The Collected Sermons of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012) 93.

While traveling on Sundays, I often read classic sermons. Today I read a winner by Bonhoeffer. God’s generosity shines yet again as He gives us the kingdom as a gift. But notice what happens. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

When we receive and give this gift, we enjoy and share the gift of freedom. We quit trying to control people. Instead, we free to love them. Daily, when we are open and obedient to His work in us, our hearts are transformed.

Today, 64 delegates as Christ’s ambassadors serving God’s church in 20 countries will gather for strategic meetings in Melbourne, Australia. My prayer echoes Bonhoeffer: “Lord, give us a good beginning.”

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20

“It is necessary for me to talk about the disposition of my heart and all the sacrifices that God had me make…in spite of the storms there, I was in a state of very great tranquility, waiting from one moment to the next for the order of providence, to which I am devoted without reserve. My heart was continually sacrificed without sacrifice, happy to be the victim of providence.”

Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) in The Prison Narratives of Jeanne Guyon, ed. Ronney Mourad and Dianne Guenin-Lelle (Oxford: OUP, 2012) 20-21, 109.

Jeanne Guyon was imprisoned for seven years. She probably could related to Joseph in today’s Scripture text. I read her this morning as I am pulling together this International Accountability Summit in the Hilton South Wharf (the black checkered building pictured above) in Melbourne, Australia. Some 64 leaders from 20 countries are attending, however, four delegates were unable to come because of visa issues. They live in countries that are known to oppose Christianity and persecute Christians.

When opposition comes, or even difficulty and imprisonment, what is our perspective? Do we have the peace of Joseph or Jeanne? Is the disposition of our heart one of tranquility? Are we happy to be the victims of providence? I find myself feeling frustrated as my first response to difficulty because I fail to remember these divine truths. Friends, we must remember that God is never-endingly working for our good. He is generous to work not only for our good but give us tranquility during our trials.

The editors of these prison letters, Ronney Mourad and Dianne Guenin-Lelle, add this thought in reflecting on the excerpt above: “More often, though, when confronted with difficult circumstances, Guyon reports that God graced her with patience to rely on the divine will and to trust in its ultimate benevolence.” God grace us with such patience!

So what’s the lesson for us today?

We must generously remind those in trials that tranquility comes when we embrace our role as victims of providence. Do this and we will help them locate the perspective of Joseph and Jeanne! They will shift from trying to control life to resting in God and watching for the generous order of providence to unfold. To help others grasp this, we must first do it ourselves. That’s what I am endeavoring to as I pull these international meetings together with God’s help.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Bruno of Cologne (Archbishop elect) has a dilemma and asks Bernard of Clairvaux (monk, doctor and reformer) for advice. Here is Bernard’s reply: “If I do not express a decisive opinion, it is because I do not myself feel assured. This must needs be the case, for the gift of prophecy and of wisdom only could resolve your doubt. For who could draw clear water out of a muddy pool? Yet there is one thing that I can do for a friend without danger, and with the assurance of a good result; that is to offer to God my petition that He will assist you in this matter. Leaving, therefore, to Him the secret things of His providence, of which we are ignorant, I will beg Him, with humble prayer and earnest supplication, that He will work in you and with respect to you that which shall be for His glory, and at the same time for your good.”

Bernard of Clairvaux in Letter III (A.D. 1131) to Bruno, Archbishop Elect of Cologne in Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux (Grand Rapids: CCEL, 2000) 22.

In the solitude of my hotel room, I decided to explore the idea of providence in the letters of Bernard, an influential monk, doctor and reformer who lived long before the Reformation. I love Bernard! This excerpt in particular struck me.

Some people have the gift of prophecy and wisdom. Those who do must exercise it generously to assist those in need. But everyone else also has a gift they can give a person in need: humble prayer and earnest supplication.

Yesterday I was asked for advice and shared from the gifts God has given me. I also prayed with the bloke with whom I was speaking because God, who works for our good and His glory, can impart to him the secret things of His providence.

Next time a person comes to you for need. Help them generously if you are able. But if not, don’t send them away without humble prayer and earnest supplication, or literally, “begging God”, that He who works for our good will minister to them out of the secret things of His providence!

Beg God for someone today!

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 5:14-16

“Perfect charity is composed of enduring others’ faults, not being surprised by their weaknesses, and being happy to see them do even the smallest acts of virtue; but above all, I understand that charity must not remain locked up in one’s heart: Jesus said that no one lights a candlestick to put it under a bushel; so here we put it in a chandelier so that it lights up all those who are in the house. It seems to me that this candlestick represents charity which should shed light on and delight not only those people who are dearest to me, but all those in the house, without exception.”

Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) in 15 Days of Prayer with Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, ed. by Constant Tonnelier (Hyde Park: New City Press, 2011) 70.

I’ve arrived safely in Melbourne, Australia, and I took this photo from my hotel room this evening. God has given me the gift of a stunning view of the Yarra River flowing through the city, thanks to an unexpected free room upgrade!

Even more beautiful is the charity of those who are gathering from around the world for a series of meetings, the first of which is the Ministry Fundraising Network, a group birthed by Lausanne to serve the global church.

I am approaching these meetings with prayer as I am just thankful for the privilege of participating. Praying is also a great way to deal with jet lag. Providentially, in the solitude of my room, I recalled this book on prayer with Thérèse of Lisieux and found it online.

This excerpt moved me as Thérèse reflected on the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. She not only defines charity brilliantly, which is the generous love of God extended to world by grace. She also urges us to share it by putting in in a chandelier so all are blessed by it!

Father, bless these meetings in Melbourne and everyone reading this post around the world. Make us chandeliers of charity and help us inspire others to serve as chandeliers of charity so that the entire world, everyone without exception, may know of the generous love of Jesus, in whose name we pray, Amen.