M. Douglas Meeks: Stewardship is for serving the kingdom of God

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

“Often it is claimed that the secret of simple living is giving something up. Renunciation turns to denunciation as the epitome of simplicity. But for Christian stewardship, neither renunciation nor denunciation is the secret of what is really life.

For Jesus the simple life is centered in this command: seek first the kingdom of God. Stewardship is for serving the kingdom of God, that is, the reign of God’s righteousness, God’s power of life over death in all its forms. For Jesus the secret of the simple life is loving God and the neighbor Jesus gives us.

The simplicity of Christian life depends completely on the love of God that makes possible the love of the neighbor and the love of the neighbor that embodies the love of God. The freedom of the simple life is for the love of God and neighbor.

To be sure, the simple life means freedom from possessions, from over consumption, from dehumanizing work, and from debt, but this freedom is for what God loves–all human beings and all creatures God has called into being.”

M. Douglas Meeks in “Simple Living and Christian Stewardship” in Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, volume 18 (Richmond: ESC, 2016) 4.

Each year I subscribe to this publication to get ideas for helping pastors and students grow joyful stewards in their churches and among their constituencies. I’ll share a quote from each of the articles on my travels in South Korea and Australia over the next few weeks.

Meeks nails it when he says: “Stewardship is for serving the kingdom of God.” Just before this meditation posted, I arrived safely in Seoul. Both around the world and at home, living the simple life is loving God and loving the neighbors He gives us. Let’s do it.

Father in heaven, help each of us love you and love our neighbor with the love we have received from you so that people locally and globally may see your kingdom, power, and righteousness. Do this by your Holy Spirit I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 12:12-14

Hospitality is “entertaining others graciously without grudging or without thought of the favor returned to you.”

Deborah Zacharoff in Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others by Pat Ennis, Lisa Matlock (Wheaton: Crossway, 2007) 64.

This morning I left home for the airport to fly to Seoul via San Francisco at 4:00 am. A faithful friend drove me. He insists that I call him when I need early morning airport runs, and he never grudges at the early hour or seeks anything in return.

Often I am guilty of grudging and/or expecting a return related to my giving. Perhaps you are too. Jesus reminds us to bless others, especially those in need who cannot reciprocate, and He will repay us in the end. Jesus, help us serve people with the loving, generous attitude you modeled for us.

Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. 1 Peter 4:9

Hospitality is…”Opening your heart and home, and freely giving all that you have to generously and lovingly meet the needs of others. Hospitality promotes and welcomes others into a warm, inviting, friendly, environment where they feel loved and accepted.”

Kelli Gleeson in Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others by Pat Ennis, Lisa Matlock (Wheaton: Crossway, 2007) 63.

My wife and I just finished planting some flowers in pots in front of our townhouse. We wanted to make our place warm and inviting. We had a neighbor couple over for dinner last night with whom we are developing a friendship. Part of generosity is loving people well from our hearts and our homes.

What about your heart and home? Would people say they feel loved and accepted by you? Is your home warm and inviting? Is there something you could do to make your place more welcoming? Do you have neighbors who may have needs? Or do you even know your neighbors?

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:13

Hospitality is “meeting the needs of others through the use of one’s resources, specifically in and through the context of the home. Hospitality is love in action. It would also say that hospitality is not limited to the realm of home. Anyone in any situation can exercise hospitality simply by meeting another person’s need (whether they be physical, emotional or spiritual) by joyfully giving herself and her resources.”

Amy Raper in Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others by Pat Ennis, Lisa Matlock (Wheaton: Crossway, 2007) 53.

Happy Memorial Day. I pray you are able to practice hospitality to day. It’s more than inviting a friend to a party. It’s interacting with people and giving them whatever they need. It can headquarter in our homes but since it’s about showing love and service, we extend it to others from anywhere.

Since the word “hospitality” is related to the word “hospital”, just like the medical headquarters dispenses whatever is needed to meet the needs of physically-broken people, dispense God’s love and grace generously toward someone. And just like doctor’s “practice” medicine, your efforts will bring life, help, and healing.

John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Luke 3:11

“God invites all of us to live in a new money mindset, to recognize that we have enough for ourselves and enough to share. His call is not to get in line for more money or better stuff but to think as he does and to use money and possessions in ways that reach far beyond ourselves.”

Brad Hewitt and James Moline in Your New Money Mindset: Create a Healthy Relationship with Money (Carol Stream: Tyndale, 2015) 31.

Most of us is the United States think in terms of consumerism and taking care of ourselves. We have room for growth in sharing. I am off to South Korea this week where the prevailing cultural thinking is to look out for one’s extended family, so while sharing is highly valued in that culture, hoarding is the issue with which they wrestle.

In Christ, all of us need a new money mindset rooted in sharing. John the Baptist announced it, Jesus taught it, and the early church modeled it. After my Bible reading today I decided to go through my clothing and possessions to determine what I might be able to share. Situations change. Stuff is not needed after all. Others may be able to put it to use.

We always have room for growth in Christian sharing. Is there something you could share today?

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19

“Combating poverty will require the rare sort of commitment if we are to change the status quo. The battle for lasting relief will take relentless leadership, because victory will require the mobilization of millions of the nonpoor who will choose to give and to go where the pockets of poverty are most extreme and who will remain there long-term in order to reverse the time of intolerable conditions. Millions of Christians will need to get actively involved in easing the suffering of those who live in conditions of extreme need and to bring reform to the unjust systems that perpetuate indefensible disparities of wealth and health. But the millions needed to stem the time of global poverty will make the decision to enter the battle one soldier at a time. It will do no good for them to enlist if they will not persist to the end of the struggle.”

John Rowell in To Give or Not to Give: Rethinking Dependency, Restoring Generosity, and Redefining Sustainability (Tyrone: Authentic, 2006) 227-228.

I am speaking at an international missions conference at Sarang Community Church in Seoul on 4 June 2016. My remarks are linked to “Sustainability and Missions” and my focus is shifting the thinking of listeners from “financial sustainability” to “faithful stewardship” as money is not the driving money for missions God is, and God’s design is to work through faithful stewards who “give and go” by deploying their gifts and goods to make known the gospel.

Are you giving and going to help those in need? I have a call scheduled in the next few days with Edgar and Gladys Güitz of Potter’s House in Guatemala. Part of the reason for the call is to plan a visit there later this year. Sending money to the destitute does not combat poverty. Giving and going is the answer. If you are looking for a place to give and go, consider that organization. Remember, Jesus did not send help. He came. Our giving must be combined with going.

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

“As parents we have the responsibility to pass the baton of practical biblical truths, including handling money, to our children. It’s one of the most practical legacies you can leave your children and grandchildren. Make your your life is characterized by generosity, spending within your means, saving consistently, and staying out of debt. Modeling, communicating verbally, and offering real-life opportunities will form within your children the disciple and habits they need to faithfully handle money their entire lives.”

Howard Dayton in “This is a Family Trip” section of Your Money Map: A Proven 7-Step Guide to True Financial Freedom (Chicago: Moody, 2015).

Having returned from our family trip, it’s fulfilling to have finished the trip under budget and to spend time with our adult children that have received the baton and are exhibiting good financial habits. Sammy’s already back at his own apartment and Sophie is about to head to a dog sitting job over the holiday weekend. Have you passed the baton to your children? It’s never to late to model generosity for your kids and to talk about handling money God’s way. It teaches them how to live.

Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes. Romans 11:33-36 (The Message)

“Giving helps us become what God wants us to be…Through the practice of radical hospitality, we receive God and invite God’s love into our lives. By practicing passionate worship we love God in return; God shapes our hearts and minds as we begin to see the world through God’s eyes. We cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our own spiritual growth as we practice intentional faith development. God calls us to make a difference in the lives of others, and we practice risk-taking mission and service. And at some point in our following of Christ, we realize that all we are comes from God and belongs to God; this leads us to the practice of extravagant generosity…

God uses our practice of giving to reconfigure our interior life. By giving, we craft a different inner desire as the driving element of life. Our motivations change. Giving moderates the powerful and sometimes destructively insatiable drive for acquisition. In the daily interior struggle fostered by a consumeristic, materialistic society that pressures us to pursue many things that do not lead to real happiness, the practice of giving aims us at what ultimately satisfies. Giving sanctifies and deepens the struggle, and constantly resets the internal compass in the right direction. Generosity becomes a tool God uses to draw us closer to God and to align us more closely with God’s desire for us…”

Robert Schnase in chapter five of Five Practices of Fruitful Living (Nashville: Abingdon, 2010).

At the time this meditation posts, I will be somewhere over the Pacific Ocean en route home from New Zealand. This holiday has helped me realize that God’s generosity is more extravagant than I could ever imagine. To see the world through God’s eyes requires a constant reconfiguring of our interior lives. Practicing generosity puts us on the path of growth. It moves us toward mission and service, the things that satisfy. I am thankful for this time with my family and for the opportunity to recalibrate the compass of my life to Christ.

Want your life reconfigured? Focus on God’s love and generosity toward you. Attune to all the things He does for you daily. If you need a holiday to do this, then schedule some time off. I will testify that you won’t be the same afterwards.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

“Being kind sometimes means we’re ignored or rebuffed, unwelcome and left out to dry. That’s the risk. Kindness should not expect kindness in return. A life of generous kindness doesn’t mean it will always be welcomed kindness…Kindness never bullies…Though our methods of kindness may be rejected, our attempts don’t need to be abandoned.”

Barry H. Corey in Love Kindness: Discover the Power of a Forgotten Christian Virtue (Nashville: Tyndale, 2016) 75-79.

On this trip I have been reminded to choose kindness on numerous occasions. It seems the more we travel around on this round ball called “earth” the more opportunities we get to bump into people. In those moments, I am learning that “choosing kindness” means that I must not point out their failures. That’s not my job. I must also not try to convince them I am right. That never gets anywhere.

So why must we choose kindness and what does it have to do with generosity?

The Apostle Paul described “choosing” literally as putting fleshly responses to death or crucifying them. Today each of us will have plenty of opportunities to be overcome by evil. With the Spirit’s help, there’s another path. Father, produce the fruit of kindness in each of us today by your Holy Spirit so that your generosity will shine like a light in this dark world. Make it so I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 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. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:19-24

“To go back to Christian origins, St. Paul writes about the spiritual life as meaning ‘of the Spirit of God’ and contrasts the strength of spiritual living with the frailty of human nature. Christians are people who have the mind of Christ; they do spiritual things in accordance with Christ’s Spirit. This spirituality is seen in acts of love and generosity, whereas he describes the signs of unspiritual living as quarrels, greed, and selfishness. So for the early church, spiritual meant godly and generous living.”

Abbot Christopher Jamison in Finding Sanctuary: Monastic Steps for Everyday Life (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press).

The day was 26 June 2009. I set it aside for prayer and reflection in a season of vocational transition. I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do. He gently reminded me that He did not need me to do anything, and that He had the whole universe sorted. I then asked the Lord what He wanted me to be, and just like Sarah laughed when God said He wanted her to be a “mommy” I felt like God said, I want you to be the Generosity Monk and dedicate your life to encouraging Christian generosity.

For my “daily office” (that’s the routine of a monk associated with his commitments), I determined that I would read God’s Word and what saints through the centuries said about generosity and post it so that others may benefit. It would later become a daily blog with many readers. This morning, nearly seven years and 2,500 daily posts later, I returned to the first book I read as the Generosity Monk, Finding Sanctuary. Great little book. Consider the idea that Abbot Jamison posits in today’s post.

It was set forth by the Apostle Paul and has been affirmed by thousands of saints since then. Generosity is not something we do, but what we are when we live in the Spirit and function with the mind of Christ. To be spiritual is to be godly and generous. Father in Heaven, so that quarrels, greed, and selfishness are crucified in each of our lives, help us keep in step with the Spirit with the mind of Christ so that our spirituality reflects your generosity for another 2,500 days or until you call us home. Amen.