J. R. R. Tolkien: A merrier world

He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. Psalm 104:14-15

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

These are among last words of Thorin Oakenshield as he lies dying at the end of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973).

Today we visited the Shire, also known as Hobbiton, outside Matamata, New Zealand. Central to both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies, the Shire (pictured above) is the place where life for humble residents is rooted in daily work, enjoying the fruit of labor, and sharing richly with visitors. God gave us a perfect day! The weather was gorgeous.

Tolkien, a close friend of C.S. Lewis, portrays the Shire as a place of “food and cheer and song” that captivates us with enjoyment. The hobbits live life as it was meant to be lived, and perhaps just as God designed it. That was our experience. We made a special memory we will never forget. What if each of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold? 

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesian 4:32

“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.”

G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) in Illustrated London News, 16 July 1910 CW 28:563 as recounted in G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense by Dale Ahlquist (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2003) 13.

We just rented a Toyota Rav4 that we will drive on the opposite side of the narrow roads. One thing that can hinder our pursuit of enjoyment and rest is friction in close quarters.

God help us drive safely, be loving toward each other, and make priceless memories such as soaking in this harbor view from the Hilton Auckland (photo shot from our balcony room).

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with…The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) in Reflections on the Psalms (Orlando: Harvest, 1964) 95-96.

As I begin my exploration of enjoyment just before boarding our flights to San Francisco, then Sydney, and on to Auckland, two things are clear. Only when we have God as our chief delight, can we enjoy anything rightly; otherwise things become idols to us, and we become a slaves to them!

Alternatively, when God is our chief delight, our enjoyment completes our praise to Him. Today we are enjoying the fruit of my frequent travel. To those have ever cashed in miles, you will appreciate this: I used miles to upgrade our roundtrip flights between San Francisco and Sydney, Australia.

What’s so cool is that because I have flown more than a million miles my wife also has 1k status with United Airlines. Additionally, each 1k person flying coach can often bring one person up to first class, so United upgraded all four of our roundtrip connections between Denver and San Francisco.

Today, I am giving thanks for the opportunity to enjoy and share airline miles and to receive unexpected upgrades! You may not have airline miles but take inventory of what you have and think of ways to enjoy, share, and have fun doing it! When we enjoy and share God and His blessings, we take hold of life as He designed it.

For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Hebrew 4:10

“Caught in the everyday rush, many of us seem to be always on the brink of exhaustion. Our ever-greater busyness takes all the energy we have, leaving us little to give what really matters. In the unconsciousness of always being rushed, we can easily fall into the opposite of generative living. Enslaved by duties or ambitions, we can end up denying ourselves the very time and reflection that provide us with the necessary balance of peace and joy.

Rushing can cloud our perspectives and limit our possible offerings to others. It seems a paradox that by not taking regular, disciplined rest, we undermine our opportunity to deepen generosity in ourselves; our families and communities; and our work, minds, bodies, souls and environment. Yet this “taking” of time for the balance of rest and activity is what creates the surplus to be reliable in our giving to others.”

Lucinda Vardey and John Dalla Costa in Being Generous: The Art of Right Living (Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2008) 47-48.

This meditation sums it up for us, so we are taking time for rest, recreation, and rejuvenation. We depart today for New Zealand and land on 12 May 2016 so in between, we are getting some rest. If our adventure sounds inviting, look at your calendar. It took about two years of planning and saving for this trip. Resting is a planned activity.

Also look at your daily and weekly rhythms and plan time for rest so that you are positioned to be “reliable” in giving as a result. My seven daily pauses over Lent taught me the monks of old had figured something out. Resting not only one day a week, but pausing every three hours for a few minutes may actually increase our productivity.

I have learned to be content with whatever I have. Philippians 4:11b

“Many North Americans are on a continuous quest to live more simply. For decades, we have created tools and technology with the goal of making our lives easier. Today, some efforts to live simply try to counter our complex, consumer-focused lifestyle: growing and eating simpler food from personal gardens, building micro-sized living quarters, and looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprints.

Even so, naming that we are on this quest says something about our day-to-day lives of privilege. Our jobs, relationships, and social activities are often demanding. Simply finding rest is a luxury: Sabbath rest seems like an impossibility. Our efforts to do, be, and have the best leave us tired and unsatisfied. If there is a simpler life, where is it?

Paul’s words in Philippians give us an important clue: “I have learned to be content with whatever I have” (Phil. 4:11b). That kind of contentment is countercultural and not easily embraced by our human nature. Perhaps we can take comfort that even for Paul, finding contentment was learned behavior.”

Marcia Shetler in Giving, vol. 18 (ESC: Richmond, IN, 2016) 2.

The fact that contentment was a “learned behavior” for the Apostle Paul gives hope to people like me. You too? Elsewhere the he says that “if we have food and covering, we should be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:8). Are you? Toward that end, we downsized from a house to a townhouse and while it was a lot of work, it was one of the best decisions we ever made. It created margin to give, live, serve, and love on a greater scale. It also resourced us with funds for a restful holiday.

Speaking of rest…finding rest is another important learned behavior. That’s my focus this month with my family. We leave tomorrow to spend a two weeks in New Zealand (10-26 May 2016). Our days will be spent touring the countryside, visiting sites from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies, fly fishing, and weather permitting we even hope to enjoy scenery by helicopter. In the words of Bilbo Baggins, we are “going on an adventure” together.

As I rise early whether on holiday or not, I still plan to post daily meditations. My plan is to explore a different facet of generosity: the dynamics of enjoyment and rest as part of God’s generous design for our lives. The former (enjoyment) represents another “learned behavior” as we must learn how to enjoy in moderation, while the latter (rest) may prove equally challenging as rest in the biblical narrative represents the ultimate quest.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

“When Jesus becomes your focus, your love, your defining voice, your generosity, your grace, and when you allow His Spirit to live freely in you, then, and only then, will you have the energy and wisdom to live the Christian life well.”

Sally Clarkson in Own Your Life: Living with Deep Intention, Bold Faith, and Generous Love (Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 2015) 91-92.

My mom always says, “The good you see in me is Jesus.” Happy Mother’s Day Mom! And Happy Mother’s Day to my wife Jenni, too. Thanks Jenni, for making Jesus your everything so that you live the Christian life well as a conduit of His love.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:25-27

“Two kinds of people.

1. Scarcity people

2. Abundance people.

Which one are you? Of course I know which one you want to be. We all want to be abundance people, but who we want to be and who we are…well let’s just call that a major concern. There’s a telltale sign to find out whether you are a scarcity or an abundance person. The sign of scarcity is the presence of worry or anxiety. The level to which you worry or carry anxiety, to that extent you are a scarcity person.

No matter how much a scarcity person has, there will never be enough. No matter how little an abundance person has, there will always be more than plenty. Abundance or scarcity has little to do with external quantity. It has everything to do with internal quality. Scarcity is the sickness of the human condition. It’s primary symptoms are worry and anxiety. Abundance is the cure of the Kingdom of God. It’s primary sign is deep abiding peace.”

J. D. Walt in “Two Kinds of People: Which One Are You?” Seedbed Daily Text for 6 May 2016.

Sophie and I drove safely from San Diego to Las Vegas last night thanks to God’s abundant grace and traveling mercies. If you are an abundance person, would you pause and pray with me for some people today? I have some friends on mind who (I think) are stuck in scarcity. The “what if” questions of life are holding them captive. Pray with me that they will take hold of life in the Kingdom of God.

Father in heaven, open the eyes of those stuck in scarcity by your Holy Spirit. Help them discover that the promises in Scripture are backed by Your faithful and abundant generosity. Hear my prayer (our collective prayers) in the name of Jesus. Amen.

For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. Acts 4:34-35

“At the center of a biblical perspective on money and possessions is a deep awareness that none of it really belongs to us. There is no such thing as “self-made” success. We are stewards of things that have been placed in our hands by an extravagantly generous God who trusts us to use things that ultimately belong to God in ways that satisfy God’s good intentions, not just our own.”

James A. Harnish in Earn. Save. Give.: Wesley’s Simple Rules for Money (Nashville: Abingdon, 2015) 83.

This morning I return to San Diego to meet up with our dear daughter Sophie and drive part of the way home with her. We hope to make it back to Denver by Saturday night. She’s had a great first year of school. What I love most is that she doesn’t see herself as a “self-made” success, but one who endeavors to grow as a faithful steward whose generosity accomplishes “God’s good intentions” and not just her own.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. Matthew 6:19-20

“If you aim at “laying up treasures on earth,” you are not barely losing your time and spending your strength for that which is not bread, for what is the fruit if you succeed: you have murdered your own soul! You have extinguished the last spark of spiritual life therein! Now indeed, in the midst of life you are in death! You are a living man, but a dead Christian.”

John Wesley (1703-1791) in “Sermon on the Mount” Discourse 8.13. To purchase a copy from Seedbed.com visit Thirteen Discourses on the Sermon on the Mount.

If this post offends you, it’s not the post, it’s the gospel that is the stumbling block for you. Wesley is merely pointing out that one cannot follow both the prevailing cultural norms and the commands of Jesus. Those who try are just rationalizing disobedience. It’s Jesus who explicitly instructs us not to store up resources in the wrong place.

In the words of my friend, J.D. Walt at Seedbed.com, it’s not because money is a bad thing, it’s because money is a dangerous thing. It leads us to trust in it other than God. Money is the leading alternate god (cf. Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13). Plain and simple: We show where we place our trust as followers of Christ by where we store earthly treasures.

But since you excel in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you–see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:7

“Of course, not everyone in the congregation will heed the call to increased giving. Clergy and lay leaders are likely to hear a number of complaints. Do not let disgruntled members deter you from your resolve! My experience is that the most vocal complaints will come from those who give the least, not those who have the least. The whiners, complainers, naysayers, and freeloaders are not the ones who will lead the church to a promising future.

In contrast, those who already give the most will welcome the encouragement to increased generosity. These church pillars not only contribute the most, but the also ask the least in return (This is why it is fine for the minister to know what people in the church contribute. Ministers usually do not give preferential treatment to higher-level [givers] because these people do not want preferential treatment)…These are the generous and committed souls that churches can and should produce.”

Michael Durall in Beyond the Collection Plate: Overcoming Obstacles to Faithful Giving (Nashville: Abingdon, 2003) 65-66.

As I prepare to teach a course this summer for clergy on “Nurturing a Ministry Culture of Christian Generosity in the Local Church” this quote will no doubt inspire the pastors I will serve. Sadly, the anticipation of complainers and the fear of naysayers have hindered many pastors from teaching on giving. In helping them see how Paul dealt with similar responses (and non-responsiveness) from the Corinthians, pray with me that they will be inspired to cultivate generous and committed souls.

I’m thinking of my prospective students today as registration is underway. God fill the course with pastors and strengthen me to serve them well.