Basil of Caesarea: Give thanks to God

“When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you for your pleasure and as a relief in sickness. When you dress, thank Him for His kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God’s feet and adore Him who in His wisdom has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love, and praise their Creator.”

Basil of Caesarea, a.k.a. “Basil the Great” (330-379) in Hom. in Julittam martyrem.

Many will observe a Passover meal or Seder dinner today or sometime during Holy Week. We do this to remember that God saved His people from bondage in the days of Exodus and to celebrate the miraculous deliverance that foreshadowed the work of Christ for all humankind on the cross.

At your ceremonial meal or sometime this week with family or friends, read this prayer when you sit down to eat and give thanks to God in your hearts. Do this so as not forget all His benefits. Read a Scripture along with it too, such as Psalm 103.

Today is known as “Silent Wednesday” as little is known of the events on this day in the Passion Week. We can surmise that the disciples would have been reflecting on Jesus’ teachings the day before, the last of which in Matthew’s account was “the parable of the sheep and the goats” (Matthew 25:31-46). Epiphanius the Latin offers this comment about eternal punishment and eternal life at the conclusion of this parable.

“You see, my beloved, there is no excuse for it. They knew what they had to do in this world. But greed and ill-will prevented them, so they laid up for themselves not treasures for the future but for the world of the dead. Neither were they condemned because of the active wrong they did, nor did the Lord say to them, Depart from me, you wicked, because you committed murder or adultery or theft. But instead: because I was hungry and thirsty in my servants, and you did not minister to me.”

Epiphanius the Latin (late fifth, early sixth century) in Interpretation of the Gospels 38 as recounted in Ancient Christian Commentary on the Scriptures: Matthew 14-28, Vol. Ib, ed. Manlio Simonetti (Downers Grove: IVP, 2002) 228.

Epiphanius the Latin was likely the bishop of either Benevento, Italy or Seville, Spain during the era referred to as “the dark ages.” He got my attention with this expression: “the world of the dead.” With this exhortation, he is effectively saying: “You know what you need to do. Deploy yourselves and the resources in your care in obedience and you will take hold of life. Failure to do so is nothing more than hoarding them in the world of the dead, and this effectively demonstrates your disobedience and foreshadows your own doom.”

Times seem dark today too. Many are living for “the world of the dead.” Regardless of what everyone else is doing, let’s respond to this exhortation of Epiphanius and join the ranks of the sheep in Matthew 25:31-46. Reflect on the parable again, and let’s resolve together not to live for “the world of the dead” but in life after Lent let’s demonstrate our obedience through our deeds.

On Holy Week Tuesday Jesus teaches the disciples on the Mount of Olives (a.k.a. “the Olivet Discourse”) and concludes his instruction with three parables recorded in Matthew 25. On the “parable of the talents” recorded in Matthew 25:14-30, John Chrysostom offers these comments in his ancient commentary.

“Let us, therefore, knowing these things, contribute whatever we have–wealth, diligence, or caregiving–for our neighbor’s advantage. For the talents here are each person’s abilities, whether in the way of protection, or in money, or in teaching, or in whatever thing you have been given. Let no one say, “I have but one talent and can do nothing with it.” You are not poorer than the widow. You are not more uninstructed than Peter and John, who were both “unlearned and ignorant men” (Acts 4:13)…

For this end God gave us speech, and hands, and feet, and strength of body and mind and understanding, that we might use all these things both for our own salvation and for our neighbor’s advantage. Our speech is not only useful for hymns and thanksgiving, but it is profitable also for instruction and admonition. And if indeed we use it to this end, we should be imitating our Master; but if for the opposite ends, the devil.”

John Chrysostom (c. 349-407) in The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 78.3, as recounted in Ancient Christian Commentary on the Scriptures: Matthew 14-28, Vol. Ib, ed. Manlio Simonetti (Downers Grove: IVP, 2002) 228.

In this parable, Jesus states plainly that faithful stewards put the Master’s resources to work and enter the joy of the Lord, while the unfaithful stewards do not and are banished to the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. This has led some (wrongly!) to conclude that good works can earn eternal salvation. So what our Master trying to teach us?

Chrysostom nails it. As we obey our Master, we both work out our own salvation (cf. Philippians 2:12-15) and serve as conduits of blessing to those around us, namely, our neighbors. In plain terms, “we figure it out as we go,” and there’s no excuse because even unlearned blokes like Peter and John sorted it, not by their brilliance, but rather humble obedience.

What about you? Are you using your talents for your own salvation and your neighbor’s advantage? If not Chrysostom and I would urge you to assess which Master you are serving. Why? Chyrsostom concludes with these words highlighting the eternal implications to our response:

“As we have opportunity, let us work to cooperate with our salvation. Let us get oil for our lamps. Let us labor to add to our talent. For if we are backward and spend our time in sloth here, no one will pity us any more hereafter, though we should wail ten thousand times…Remember the virgins who again entreated and came to him and knocked, all in vain and without effect (cf. Matthew 25:1-13).”

“God does not want His temple to be a trader’s lodge but the home of sanctity. He does not preserve the practice of the priestly ministry by the dishonest duty of religion but by voluntary obedience. Consider what the Lord’s actions impose on you as an example of living…

He taught in general that worldly transactions must be absent from the temple, but he drove out the moneychangers in particular. Who are the moneychangers, if not those who seek profit from the Lord’s money. and cannot distinguish between good and evil? Holy Scripture is the Lord’s money.”

Ambrose of Milan (337-397) in Exposition of the Gospel of Luke as recounted in Ancient Christian Commentary on the Scriptures: Luke, Vol. III, ed. Arthur A. Just, Jr. (Downers Grove: IVP, 2003) 301.

On Holy Week Monday, Luke 19:45-48 records the famous scene where Jesus drives out the merchants and moneychangers (cf. Matthew 21:12-17). Why? Ambrose reminds us that the preservation of God’s work and it’s ongoing sustenance is not rooted in money making ventures but rather voluntary obedience. But why would Jesus take such strong measures to cleanse God’s house?

In the first century, religious leaders believed (wrongly!) that money made ministry to happen. Thus, they allowed a wide range of activities to fill God’s house that were focused solely on bringing in cash. This worldly thinking is known as “the love of money” and though the religious leaders in Jesus’ day exhibited it (Luke 16:14) those who oversee God’s work must not (cf. 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).

Is it time for a house cleaning? Does your heart feel more a trading post than a place of prayer? Are you fixated on getting money or obeying God? What about your church? Father, show us by your Holy Spirit where dishonest duty prevails in our hearts and replace it with voluntary obedience. Do this in our lives and at our churches we ask in the name of Jesus, so that sanctity and community may be restored. Amen.

“From the Gospel according to Luke, the account was read [Luke 19:29-40] of how, when the Savior had come “to Bethphage and Bethany near Mount Olivet, he sent two of his disciples” to untie “the foal of an ass” that had been tied, “on which no man had ever sat.” This seems to me to pertain more to the deeper sense than to the simple narrative. The ass had been bound. Where? “Across from Bethphage and Bethany.” “Bethany” means “house of obedience,” and “Bethphage” “house of jaws,” that is, a priestly place. For, jaw bones were given to priests, as the Lord commands [cf. Deuteronomy 18:3]. So, the Savior sends his disciples to a place where “obedience” is, where “the place given over to the priests” is, to unbind the foal of an ass, on which no man had ever sat…

The Lord Jesus came and commanded his disciples to go and untie “the colt of an ass,” which had previously been bound, so that it could walk free…When he sent his disciples to untie it, he said, “If anyone asks you why you are untying the foal, say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.'” Many people were lords of the colt before the Savior needed it. But after he began to be its Lord, the many ceased to be its lords…Even now the Lord “has need of” the colt. You are the colt of the ass…He wants you to be untied from the bonds of sin.

Then the disciples lay “their garments upon the ass” and have the Savior sit down. They take the Word of God and put it on the souls of the hearers. They take off their garments and “spread them out on the road.” The garments of the apostles are upon us; their good works are our adornment. The apostles want us to tread on their garments. And, indeed, when the ass imitates the disciples teaching and their life, it is untied by the disciples, bears Jesus, and treads on the apostles’ garments. Who of us is so blessed that Jesus sits on him? As long as he was on the mountain [of Olives], he dwelt only with the apostles. But when he begins to descend, a crowd of people runs to meet him…

The Pharisees saw this and said to the Lord, “Reprove them.” He said to them, “If they are silent the stones will cry out.” When we speak, the stones are silent. When we are silent, the stones cry out…Do you think that when the Son of man comes, he will find faith upon the earth?” We invoke the Lord’s mercy, lest we should be silent and the stones cry out. We should speak out and praise God, in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to whom is all glory and power for ages of ages. Amen.”

Origen of Alexandria (182-254) excerpts from Homily 37 on Luke 19:29-40.

On this Palm Sunday, let us cry join the crowds in shouting praise. Why? You are the colt. I am the colt. And we have been untied! So let us celebrate with the zeal of the prophet Zechariah who foretold this day would come!

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9

We are freed from the Law and untied from the bonds of sin to walk in obedience. Let us celebrate our triumphant Lord, and as it pertains to our good works and generosity, let us follow the example of the saints who have gone before us. Let us announce by our words and actions the glory of our victorious King!

“Messiah was not originally intended as a piece of Christmas music. Messiah received its world premiere on 13 April 1742, during the Christian season of Lent, and in the decidedly secular context of a concert hall in Dublin, Ireland.

The inspiration for Messiah came from a scholar and editor named Charles Jennens, a devout and evangelical Christian deeply concerned with the rising influence of deism and other strains of Enlightenment thought that he and others regarded as irreligious…

Jennens compiled and edited a concise distillation of Christian doctrine, from Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah’s coming through the birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and then to the promised Second Coming and Day of Judgment.

Jennens took his libretto to his friend George Friedrich Handel and proposed that it form the basis of an oratorio expressly intended for performance in a secular setting during the week immediately preceding Easter. “Messiah would be directed at people who had come to a theater rather than a church during Passion Week,” according to the Cambridge Handel scholar Ruth Smith…

“When he finished writing what would become known as the Hallelujah Chorus, [Handel] said, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself.” … The premiere on 13 April 1742 at Fishamble Street Musick Hall was a sensation. An overcapacity crowd of 700 people attended, raising 400 pounds to release 142 men from prison.”

George Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) as recounted in “Handel’s Messiah premieres in Dublin 13 April 1742” and 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville: Christianity Today, 2000) 113-114. Last night I listened to Messiah on my flight home from San Diego where I was training pastors for a few days. I am convinced it is the music of the throne room of heaven!

Join me in sharing with at least one person this Passion week that Handel’s Messiah was intended to be performed not merely in churches but for the world during the season of Lent and throughout the year. And even as it proclaims the gospel that sets people free from the power of sin and death, the proceeds donated from the premiere of Handel’s “gift to the world” set 142 captives free.

Don’t just share these historical facts with people. Some day this Passion Week, take time to either listen to Handel’s Messiah, or read through the Scriptures that proclaim the prophecies (part one), the passion (part two), and the promise of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ! Do this, be blessed, and share the blessing with others!

“When God made man, male and female, in His own image, He gave them dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). He made them stewards of its resources, and they became responsible to Him as Creator, to the earth which they were to develop, and to their fellow human beings with whom they were to share its riches. So fundamental are these truths that authentic human fulfillment depends on a right relationship to God, neighbor, and the earth with all its resources. People’s humanity is diminished if they have no just share in those resources.

By unfaithful stewardship, in which we fail to conserve the earth’s finite resources, to develop them fully, or to distribute them justly, we both disobey God and alienate people from His purpose for them. We are determined, therefore, to honor God as the Owner of all things, to remember that we are stewards and not proprietors of any land or property that we may have, to use the in the service of others, and to seek justice with the poor who are exploited and powerless to defend themselves. We look forward to the restoration of all things at Christ’s return (Acts 3:21). At that time, our full humanness will be restored, so we must promote human dignity today.”

John R. W. Stott (1921-2011) in his last book, entitled, The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects of Our Calling (Downers Grove: IVP, 2010) 70-71.

What have we learned this Lent? Our prayer time has blessed us with space to connect with God in a noisy world, our fasting has positioned us to feast on what is true and good, and in practicing generosity we have been training ourselves to serve as conduits of God’s material and spiritual blessings.

Moving forward, will we function as “stewards and not proprietors”? We will act like we own the place, or rather, take our place in God’s economy of all things that has been restored in through the work of Christ on the cross. Now that we know this mystery, what way of living will we choose?

He has made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. Ephesians 1:9-10

“The Christian faith, in its earliest forms, is presented as good news. That is the original meaning of the Old English word gospel…We need, I suggest, to ask afresh: What is the good news that Jesus Himself announced and told His followers to announce as well? Most people–including many Christians–never ask themselves this question…

In many churches, the good news has subtly changed into good advice: Here’s how to live, they say. Here’s how to pray. Here are techniques for helping you become a better Christian, a better person, a better wife or husband. And in particular, here’s how to make sure you’re on the right track for what happens after death. Take this advice: say this prayer and you’ll be saved. You won’t go to hell; you’ll go to heaven. Here’s how to do it.

This is advice, not news.

The whole point of advice is to make you do something to get a desired result. Now, there’s nothing wrong with good advice. We all need it. But it isn’t the same thing as news. News is an announcement that something significant has happened…

The good news is primarily that God–the generous God, the loving God–is being honored, will be honored, has been utterly and supremely honored, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.”

N.T. Wright in Simply Good News: Why the Gospel is Good News and What Makes it Good (New York: HarperCollins, 2015) 2, 4, 166.

The reason that all generosity flows from the gospel is because our generous God is at the heart of the good news. As we approach Passion Week and in perpetuity, let us proclaim the good news by lifting up Jesus, whose life, death, and resurrection, brought all glory to the Father. And as we do, may He draw all humankind to himself!

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—’Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. John 12:27-33.

“The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creations. Not to make people with better morals, but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friends, is what it really means to be a Christian. Our religion never begins with what we do for God. It always starts with what God has done for us, the great and wondrous things that God dreamed of and achieve for us in Christ Jesus.”

Brennan Manning (1934-2013) in The Furious Longing of God (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2009) 125-126.

The life-giving work of Jesus Christ on the cross and the empty tomb not only marks the climax of Lent; it is how God has chose to make all who believe “brand-new creations” (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Manning’s description of “what it means to be a Christian” is captivating. Christ has created “a community of prophets and professional lovers.” Jesus not only fulfilled the law for us and gave us one command, to love one another, He has given us the Holy Spirit to empower our obedience!

As we consider life after Lent, may two things be true of each of us. First, may our life be the rooted in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and second, may our generosity be aglow with the “peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love of God.”

“The Church is you, me, all of us. It is not the local priest alone. Christians are the people chosen to give witness, everywhere, that God is love and He is only that!”

Bernadette of Lourdes (1844-1879) in 15 Days of Prayer with Saint Bernadette of Lourdes by François Vayne (Hyde Park, New York, 2009) 70.

As we approach the Passion Week, be sure to take good notes because our greatest act of generosity for the rest of our lives is to “give witness” to the God who is love. Jesus’ work on the cross for us–making atonement for our sins–is not just good news, it’s the best news ever, because He rose from the grave, conquered sin and death, and freely offers life to all who believe (cf. John 3:16)!