Alexander Schmemann: Everything is a gift for the life of the world

“All that exists is God’s gift to man, and all exists to make God known to man, to make man’s life communion with God. It is divine love made food, made life for man. God blesses everything He creates, and in biblical language, this means He makes all creation the sign and means of His presence and wisdom, love and revelation.”

Alexander Schmemann (1921-1983) in For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy (Crestwood: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2000) 14.

Tonight Jenni and I will begin attending a seven-week video series with couples at our church called “For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles” inspired, at least in part, by this classic book. Schmemann’s thesis is that everything is a gift from God to man to be enjoyed and shared for the life of the world. The video series presents this idea with contemporary genius! Schmemann does it with celebration and caution: spelling out the implications of both living and not living in accordance with this reality.

Schmemann adds “as long as we live after the fashion of this world, as long, in other words, as we make our life an end in itself, no meaning and no goal can stand, for they are dissolved in death. It is only when we give up freely, totally, unconditionally, the self-sufficiency of our life, when we put all its meaning in Christ, that the ‘newness of life’ – which means a new possession of the world – is given to us. The world then truly becomes the sacrament of Christ’s presence, the growth of the Kingdom and of life eternal” (90).

“To die to self is to set aside what we want in this moment and to focus instead on loving God with everything we’ve got and valuing others as highly as we value ourselves (Matt. 22:37-39). This moves us away from self-centeredness and closer to becoming open-hearted followers of Christ who care deeply for others. It’s much easier to pay attention to the concerns, interests, and needs of people when our own interests no longer consume us.”

Jan Johnson in “Discovering Much More: Moving Away from Self-centeredness to Caring Deeply for Others” in Christian Leader magazine, January/February 2015.

What consumes your thoughts? I’m serious. What stuff dominated your mind yesterday? The day before? God desires us to think about Him and those around us. Do we? Why or why not? And if we are honest with ourselves, what do our answers to these questions reveal about us?

“I’ve discovered that it is always inconvenient to love my neighbors. I’ve learned that every person God brings into my life has unsurpassable worth, and that they are worth Jesus dying for. It is irrelevant whether or not they help increase attendance or help us meet our monthly giving. They are my neighbors, and I am called to love them. The church is not a business where we evaluate how our time affects the bottom line. There is only one bottom line for the church–to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves.”

John Richardson in “God calls us to love our neighbors even when it hurts” article in Christian Leader magazine, January/February 2015.

This California pastor is spot on! Far too many churches measure “the bottom line” in terms of money and budget, when it should be associated with loving God and loving our neighbors. Before the new year gets rolling too fast, let us pause and ask ourselves these questions: What’s my church’s bottom line? Should we find ourselves understaffed, the Master said to pray for laborers (cf. Luke 10:2). Should we find ourselves in need, He said to ask the Father for what we need (cf. Matthew 7:7-11). In the meantime, we must focus on what He asked us to focus on: loving God and loving our neighbors.

“The profane is the opposite of the sacramental. “Profane” means flat, empty, one-dimensional, exhausted. The market ideology wants us to believe that the world is profane–life consists of buying and selling, weighing, measuring and trading, and then finally sinking down into death and nothingness.

But Jesus presents and entirely different kind of economy, one infused with the mystery of abundance and a cruciform kind of generosity. Five thousand are fed and 12 baskets of food are left over–one for every tribe of Israel. Jesus transforms the economy by blessing it and breaking it beyond self-interest. From broken Friday bread comes Sunday abundance. In this and in the following account of a miraculous feeding in Mark, people do not grasp, hoard, resent, or act selfishly; they watch as the juices of heaven multiply the bread of earth. Jesus reaffirms Genesis 1.

When people forget that Jesus is the bread of the world, they start eating junk food–the food of the Pharisees and of Herod, the bread of moralism and of power. To often the church forgets the true bread and is tempted by junk food. Our faith is not just about spiritual matters; it is about the transformation of the world. The closer we stay to Jesus, the more we will bring a new economy of abundance to the world.”

Walter Brueggemann in “The Liturgy of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity” from The Christian Century, March 24-31, 1999: 342-347. This whole article is worth reading.

While I quoted a different excerpt on 27 June 2012, I am thankful that long time friend, Brian Fort, at the Mission Increase Foundation recently urged me to read it again. I actually am heading over there today to meet with Bryan and Suzanne Chrisman of National Christian Foundation with whom he shares office space here in Denver.

We must cease following the market ideology of scarcity and, for our own good, stop eating junk food! Why? Our existence in God’s economy is abundant and there’s more than enough of the bread of life for everyone to go around (cf. John 6:35)!

“Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God — the rest will be given.”

Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) in A Gift for God (New York: Harper Collins, 1996) 33-34. I’m thankful my friends at Generous Church brought this quote to my attention in their 7 January 2015 blog post, and I located the source in this classic book.

What does it mean to raise funds of love, kindness, understanding, and peace? It’s making the Kingdom of God a higher priority than anything else, including what we will eat, what we will drink, and what we will wear (cf. Matthew 6:25-34)!

“The Christian movement must be the living, breathing promise to society that it is possible to live out the values of Christ–that is, to be a radical, troubling alternative to the power imbalances in the empire. In a world of greed and consumerism, the church ought to be a community of generosity and selflessness. In a host empire that is committed to marginalizing the poor, resisting the place of women, causing suffering to the disenfranchised, the Christian community must be generous to a fault, pursuant of justice, flushed with mercy.”

Michael Frost in Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006) 15-16. I’m thankful my friends at Generous Church brought this book to my attention in their 7 January 2015 blog post. I read excerpts online and just purchased a copy.

Today I am at the Evangelical Free Church of America office in Minneapolis. I am thankful for the privilege of rallying pastors and leaders in this movement to live as generous and selfless exiles in the empire. We experience elements of God’s kingdom now, but much of it we have not grasped yet. So what should we do? We must show the world the radical, generous love of God.

“There are basically two kinds of people: givers and takers. A taker’s gonna take because at the core of their being they are convinced there will never be enough. In other words, they are practical atheists. They really don’t believe in God. A giver’s gonna give because at the core of their being they are convinced there will always be more than enough. They believe in the abundance of God. We all want to think of ourselves as givers. Thinking it doesn’t make it so. Wise living means generous giving. It’s how God created the world to work. It’s how God created us to live.”

J.D. Walt is Chief Sower at www.seedbed.com and today’s Meditation comes from his 11 January 2015 daily text entitled “A Taker’s Gonna Take. A Giver’s Gonna Give”. I subscribe to this daily text and commend it to you: it’s spiritually rich and free for everyone.

Here’s the Scripture on which J.D. based today’s post: Proverbs 11:24-25 (NIV).

One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

So are you a giver or a taker? In other words, do you live like you believe in God or not?

“It is a good, learned, and wise steward who takes the resources in his or her hands and lets them become God’s resources. Be it little or large — a widow’s mite or a king’s treasure — from the hand of a steward to the hand of God, resources become powerful tools and symbols in the kingdom of God. What do you have in your hand?”

Lee Crist in “What’s In Your Hand?” article from Light and Life Magazine, December 2014.

While our culture beckons us to focus on the things we do not have, Crist reminds us that faithful stewards consider what we do have, and he reminds us to put that stuff to work. Since it’s a new year, perhaps it’s a good time for each of us to consider what is in our hands and ask ourselves what we are doing with it.

“All [God’s] gifts point us back to him. Or at least that’s how it should work. The gift should cause us to love and worship the giver more deeply. But all too easily God’s gifts to us end up being His greatest competition.

Imagine for a moment that you’re a parent out shopping for a present to give your child. You’ve heard him talking, in tones of awe, about the latest gaming console. You see it at the store, and the thought of the smile on his face puts a smile on yours. It’s not inexpensive; in fact it’s somewhat of a sacrifice. But you want the best for your child.

When you get home and present the gift, your child offers a shout, a tight hug, and a dozen frenzied thank-yous. It was worth every penny for this moment. You stop by his room a couple of times and watch him setting it up and playing it with utter concentration. You ask him a question about the game, and he says, “Wait–can’t talk,” and then seems to forget you’re there.

Later you ask him to go out to dinner with the family, and but he begs off, wanting only to stay and play with his new game. Later on he starts to tell you about the add-ons and games his friends have, arguing that their version is much better than his. Not only do you not see him as much as before, but he seems less content and happy than before you bought this console. How could such a nice gift go so wrong?

It happened because the gift became more important than the giver. The beauty was not meant to be so much in the thing itself, but the love that brought it about.”

Kyle Idleman in God’s at War: Defeating the Idols that Battle for Your Heart (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013) 96. I’m thankful my friends at Generous Church brought this book to my attention in their 7 January 2015 blog post. It’s a great read.

This scenario that Idleman presents speaks powerfully and challenges each of us ask this question: What gifts has God given me that compete for my heart, my affection, and my attention? Or in plain terms, what’s my gaming console?

Whatever our answer, we must give thanks for God’s love that brought the gift to us and posthaste dismantle its power. We do this by resolving to enjoy and share it — celebrating the generosity of the Giver — lest it take residence in our hearts and lives as an idol.

If you are looking for a declaration for your your family or ministry to affirm, consider this piece that individuals and organizations are adopting around the world.

The Generosity Declaration

My (Our) commitment to biblical generosity. I (We) affirm that:
• God is indescribably generous. I (We) see this in his creation and experience it in his redemption plan through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ (John 3:16).
• God is creator, sustainer and owner of all things (Psalm 24:1). He has supplied His infinite resources to me (us) to steward for His Kingdom purposes, including to reach the ends of the earth for the glory of His name (Luke 12:42-48; Revelation 7:9-12).
• Just as Jesus lived a truly and perfectly generous life to serve and save people, it remains fundamental therefore, that Christians model biblical service, generosity and stewardship (Mark 10:45; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 2 Corinthians 9:8-9).

I (We), therefore, commit myself (ourselves) to foster a culture of biblical generosity and stewardship that will transform individuals and communities as I (we):
• Recognize that generosity is manifested in giving funds, resources, time, talents, gifts, prayer and my (our) very presence.
• Practice holistic stewardship, generous living, and gracious financial giving while encouraging these virtues within my (our) spheres of influence through modeling, teaching and equipping.
• Engage openly with other Christians and their networks in a global movement in which the whole church lives out and takes the whole gospel to the whole world as effective and generous stewards.

Name _____________________________
Date _____________________________

Source: www.generositymovement.org

You may also sign up for the free online Generosity eDevotional at: www.generositymovement.org/category/resources/study_guides