Abbot Pimenion: Faith must be lived out

“Faith is to live ever in loving kindness and in humbleness, and to do good to one’s neighbor.”

Abbot Pimenion (desert father) saying as recounted in The Quotable Saint ed. Rosemary Ellen Guiley (New York: Visionary Living, 2002) 82.

We had an unforgettable visit to Trinity EFC and the Skowhegan Miracle Homeless Shelter last night. Today, I am preaching at Faith EFC in Waterville, Maine today. Our “Mainer” brothers and sisters model loving kindness and doing good like few Christ-followers on the planet.

“Experience has taught me that if the poor are treated well and given decent ways of gaining a livelihood, they are on the whole virtuous; but on the other hand, if they are neglected, their goodness degenerates into evil.”

Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870) excerpt from his autobiography as recounted in The Quotable Saint ed. Rosemary Ellen Guiley (New York: Visionary Living, 2002) 206.

What happens when you open the doors of your church to the poor, feed them, house them, tell them about Jesus, help them find jobs, and show them His love 365 days a year?

You see them come to faith in droves and bring countless others into the kingdom. That’s a summary of how God has been and continues to work at the Skowhegan Miracle Homeless Shelter and Trinity EFC in Skowhegan, ME.

“If you see the needy and bring him home, your limbs are the weapons of justice.”

Ambrose of Milan (339-397) as recounted in Silencio, a resource of Leadership Transformations, Inc., 20th edition.

My closing charge this week on “Life in the Economy of God” at Camp Spofford is this: “Serve the Lord, the Lost, and the Least.” Amazing isn’t it that when we do this, our humble service tears down the spiritual strongholds and structures of injustice and leads the lost and hurting to the only safe home, the presence of the Father! Few understand this better the folks at the Skowhegan Miracle Homeless Shelter in Maine, where my family is headed next on our journey through New England.

This song blessed me during worship this week at Camp Spofford. I pray it inspires you to live with unswerving trust in God’s unfathomable love, which is the basis for abundant generosity. Enjoy it on YouTube: Your Love is Strong by Jon Foreman

Heavenly Father, You always amaze me
Let Your kingdom come in my world and in my life
Give me the food I need
To live through today

And forgive me as I forgive
The people that wrong me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window
The birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune
Or out of place

I walk to the meadow
And stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl
On her wedding day

So why should I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Your love is, Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is, Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is, Your love is
Your love is strong

The Kingdom of the Heavens
Is now advancing
Invade my heart
Invade this broken town

The Kingdom of the Heavens
Is buried treasure
Would you sell yourself
To buy the one you’ve found?

Two things You told me
That You are strong
And You love me
Yes, You love me

Your love is, Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is, Your love is
Your love is strong

Your love is, Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is, Your love is
Your love is strong

Our God in Heaven
Hallowed be Thy name
Above all names
Your kingdom come
Your will be done

On earth as it is in Heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us weary sinners
Keep us far from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons

“A person who trusts that he can find rest in the delights and abundance of earthly things is deceiving himself. By the frequent disorders of the world, and at last by its end, such a one is proven convincingly to have laid the foundation of his tranquility on the sand.

But all those who have been breathed upon by the Holy Spirit, and have taken upon themselves by the very pleasant yoke of the Lord’s love, and following His example, learned to be gentle and humble in heart, enjoy even in the present, some image of the future tranquility.”

Venerable Bede (672-735), a monk at the Northumbrian Monastery, in Homily on the Gospels as recounted in The Quotable Saint ed. Rosemary Ellen Guiley (New York: Visionary Living, 2002) 125.

Stuff can’t satisfy while the Spirit can. Earthly things don’t compare to God’s eternal presence, peace, and power at work within us. Today I am teaching at Camp Spofford on the Spirit from Romans 12:3-8 and 14:17. How has the Spirit gifted you to minister within the Body of Christ with righteousness, peace, and joy?

“Since you can’t do good for everybody, first care for those who by chance of place or time or any other circumstance are closest to you. When our Lord told us not to invite our friends, brothers, or kinsmen to our banquet, but rather the poor and disabled, he was not forbidding us to invite kinsmen as such, but rather forbidding the kind of inviting that wants to be invited back, and stems from greed rather than charity.”

Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologica as recounted in The Quotable Saint ed. Rosemary Ellen Guiley (New York: Visionary Living, 2002) 24.

Today at Camp Spofford we are considering together what it means to put God’s resources to work on mission in a manner that reflects our love for God and love for our neighbor. Here Aquinas offers us this sobering statement which really makes me think: Does my generosity only go to people who can make returns to me, and thus, if I look at it honestly, really stem from my own desire for gain? Or do I, like Jesus instructed in Luke 14:15-24, seek out people who cannot “pay me back” so as to avoid having greed motivate my generosity? Aquinas suggests that Jesus calls each of us to extend charity to needy neighbors who can offer nothing in return? Who would that be for you?

“God, my God, because you are mine, I lack nothing.”

Gertrude the Great (1256-1302) as recounted in The Quotable Saint ed. Rosemary Ellen Guiley (New York: Visionary Living, 2002) 1.

Do you live with confidence in God’s abundant provision? That’s the focus of my teaching at Camp Spofford today from Luke 9, 10, and 22. When Jesus sends out the 12 (Luke 9) and the 72 (Luke 10) He instructs them to take nothing because they lack nothing. God is their Provider. Then of course just before the cross He reminds them what to do with God’s provision (Luke 22): buy a sword, which means, put it to work though you will face opposition.

I am sharing a Psalm with each message for reflection and meditation to help people saturate their souls with the biblical truths we are discussing. Today Psalm 23 is the foundation for the truth proclaimed by Gertrude. I pray it blesses you today too!

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23

If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Luke 6:29-30

“If [charity] is hard to give to anyone who asks, it is very much harder to let what belongs to us be taken without asking for it back. I say that it is hard, but I should really say that it seems hard, for “the yoke of the Lord is sweet and his burden is light.” The moment we accept it, we feel how light it is.”

Thérèse de Lisieux (1873-1897) in The Story of a Soul as recounted in The Quotable Saint ed. Rosemary Ellen Guiley (New York: Visionary Living, 2002) 23.

Thérèse is spot on! While the instructions of Jesus may seem hard to follow, when we obey them yoked to His side, He is sweet to lighten the burden for us. Additionally, we show the world that while we enjoy and use things, we don’t need them to find our peace and joy in life, because we have Him.

Pray for the families at Camp Spofford this week where I am teaching. We are looking at many of the “red letter” teachings of Jesus like the text above. Though His teachings may seem hard, are they really? My hope is that all will see that while many people scramble for and grasp tightly too all that they think they need, we can seek God first and live openhanded because we are yoked to the One who is everything we need.

“Let the lovers of this world keep their possessions, though they be as great as they desire; for me, my God alone is sufficient.”

Joseph Cafasso of Turin (1811-1860) as recounted in The Quotable Saint ed. Rosemary Ellen Guiley (New York: Visionary Living, 2002) 204.

Once we think we own possessions, they own us. They also promise to satisfy our desires, but they cannot (cf. Psalm 49). All this is why we must be careful to treasure our triune God, who alone is sufficient for us.

The call in Scripture to love God and not the world (cf. 1 John 2:15) is not intended to make life miserable for us, empty, or even boring. It’s actually the pathway to freedom, satisfaction, and life.

Yesterday, we flew to Newark, checked into a hotel in Times Square thanks to Hilton points, and we enjoyed dinner and a show. What struck us here is the billboards and jumbo TV’s. They shout messages in this epicenter of commercialism about what you need.

We made a priceless memory together as a family, while not buying into the world’s messages to us. Today we head to family camp at Camp Spofford in Spofford, NH, where I will speak this next week on “Life in the Economy of God” and I’d appreciate your prayers.

“Your God is gentile and mild. He does not command that while you are a pilgrim on earth you must utterly forgo creaturely consolations; indeed, He created all things to serve you. But he did command that you use them with moderation, sobriety, temperance, that you share them cheerfully with the needy, and that your possessions not be your master but you theirs.”

Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) scholar and lecturer, in The Mind’s Ascent to God by the Ladder of Created Things as recounted in The Quotable Saint ed. Rosemary Ellen Guiley (New York: Visionary Living, 2002) 204.

Downsizing helps put things in perspective. We use this. We don’t use that. Throw this away. Share that with someone who can use it. The process is simultaneously freeing and exhausting.

How do we accumulate so much stuff? God provides the resources to buy stuff, and we are attentive to enjoyment. We are not always as sober on the sharing side. We tend to be intoxicated by and attached to stuff or we fear for the future and stockpile it, hence the charge to master, rather than be mastered by, possessions.

Bellarmine offers instruction here that echoes Jesus and Paul: use creaturely consolations with sobriety and share them cheerfully. Jesus enjoyed life in community and lived as simply as anyone; He did not even have a place to lay his head. Paul enjoyed fellowship with the saints too, and he traveled lightly and missionally through life.

For the rest of us, the sober use and cheerful sharing of creaturely consolations requires intentionality. We must daily choose this lifestyle. When we do, we build community, reflect Christ’s love, and our decision helps us remain detached from the destructive power of consumerism.