Sondra Ely Wheeler: Do you have a purse that won’t wear out?

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:33-34

“Significantly though, the reasons for this act [giving to the needy] have to do not with the claims of those needing alms, but with the disciples themselves. Giving their possessions away constitutes providing themselves with treasure in heaven, where it is safe from earthly contingencies.”

Sondra Ely Wheeler in Wealth as Peril and Obligation: the New Testament on Possessions (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995) 64.

We often think about giving to the poor only in terms of the need of the recipients. Wheeler rightly emphasizes the greater need related to the giver. If you as a giver want a purse that won’t wear out and a treasure that will not fail, store up treasure in heaven through generous giving. And don’t do it because I said so! These instructions are from Jesus.

Today I have meetings with leaders of the Kern Foundation in Waukesha, Wisconsin. I am thankful for this family that seeks to give away all their wealth to build God’s Kingdom. To do this, they have had to be very intentional. Do you have an intentional plan linked to your generosity?

“We resolve to renounce waste and oppose extravagance in personal living, clothing and housing, travel and church buildings. We also accept the distinction between necessities and luxuries, creative hobbies and empty status symbols, modesty and vanity, occasional celebrations and normal routine, and between the service of God and slavery to fashion. Where to draw the line requires conscientious thought and decision by us, together with the members of our family.”

Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism, Evangelical Commitment to Simple Lifestyle (March 1980) “Personal Lifestyle” paragraph 5.

We returned home from Guatemala and will begin packing to move over the next ten days or so. This has prompted many conversations as a family. What possessions will we give away, sell, or take with us? This prompted me to research statements such as this one for discussion.

I will not start helping the family move until Sunday because my return home is more like a layover. I am off to Chicago today to teach at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, so join me in praying for my wife and teens as they start the packing process without me. Also click here to enjoy a four-minute video recap of our trip to Potter’s House.

He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. Psalm 113:7 NLT

“The driving force for Christian witness in the context of transformational development is to be sure that credit is given where credit is due. We must take great care that we point not to our own sacrifices or professionalism, and not to the effectiveness of our development technology, but to the fact that the good deeds that create and enhance life in the community are evidence of the character and activity of the God of the Bible, the God whose Son makes a continuing invitation to new life and whose Spirit is daily at work in our world.”

Bryant Myers in Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development revised and expanded (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2011) 244.

Transformational development is a term that describes God’s work among the poor where He is lifting the needy from the garbage dump. When we participate with Him in this context, our driving force must always be to bring glory to God so that the world may see and know that the God of the Bible is alive and at work.

Too many ministries attribute their results to their creative strategies and their stability to financial sustainability models. Such thinking may reveal that their trust could be misplaced. They may be depending on themselves and money to make things happen and, consequently, giving credit to someone or something other than God.

God’s plan for ministry to the poor has not changed. It always has been and always will be the same. He desires His people to enjoy and openhandedly share the resources He has already entrusted to them so that their good deeds will reflect His love to the world. As God sustains and constantly replenishes this work, all the world sees, and God gets the glory.

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. Deuteronomy 15:11

“The emphasis here is not on the fact of poverty but instead, as in so many other passages, on loving and helping–always helping. As we all know, there are plenty of poor and needy people in our land, and God expects us to be openhanded toward them…

God’s vision is a big one, and his plan is to build a team of followers to live out that vision. There is a place for you on that team. In fact, there is a “no cut” rule, so you can rest assured that there is a role for you to play.”

Roland Hoksbergen in Serving God Globally: Finding Your Place in International Development (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012) 6.

As today is our last full day in Guatemala, this quote is timely. I am teaching, my wife is helping plan for VBS among the Treasures and our two teens are building bunk beds in shantytown homes. With openhanded generosity we will empty ourselves thanks to the strength and supplies that God provides.

Tomorrow we will board a plane and head back to Denver. We are handing the baton of service here to friends from Indiana who arrived over the weekend, the Rathbun family. God will undoubtedly raise up others to follow them. Will you be play a role in God’s big vision here or somewhere else among the poor through loving and helping?

“The antidote to the poison of greed is generosity, says Paul in his letter to the Christians of Philippi caught in a downward spiral of “selfish ambition or vain conceit” (Philippians 2:3). Paul challenges the Christians to get into the mind of Jesus, an incredibly generous Jesus…

Jesus gave up the comforts and joys of triune eternal companionship to enter into the messiness of living with sinful, broken humanity—the hypocrisy, violence, sickness and greed. Jesus came to share a new vision for living with humility, compassion and mercy.

Jesus demonstrated His generosity by getting involved in making things right here on earth. Wherever Jesus encountered human need, people received more than they hoped for. The disabled paraplegic received restored mobility and a relationship with God. The hemorrhaging woman was healed in body and restored to dignity in community. Jesus did more than expected…

Jesus lived generosity in His incarnation, His ministry and His death. Paul says, Let this generosity of Jesus soak into your mind and permeate your worldview. Let it transform your selfish and greedy behavior. Be generous like Jesus was generous (Philippians 2:1-11).”

Clarence Rempel in “The Generosity of Jesus” in The Mennonite: A monthly magazine for members of Mennonite Church USA, 17 March 2009.

Visiting the destitute in the shantytowns of the garbage dump in Guatemala gives my family a glimpse of what Jesus did when he left the comforts and joys of heaven to enter the messiness of earth.

He did not send help, but became help for us. He made things right and always did more than expected. This is yet another reason why we love serving here…because when we do, we imitate the generosity of Jesus.

“Generosity…is a learned character trait that involves attitude and action—entailing both the inclination and actual practice of giving liberally. Generosity is not a haphazard behavior but a basic orientation to life. It entails not only a moral good expressed but also certain vices rejected, such as selfishness, greed, fear, and meanness. Generosity also involves giving not just anything, but rather those things that are good for others. What exactly generosity gives can vary: money, possessions, time, attention, aid, encouragement, emotional availability, and more. But it always intends to enhance the true wellbeing of the receiver.”

Christian Smith in the Big Questions Online blog post “What Makes Us Generous?” on 27 May 2014.

Why do we love serving at Potter’s House in Guatemala? Many reasons…but one big one is that our brothers and sisters here (and the Treasures they serve) are receptive to learning about biblical stewardship and growing in their practice of Christian generosity. They are learning a new orientation to life.

“The biggest mistake I make with money is asking God to give me a lot of it. You don’t often hear people say they mess up with their finances in this way…But the problem is, money isn’t always what God’s provision looks like. When we only ask for money, we’re taking a very narrow view of how God might choose to provide for us…Maybe it will be with money. Maybe it will be something better…

Too often, we’ve set up money as our solution rather than God. The danger in doing this, is that when it comes to praying for God’s provision, what we can actually end up doing is not praying for God at all. We instead pray for money, man’s solution rather than God’s solution. And this so often makes us blind to how God truly is providing for us.”

Neal Samudre in Relevant blog post entitled “Should We Ask God For Money? Why we often get it wrong in praying for God’s provision” on 28 May 2014, brought to my attention by one of my former students, Peter Goehring.

Do we need more money or more God? This idea that Neal Samudre touches on, that we have been pleading for the former when we really need more of the latter, is among the central themes of the book I recently co-authored, The Choice: The Christ-Centered Pursuit of Kingdom Outcomes.

Today I am doing an all-day seminar for ministry leaders in Guatemala City based on The Choice. Pray with me that the Holy Spirit will help them make the decision to pursue God’s solution rather than man’s solution to the challenges they face.

When any of us think money is the answer to our problems, we adopt man’s solution. To make matters worse, this decision causes us to becomes slaves to mammon, and it blinds us to how God is already providing for our needs.

You know that our Lord Jesus Christ was kind enough to give up all his riches and become poor, so that you could become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 CEV

“I left the comfort of My heavenly home to be born in a dirty stable. I gave up all of My heavenly riches and became poor so that you could become rich. When you trust Me as your Savior, I give you the best riches of all–better than all the gold in the world! I give you life that will go on forever and ever.”

Sarah Young shares the perspective of our Lord Jesus Christ toward each of us in Jesus Calling: Bible Storybook (Nashville: Tommy Nelson, 2012) 151.

We have great news to report from the garbage dump in Guatemala City. As God’s Treasures, the destitute poor, have been learning that they possess the greatest riches of all in Christ Jesus, or in a word “life”, they are finding joy in the realization that they actually have something of great value to share.

Over 1,000 out of about 6,000 children that live in the shantytowns have found hope in God and are in Bible club discipleship groups. It’s exciting! Just like in the days of the early church, revival is spreading rapidly among the 11,000 Treasures.

“To be able to tell you of the love story of God’s mercy for the poorest of the poor, it is a grace of God…I am glad to say that with my whole heart I offer you to share in these works of love.”

Mother Teresa in speech to the “Thirtieth National Convention of the National Council of Catholic Women” in Las Vegas in 1960 as recounted in Come Be My Light ed. Brian Kolodiejchuk (New York: Doubleday, 2007) 204.

There are few things more rewarding for my whole family–Jenni, Sammy, Sophie and me–than to see with our own eyes God’s mercy to the poorest of poor (the Treasures) at Potter’s house in the garbage dump of Guatemala City. It is truly a grace of God. With the same heart as Mother Teresa, we invite you to share in these works of love.

As we leave for Guatemala today for a week of service, one way you can “share in these works of love” is by sending a tax-deductible gift that will bless the Treasures. To make a gift, simply visit their website and click on the donate page, and in the special instructions section, mark “Hoag Family Trip” and they will share a report of our ministry and service.

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18

“Every person must be helped out of his need. For whoever starves and suffers want of the most necessary things of daily life endures great pain…Whoever knows of the need of such a person and does not help them out commits a great sin.”

Shepherd of Hermas (c. 140-155) in Similitudes 10:4-2-4. This early church pastor of Hermas describes the posture Christians must have toward those who are suffering. For us, we think of the destitute in the garbage dump of Guatemala City as well as the struggling or sick person in modern America.

Take some time to pray and ask God to help you identify a person or group of people that you will help “out of their need” from what you have. Don’t do this alone. Do it with a spouse or friend, or as a family or group of families. Why? We must not love with words but with actions.

If you want to partner with us to bless a poor family in the garbage dump of Guatemala City, a “prayer walk” bag of supplies that includes rice and other necessities costs $22 or Sammy and Sophie will build bunk beds from a kit with a $200 price tag.

To make your gift, simply visit their website and click on the donate page, and in the special instructions section, mark “Hoag Family Trip” and they will be sure your tax-deductible gift covers the supplies related to our visit. Thank you.