Dominic Savio: We serve a generous God

“Nothing seems tiresome or painful when you are working for a master who pays well; who rewards even a cup of cold water given for love of Him.”

Dominic Salvo (1842-1857) as recounted in Quotable Saints ed. Ronda Chervin, 116.

“The Church of the Lord is built upon the rock of the apostles among so many dangers in the world; it therefore remains unmoved. The Church’s foundation is unshakable and firm against assaults of the raging sea. Waves lash at the Church but do not shatter it. Although the elements of this world constantly beat upon the Church with crashing sounds, the Church possesses the safest harbor of salvation for all in distress. There is a stream which flows down on God’s saints like a torrent. There is also a rushing river giving joy to the heart that is at peace and makes for peace.”

Ambrose of Milan (337-397) Letter 2 cf. Witness of the Saints: Readings in the Liturgy of Hours, ed. Milton Walsh (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2012) 359.

This morning I chose to read Ambrose because he is one of the four doctors of the Western Church, and renown as “the Pastoral Doctor” in church history. As I begin teaching my first D.Min. course today at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, I desire to be a pastoral doctor.

I was moved by Ephesians 2 this morning and by the perspective of Ambrose on it. I felt led to remind my students and each of you of the stewardship of the pastor: “the Church possesses the safest harbor of salvation for all in distress.”

Additionally, I loved his statement that “there is a stream which flows down on God’s saints…giving joy to the heart that is at peace and makes for peace” because God granted me the priceless gift of peaceful fly fishing with my son in some alpine streams this month.

Thus, as a bonus today, enjoy this three-minute video Sammy made after one of our outings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGm-F2AiJRQ

6. Sometimes two opposing mistresses have possession of a man, avarice and luxuriousness. Avarice says, “Keep;” luxuriousness, says, “Spend.” Under two mistresses bidding and exacting diverse things what can you do? They have both their mode of address. And when you begin to be unwilling to obey them, and to take a step towards your liberty; because they have no power to command, they use caresses. Their caresses are more to be guarded against than their commands.
What says avarice? “Keep for yourself, keep for your children. If you should be in want, no one will give to you. Live not for the time present only; consult for the future.”

On the other hand is luxuriousness. Live while you may. Do good to your own soul. Die you must, and you know not when; you know not to whom you shall leave what you have, or who shall possess it. You are taking the bread out of your own mouth, and perhaps after your death your heir will not so much as place a cup of wine upon your tomb; or if so be he place a cup, he will drink himself drunk with it, not a drop will come down to you. Do well therefore to your own soul, when and while you can.

Thus avarice did enjoin one thing; “Keep for yourself, consult for the future.” Luxuriousness another, “Do well to your own soul.”

7. But O free man, called unto liberty, be weary, be weary of your servitude to such mistresses as these. Acknowledge your Redeemer, your Deliverer. Serve Him, He enjoins easier things, He enjoins not things contrary one to another.

I am bold further to say; avarice and luxuriousness did enjoin upon you contrary things, so that you could not obey them both; and one said, “Keep for yourself, and consult for the future;” the other said, “Spend freely, do well to your own soul.” Now let your Lord and your Redeemer come forth, and He shall say the same, and yet no contrary things. If you will not, His house has no need of an unwilling servant.

Consider your Redeemer, consider your Ransom. He came to redeem you, He shed His Blood. Dear He held you whom He purchased at so dear a price. Thou dost acknowledge Him who bought you, consider from what He redeems you. I say nothing of the other sins which lord it proudly over you; for you were serving innumerable masters. I speak only of these two, luxuriousness and avarice, giving you contrary injunctions, hurrying you into different things. Deliver yourself from them, come to your God.”

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) from Sermon on the New Testament 36.6-7.

I often read Augustine’s sermons on Sunday mornings, especially days like today (at Grace EFC in Fridley, MN) when I am preaching, so that I hear and learn first before opening my mouth to teach others.

“Do you think you will remain forever here on earth, or that you are here only to amass temporal goods? Oh clearly, you were not created for that…It is true that God created the world for man, with the intention that he uses the goods he finds in it, but not to enjoy them as if they were his final end…He created him for a higher end, Himself.”

Francis de Sales (1567-1622) in A Treasury of Quotations on the Spiritual Life from the Writings of St. Francis de Sales (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2003) 45.

“Generosity is not something God wants FROM you, as much as something He wants FOR you.”

Louie Giglio, pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta, GA, tweet on 5 July 13.

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 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. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:27-38

“God is generous to all people, generous (in the eyes of the stingy) to a fault: he provides good things for all to enjoy, the undeserving as well as the deserving…Only when people discover that this is the sort of God they are dealing with will they have any chance of making this way of life their own…

In fact, this list of instructions [contained in Luke 6:27-28] is all about which God you believe in—and about the way of life that follows as a result. We must admit that large sections of Christianity down through the years seem to have known little or nothing of the God Jesus was talking about. Much that has called itself by the name of Jesus seems to have believed instead in a gloomy God, a penny-pinching God, a God whose only concern is to make life difficult, and salvation nearly impossible…

This God is different. If you lived in a society where everyone believed in this God, there wouldn’t be any violence. There wouldn’t be any revenge. There wouldn’t be any divisions of class or caste. Property and possessions wouldn’t be nearly as important as making sure your neighbor was all right. Imagine if a few people took Jesus seriously and lived like that. Life would be exuberant, different, astonishing. People would stare. And of course people did stare when Jesus did it himself…

His whole life was one of exuberant generosity, giving all he’d got to give to everyone who needed it…

There are two particularly astonishing things about these instructions [in Luke 6:27-38]. First, their simplicity: they are obvious, clear, direct, and memorable. Second, their scarcity. How many people do you know who really live like this? How many communities do you know where these guidelines are rules of life? What’s gone wrong? Has God changed? Or have we forgotten who He really is?”

Tom Wright Luke for Everyone (London: SPCK, 2001) 74-75.

I dedicate today’s meditation to my wife Jenni as today is our 21st wedding anniversary. About four years ago, I said to her:

“I think we need to repent. I think we need to turn from the cultural Christianity around us, and just try to live out the red letters of Jesus, especially the one’s we’ve been ignoring related to money. We store up treasures on earth, precisely the place He says not to store them. We don’t give to everyone who asks of us, but test them to see if they are worthy of our aid. And the Jesus I meet in the Gospels is radically more generous. And I believe He’s calling us to a new way of life.”

Her reply, much like Wright’s scarcity comment above was this:

“Who lives this way?”

Then there was a long pause pondering these things in her heart…

“Ok, let’s do it.”

We don’t have everything all figured out, but letting go of money is the best decision we ever made. As Mark 10:27-31 states, life in Jesus is 100x better than the life mammon offers, and He promises us great difficulties too, but our reward is Christ himself coupled with a host of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and provisions from His hand. Many of you who are reading this are like family to us. We are so thankful for you.

If our story pricks your heart, perhaps sit with the Lord in silence. You too may need to repent, which simply means: change directions. It may be time to abandon cultural Christianity. You too may need to cease trying to find life in what mammon promises, and experience life in Jesus. But don’t take our word for it. Consider the simplicity of the red letters, and do what Jesus says.

“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest thing right and doing it all for love….Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God.”

Thérèse de Lisieux (1873-1897) as recounted in 365 Saints: Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of their Lives ed. Woodeene Koenig-Bricker, April 22 reading.

“Do something good for someone you like least today.” [cf. Luke 6:35]

St. Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) as recounted in Quotable Saints ed. Ronda Chervin, 115.

“The man of charity spreads his money about him, but the man who claims to possess both charity and money is a self-deceived fool.” [cf. Luke 12:20]

St. John Climacus (c. 525-606) as recounted in Quotable Saints ed. Ronda Chervin, 105.

“The American way of thinking is that we are self-sufficient and that we are responsible for all that we possess. The Bible provides a different perspective, of course: that we are merely the overseers of God’s earthly domain, responsible for taking care of His resources until Jesus returns. Getting people to understand and accept our role as managers rather than creators of wealth and resources is a crucial element toward encouraging good stewardship.” [Matthew 25:14-30]

George Barna in How to Increase Giving in Your Church (Ventura: Regal, 1997) 81.