Cyprian of Carthage: Community

Give us today our daily bread. Matthew 6:11

“Above all, he who preaches peace and unity did not want us to pray by ourselves in private or for ourselves alone. We do not say, “My Father, who art in heaven,” nor “Give me this day my daily bread.” It is not for himself [or herself] that each person asks to be forgiven, not to be led into temptation or to be delivered from evil. Rather, we pray in public as a community, and not for one individual but for all.”

Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258) in Lord’s Prayer as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 672.

As the year draws to a close, our tendency is to take personal stock, to make sure I have enough for myself or my family or even for my local church. We don’t tend to think about the larger body of Christ worldwide.

In some places, the global church is persecuted. Elsewhere she is starving or thirsty. In most places she lacks stewardship training because missionaries brought the gospel but left nationals dependent on outside support.

I invite you to pray the Lord’s prayer afresh with me. At the heart of us you find today’s Scripture. Read it ten times thinking of those in need in the majority world and praying it in community with them.

As a gift, if you want to grow in your understanding and practice of generosity in community, click here to download the PDF of the 30-day devotional book that Travis Shelton and I wrote entitled, Community.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever. Psalm 9:18

“Some say Boxing Day originated with the practice of giving cash or durable goods to the less fortunate — the lower classes who were busy taking care of the higher ups on Christmas day.

Others say it was the practice of giving tradespeople — people who called regularly during the year, such as the milkman — monetary tips or food items.

Yet an older legent is that Boxing Day started the tradition of opening the alms boxes placed in churches during the Christmas season. The contents of the alms boxes were they distributed amongs the poor…

The holiday’s roots can be trace to Britain where this holiday is also known as St. Stephen’s Day. It is also celebrated in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Today the holiday has evolved into an extension of Christmas. It’s antoher day to spend with the family and have a wonderful English roast dinner, while watching English football or having some family fun.”

Jessica Faust and Jacky Sach in The Book of Christmas: Stories, Poems, and Recipes for Sharing That Most Wonderful Time of the Year (New York: Kensington, 2002) 8-9.

Interesting how times have changed. The holiday once know for caring for the poor has sadly become another day to take a break from work, enjoy family, eat a feast together, and watch sport.

Don’t get me wrong. I hope my Aussie mates enjoy their Boxing Day Test (famous annual cricket match in Melbourne). And I trust my friends in the UK, Canada, and New Zealand enjoy special day too.

But, coupled with the fun, the fellowship, and the feasting, I hope they remember those in need. Our human tendency is to forget the needy and focus on ourselves. Notice how the tradition changed over time.

It went from opening alms boxes to giving tips to people who provide regular services to giving workers who had to work on the holiday a day off and a proverbial bonus in a box.

What I see in this progression is that the church started as the hub of giving and distributed it to those forgotten by society. History tells us the church became corrupt linked to money.

The corruption in the church contributed to the shift from the church aiding the poor to the individual serving as the dispenser of gifts. In time, the people just shared a tip or bonus with those who served them.

So, regardless of where you find yourself in the world today, if you celebrated Christmas yesterday, I want to invite you to open the alms boxes and share with the poor today by making a gift a local charity or to GTP.

Why GTP? GTP multiplies faithful stewards and mobilizes peer accountability groups (like ECFA in USA) to build trust and grow local giving in 133 countries. And notice the connection between trust and giving.

In the history of Boxing day, when trust eroded in the church, it caused people to give only through personal trust relationships, namely, people they knew. GTP helps churches and ministries follow standards to rebuild that trust.

In 2024 we have invitations to help form coalitions to launch peer accountability groups like ECFA in USA in Hong Kong, Albania, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ireland, Cayman Islands, Nepal, Czechia and Slovakia.

GTP plans to aid the needy, not with handout that creates external support dependency, but with a hand up to build them as disciples in places like China, Malawi, Ukraine, and India in the new year.

And to activate a major grant we need to hit our year-end funding target. The current need is $166,433. Please take a moment today to open the alms boxes and make a Boxing Day gift to GTP. Click here to give.

We not only grow faithful and generous stewards among the poor. Our work in teaching church and ministry workers to follow consistent standards in administration and governance rebuilds trust and local giving.

As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Matthew 10:7

“The Lord is near, have no anxiety. The Lord is always near to all who call upon His help with sincerity, true faith, sure hope, and perfect love. He knows what you need, even before you ask Him. He is always ready to come to the aid of all His faithful servants in every need. There is no reason for us to be in a state of great anxiety when evil threatens, we must remember that God is very near us as our Protector.”

Ambrose of Milan (339-397) in Sermon 92 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 685.

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.”

Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) in The Prayer of Saint Francis: A Message Of Peace For The World Today by Leonardo Boff (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2001).

I received an email from National Christian Foundation yesterday that referenced this prayer. I checked and, remarkably, I had never posted it as a Daily Meditation in 14.5 years. So, I did some research.

Boff explains the history of this prayer and how it was attributed to Francis.

In short, it was said to embody the Franciscan rule of life from Scripture and their ideals for living out their faith. As it summed up the way of thinking and living, it was posted widely with his picture. From there it stuck as his prayer or his prayer for peace.

Consider how this relates to Christmas and to you and me.

It’s Christmas eve. The waiting is just about over. Soon the angels will proclaim the words of today’s Scripture. They will share the good news of peace on earth made possible through Jesus who had come to save humankind from our sins.

We who have been saved, have been saved for a purpose.

Francis would likely concur that our purpose is to serve as instruments of the peace of Christ. Read the prayer again. Make it your prayer today. So that the reason Christ came will be fulfilled in your life and through your living, giving, serving, and loving.

Happy Christmas eve. Now go be an instrument of the peace of Christ.

Though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him. Job 13:15a

“It is a great comfort in tribulation if, in times of adversity, we recall the gifts our Creator has given us. Nor will overwhelming sorrow break us, if we quickly call to mind the gifts that have sustained us.”

Gregory the Great (540-604) in Job as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 665.

As we approach the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, it may not be a joyous occasion for everyone. Seriously, think of every person you know who has experienced tribulation, adversity, or sorrow this year. Now imagine their pain at this moment.

Send them a note, a text, or an email. Help lift their sights to our Creator. Share the grace you have received in hard times. And remind them that when we “call to mind the gifts” that God has showered upon us, that have sustained our lives, it helps us hold on to hope.

And if you want a gift to share with them, download the ebook called Flourish. Jenni and I wrote it with our friend Linda Maris. Download it here (along with other ebooks for free from GTP) in English, Ukrainian, and Russian. Share it with anyone you think needs help holding on to hope.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

“Why He should ask us to pray, when He knows what need before we ask Him, may perplex us if we do not realize that our Lord and God does not want to know what we want (for He cannot fail to know it) but wants us rather to exercise our desire through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what He is preparing to give us.

His gift is very great indeed, but our capacity is too small and limited to receive it. That is why we are told: Enlarge your desires, do not bear the yoke with unbelievers. The deeper our faith, the stronger our hope, the greater our our desire, the larger will be our capacity to receive that gift, which is very great indeed.”

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) in Sermon 92 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 662.

Exercise. We must exercise our desire through prayer to grow our capacity to receive. This positions us to grow in generosity. Ponder that. If faith is like a muscle that only grows when we exercise it.

I am getting a workout right now. Perhaps you feel the same way. Waiting on the Lord is stretching!

My current situation as President & CEO of GTP has really got me exercising my desire through prayer. And then as I think about it, I realize that my faith needs to grow to prepare me for the rigorous program work in 2024.

Where are you right now? Are you waiting for a gift but God needs to grow your capacity first?

If so, join me in prayer. It grows us. “The deeper our faith, the stronger our hope, the greater our our desire, the larger will be our capacity to receive that gift, which is very great indeed.”

While my focus has been asking God to supply provision to GTP, I am learning to pray for God to grow my capacity to receive through prayer. The exercise is changing me. I pray it shapes you too.

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked with favor on the lowly state of His servant. Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name; indeed, His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. He has come to the aid of His child Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, according to the promise He made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” Luke 1:46-55

“Let Mary’s soul be in each of you to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Let her spirit be in each to rejoice in the Lord. Christ has only one mother in the flesh, but we all bring forth Christ in faith. Every soul receives the Word of God if only it keeps chaste, remaining pure and free from sin, it’s modesty undefiled. The soul that succeeds in this proclaims the greatness of the Lord, just as Mary’s soul magnified the Lord and her spirit rejoiced in God her Savior.”

Ambrose of Milan (339-397) in Sermon 92 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 645.

I know one of the things I am getting for Christmas. I can’t wait to get it in my stocking. I am getting a 1000 lumen rechargeable flashlight.

What does this have to do with today’s post or our generosity? Hang with me. As I ponder the incarnation with the saints, I look at Mary.

Her soul magnifies the Lord. That means with all of her body and spirit she wanted to make the Lord bigger, to bring Him into the light so all could see Him.

She was an ordinary girl chosen by God to accomplish an extraordinary task. She set aside her plans for her life and embraced God’s mission for her.

She had to remain chaste, pure and free from sin, keeping her modesty undefiled, as Ambrose notes. She had to set herself apart for God’s purposes.

When we do this, we are like a 1000 lumen rechargeable light. When it is charging, it is like Mary, set apart for a purpose and remaining pure.

Then, when the time comes for it to do it’s job, it will shine. It will magnify whatever is shines on. That’s my prayer for each of us, to have souls and spirits like Mary.

You are on this round ball called “earth” for a purpose, to magnify the Lord. Use every ounce of your strength and every penny of your resources for that purpose.

And then set yourself apart to allow God to recharge you daily so you bring 1000 lumens to the dark corners and difficult places of the world.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2

“Now there are many kinds of wealth and a variety of grounds for rejoicing; every man’s treasure is that which he desires. If it is based on earthly ambitions, its acquisition makes men not blessed but wretched. But those who enjoy the things that are above and eternal rather than earthly and perishable, possess an incorruptible, hidden store… Through these, with the help of God’s grace, even earthly possessions are transformed into heavenly blessings.

It is a fact that many people use the wealth which is either rightfully left to them or otherwise acquired, as a tool of devotion. By distributing what might be superfluous to support the poor, they are amassing imperishable riches… What they have discreetly given cannot be subject to loss. They have properly placed those riches where their heart is; it is a most blessed thing to work to increase such riches rather than to fear that they may pass away.”

Leo the Great (c. 400-461) in Sermon 92 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 624.

As you come together on the grounds of rejoicing on the holiday known as Christmas, remember to choose the blessed rather than the wretched path.

Setting our affections and desires on earthly things will only leave us empty. Setting them on things above will always leave us enriched.

And when we focus on storing up as much as possible in heaven, we not only discreetly and properly place it in the most secure spot; wealth becomes a tool of devotion.

On the wretched path, that means wealth becomes a tool of destruction. We must not let that happen to us. Instead, we resolve to show our devotion through our generosity.

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:12-14

“Even though the poor are often rough and unrefined, we must not judge them from external appearance nor from the mental gifts they seem to have received. On the contrary, if you consider the poor in the light of faith, then you will observe that they are taking the place of the Son of God who chose to be poor… Since Christ willed to be poor, he chose for Himself disciples who were poor. He made Himself the servant of the poor and shared their poverty.

He went so far as to say that he would consider every deed which either helps or harms the poor as done for or against Himself. Since God surely loves the poor, he also loves those who love the poor…It is our duty to prefer service of the poor to everything else and to offer such service as quickly as possible…”

Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) in Letter 2546 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 607.

Jesus has visited the house of Pharisee for a meal when He says these words. Consider the implications. He’s with someone who has given his life to knowing the Scriptures and following them to the letter.

In that setting Jesus say not to invite not family, friends, and rich neighbors to such gatherings. He says to bless those who cannot repay you. And He personally promises to repay those who do at the resurrection of the righteous.

Vincent echoes this and adds color to it. These people will be rough and unrefined. Their appearance or mental gifts will not draw us to them. Think about it. Jesus chose a manger over a mansion. He willed to be poor.

So I want to issue you a challenge this Christmas. Estimate how much you will spend on family, friends, and giving to your rich neighbors, that includes your local church as most churches have abundant resources. Look at that amount.

Now look at how much you are spending to build up and help out those who cannot ever repay you. Some poor might be local to you. Others may represent the least of these in the poor corners of the world.

Don’t the give them a hand out that creates dependency. Give them a hand up that builds disciples. Notice, Jesus does not say to give them a bag of food. He wants you to invite them in and treat them like family.

Join me and GTP in serving majority world workers. They are poor. When we serve them God sees. We treat them like family and they go from crying for help to running locally sustained ministries not dependent on outside support.

Want to meet some of them? Join me for GTP Monthly Global Prayer Hour tomorrow at this link at 3am Pacific / 4am Mountain / 5am Central / 6am Eastern Time on Wednesday 20 December 2023 at this link. Meeting ID: 820 2592 7614. Passcode: PRAY.

And I promise you this. If you include GTP in your year-end giving by clicking here, which resources us to build up 6,706 stewards in 133 countries, you can expect repayment at the resurrection of the righteous.

And pray with us for God to supply $173,000 to activate that 5-year, $1.25 million capacity building grant from 2024-2028. The need was $250,ooo, a few weeks ago so we are making progress, but we have a long way to go.

And so cool, a worker we trained in our “When Money Goes on Mission” courses this last month was so grateful, she and her husband pitched in $50 from Belize. Gifts have come from 25 countries.

Don’t rise to the challenge because I said so. Do it because when Jesus was at a festive party, He gave us these clear instructions. Give generously. Help the rough and unrefined who cannot repay you. Join me in treating them like family.

Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you. Proverbs 3:28

“Not even night should interrupt you in your duty of mercy. Do not say: “Come back and I will give you something tomorrow.” There should be no delay between your intention and your good deed. Generosity is the one thing that cannot admit of delay… The grace of a good deed is doubled when it is done with promptness and speed…

Let us visit Christ whenever we may; let us care for him, feed him, clothe him, welcome him, honor him, not only at a meal, as some have done, or by anointing him, as Mary did, or only by lending him a tomb, like Joseph of Arimathea, or by arranging for his burial, like Nicodemus… or by giving him gold, frankincense, and myrrh, like the Maji…”

Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390) in Sermon 14 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 600-601.

As we ponder the intersection of generosity and the incarnation, Gregory exhorts us to have no delay and adds eloquently that “the grace of a good deed is doubled when it is done with promptness and speed.”

Let’s think about that in light of the biblical characters he mentions.

Mary did not hesitate in anointing him. Joseph and Nicodemus acted fast when it was not popular. And the Maji saw the start and made haste to bring their gifts to the newborn king.

We must ask ourselves: Do we delay or do we act with such promptness and speed?

As the CEO of a ministry that largely serves poor Christian workers worldwide, I identify with those in need. At GTP, we have learned not to give them handouts which create dependency but a hand up to build them up as a disciples.

Please give generously locally, without delay, and consider GTP in your global giving.

Our year end need was over $250,000 weeks ago and now is closer to $184,000. We praise God for the progress and yet the need is still great. Click here to give. Join us in prayer for people to give with promptness and speed.

Remember, if we hit this target it positions us to activate a $1.25 million 5-year grant in 2024. It’s huge.