Augustine of Hippo: Support the companions of your pilgrimage

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 1 John 4:20

“Love of God is the first to be commanded, but love of neighbor is the first to be put into practice… Since you do not yet see God, you merit the vision of God by loving your neighbor. By loving your neighbor you prepare your eye to see God… In loving your neighbor and caring for him you are on a journey. Where are you traveling if not to the Lord God, to Him whom we should love with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind? We have not yet reached His presence, but we have our neighbor at our side. Support, then, this companion of your pilgrimage if you want to come unto the presence of the One with whom you desire to remain forever.”

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) in John as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 556.

As I think about today’s Scripture, and these words from Augustine coming off my birthday yesterday, it gives me a renewed sense of focus for my next year.

Support the companions of your pilgrimage.

Think of the implications of this. All of us, whether we admit it or not, are simply sojourners traveling through life for a short time. While will we do with the time given to us.

Jesus wants us to show our love for God by showing love to our neighbor.

Since you are reading this, you (along with me) have not yet reached the presence of God so there is still time to support our neighbor. So, what do we get to do? Support fellow sojourners.

In plain terms, the greatest commandment, as it is often described, to love our neighbor as ourself says this: If you want to spend eternity with God, then show support the companions of your pilgrimage.

I want to thank everyone for their love and encouragement on my birthday.

I also appreciate those who showed support by giving to GTP. The need is $199,158 by 31 December 2023. Click here to give. Again, if we hit the mark, it positions GTP to activate a 5-year, $1.25 million capacity building grant.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27

“There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not seek to save others… Each one can help his neighbor if only he is willing to do what is in his power… The selfish are fit only for punishment. Such were those foolish virgins who were chaste, comely, and self-controlled, but did nothing for anyone. So they are consumed in the fire. Such are those men who refuse to give Christ food. Notice that none of them is accused of personal sins…only of not helping anybody else.”

John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) in Acts of the Apostles 20 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 558.

It’s been cold this week in Denver, so when I read this text, I felt the chill in his words with extra emphasis. Ponder this idea: “There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not seek to save others.”

Notice that the Scriptures tell us to do the good that we can.

Many see the problems of this world as so great that they don’t even get started in trying to make a difference. God does not want us to solve problems so much as to act obediently rather than selfishly.

It’s a powerful idea to see the selfish chaste consumed by fire.

But I believe Chrysostom makes the correct assessment, because in the biblical sense of the word, what we do as a result of what we believe, shows the reality of our faith. I pray this stirs you to action.

You may hear that GTP needs $198,000 by year-end or some other charity a similarly large number.

Don’t do nothing because you think your $100 or $1,000 will not make a difference is no reason to not give. Give something today that is within your power to act to GTP (click here) or some other ministry.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

“We must endure and persevere if we are to attain the truth and freedom we have been allowed to hope for; faith and hope are the very meaning of our being Christians, but if faith and hope are to bear their fruit, patience is necessary… Patient waiting is necessary if we are to be perfected in what we have begun to be, and if we are to receive from God what. we hope for and believe… Paul warns us not to grow weary in good works through impatience…”

Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258) in Fortunatus as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 541.

We cannot grow in generosity without patient waiting. Paul calls us to wait until “the proper time” to reap a harvest related to our doing good and our generosity.

I turn 56 today (it’s my birthday), and as I think about this next year, I am asking God to help me endure and persevere and to wait patiently for Him. I don’t want to grow weary in doing good but grow stronger.

And today I learned how: patient waiting. And this is where God has me related to my GTP work: waiting patiently.

Right now, I am praying for about $200,000 by year-end for GTP to activate a huge grant, $1,250,000 over five years, to grow our capacity to serve the unanticipated global demand for our programs.

Maybe consider making a gift today of $56. Click here to give. I see the impact of this ministry so I am unashamed to invite everyone I know to give. And right now urging everyone to pray for Roger Lam ministering with GTP in Nigeria.

Regardless, join me in submitting to the perfecting work of God by resolving to wait patiently for Him. Remember that if we fail to wait and take matters into our own hands it will only wear us out.

In quietness and trust with patient waiting we find new strength, see the salvation of the Lord, and reap the harvest of good works..

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. Luke 1:26-38

“By meditating upon the incarnation, our devotion is kindled, and by remembering the example of Mary, we are encouraged to lead a life of virtue.”

Venerable Bede (672-735), a monk at the Northumbrian Monastery in Homily 4 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 538.

To kindle our devotion to generous living, giving, serving, and loving, let’s reflect on the example of Mary today. What virtues do you see in her life. Reply with a virtue that you see. I’d love to hear from you. I see at least three.

Firstly, I see humble obedience in the face of fear. The news left her perplexed and afraid. Some translations say she was greatly troubled. Obedience would change her life and impact all humanity. Rather than let fear stop, she chose to walk in obedience.

Secondly, I see submission to the will of the Father in Heaven. Her classic concluding statement teaches us to surrender our will and desires to the Father in Heaven as directed in the Lord’s prayer and modeled for us by this greatly troubled teenage girl.

Thirdly, I see faith. Don’t you love her question: How can this be? God calls us to trust Him to do the impossible. Our role in these situations is to believe. We get to trust God to do what only He can do and walk in faith.

May pondering the example of Mary as you think about the incarnation this Advent kindle your devotion afresh and propel you to generous living, giving, serving, and loving with humble obedience, submission, and faith. And what other virtues do you see?

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of His roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:1-2

“From this seed, this shoot, this flower, surely the fruit of blessing comes forth. It has come even to us; first as a seed it is planted through the grace of pardon, then germinated with the increase of perfection, and finally it flowers in the hope of the attainment of glory.”

Baldwin of Forde, Archbishop of Canterbury, a.k.a. Baldwin of Canterbury (1125-1190) in Treatise 7 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 537.

I love doing research because I learn new things and discover new people. I had never read about Baldwin.

In short he studied God’s Word and theology, grew deep in his faith, set himself apart to God as a monk. From there, he preached many sermons. They got wide attention. The king insisted he serve as archbishop.

Let’s look at today’s Scripture and the words of Baldwin and consider their connection to us today.

The shoot from the stump of Jesse, that Isaiah speaks about is Jesus, the Christ of Christmas. The branch that grows from His roots represents the church. That’s you and me.

Look what rests on Jesus: the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. Everything the branch needs to grow comes from Jesus.

Now consider the words of Baldwin. From Jesus, blessing comes. First we receive grace, then he works in our lives to “the increase of perfection” which just means maturity, and we get the hope of glory.

I want to push you again to share the Christ of Christmas with one person this year.

Sure, I hope you give generously this year end, and include GTP on your giving list, but also please share the gift of this shoot, this root, from which the fruit of all blessings comes with someone. As I said yesterday, “ask God for an opportunity and share boldly.”

Yesterday, I asked God to open doors to get to know our neighbors as a basis for encouraging their faith or pointing them to Jesus.

He did it! Winter weather and sickness caused only three couples or families to show up at the neighborhood holiday party. One family follows Christ. It seems the other does not. We became friends and learned that the fathers sings.

So we plan to go to his Christmas concert this Friday night and will see where the relationship goes from there.

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

“This is the reason why the Word assumed a body that could die…Because of the Word dwelling in that body, it would remain incorruptible, and all would be freed forever from corruption by the grace of the resurrection.”

Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296-373) in his work, On the Incarnation of the Word, as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 527.

Today I pivot from recent posts from Mother Teresa to reflections from famous saints in church history on facets of the incarnation. It seemed fitting to start with Athanasius for a post from his classic work on the topic.

He answers a question that might come up in Christmas conversations. It’s the ‘Why’ question. Why would God become flesh and become baby Jesus. He cam to remain incorruptible in order to make a way to free us from corruption.

But how do we do this? At parties people talk about war, inflation, and many other problems spreading fear. You can simply reply emphasizing that the world is broken and Jesus came to free us from our brokenness and make us whole.

And the work that started with the incarnation (Christmas) finds completion by grace in the resurrection (Easter). So for those who go to church on Christmas and Easter, they hit to bookends of the work of Jesus. It’s a start.

But if they stop there, they miss the grace available to us the other 50 weeks of the year. This Advent season share the gift of the grace and truth of Jesus with one person. Ask God for an opportunity and share boldly.

This just might be the greatest gift you will give anyone in this season of gift-giving,

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 5:35-36

“I will give you one more beautiful example of God’s love. A man came to our house and said, “My only child is dying! The doctor has prescribed a medicine that you can only get in England.” We have permission from our government to store life-saving medicines that are gathered from all over the country.

We have many people who go from house to house and gather leftover medicines. And they bring them to us and we give them to our poor people. We have thousands of people who come to our dispensaries. While we were talking, a man came in with a basket of medicines. I looked at that basket: right on the top was the very medicine the man needed for his dying child! If it have been underneath, I wouldn’t have seen it.

If he had come earlier or later, I would not have remembered. He came just in time. As I stood in front of that basket, I thought, “There are millions of children in the world, and God is concerned about that little child in Calcutta. To send that man at that very moment! To put the medicine right on the top so I could see it.” See God’s tender concern for you and for me!”

Mother Teresa (1910-1997) in In the Heart of the World, ed. by Becky Benenate (New York: Fine Communications, 1997) 79-80.

As I continue through this awesome Mother Teresa book, today’s story reminded me of the story of when Jesus healed the daughter of Jairus. The word in the Scripture that touched me was that Jesus was ‘overhearing’ them.

The truth, as illustrated by the story of this poor man in Calcutta whose child was dying. I am confident God overheard his prayers and provided exactly what he needed in a miraculous way. Ponder the implications.

God overhears you and your situation. He sees and knows you. He loves you. And he can provide exactly what you need when you need it. And if waver, He sees that too and says, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

Let me bring this home to present day. I had a zoom with a young man, David Hernandez, from Colombia yesterday. He has visions of launching a camp to teach children about Jesus. He’s worked my friend Peter Fiorello at Black Rock.

He wants to build a Black Rock in Colombia. Think about the implications of that. This is a real life example of how GTP empowers God’s worker to touch and reach thousands for Jesus.

He said he had no hope of doing it until he met the camp administrators and board members from Puerto Montt, Chile, that Carla Archila and I trained back in 2021. They spoke of how our coaching and training has grown the ministry.

When you support GTP, you help us serve David Hernandez and 6,686 stewards like him in 133 countries. A member of our team will meet monthly with David, he will take our on demand courses, and launch a camp like in Chile and USA.

And we will help him do it. When you give to GTP now you help us activate the largest grant in GTP history. We need to raise $215,942 by 31 December 2023. If we do it positions us to launch efforts with a $1.25 million 5-year grant.

God is always overhearing the cries of the poor and needy. We hear them too. We don’t give handouts that create dependency. We give a hand up that builds disciples like David in Colombia. Give generously at this link today.

Help us activate this grant which will position us to add staff to empower more workers like David. So far this year we have received gifts from workers in 22 countries. Those we have serve are pitching in. Will you?

They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. Matthew 14:20-21

“In Calcutta, we cook for nine thousand people every day. One day a sister came and said, “Mother, there’s nothing to eat, nothing to give the people.” I had no answer. And then by nine o’clock that morning a truck full of bread came to our house.

The government gives a slice of bread and milk each day to the poor children at school. But that day — no one in the city knew why — all the schools were closed suddenly. And all the break came to Mother Teresa. See, God closed the schools.

He would not let our people go without food. And this was the first time in their lives, I think, that these people had such such good bread and so much of it. This way you can see the tenderness of God.”

Mother Teresa (1910-1997) in In the Heart of the World, ed. by Becky Benenate (New York: Fine Communications, 1997) 75-76.

When I read this story from Mother Teresa, I could not help but think how 5,000 hungry people ate and were satisfied in Bethsaida (Jewish territory) with 12 baskets leftover (sending a message that Jesus is enough for all Jews).

And then I pondered Jesus feeding 4,000 in the Decapolis region (Gentile territory) with seven baskets leftover (implying with the number of completeness that Jesus is enough for all peoples). Here’s where I landed.

Jesus did these miracles to show tenderness to specific audiences that He cares for them, both Jew and Gentile. But these miracles don’t tell us what Jesus did but what He does because He’s still alive and working miracles.

So when I read that 9,000 poor got bread on this day, my mind raced to the fact that Jesus Himself supplied that day for the poor. He cares about the poor and helps those who care about the poor.

What’s the lesson today? Serve the people God has called you to serve. Trust Him to supply and maybe sometimes to do miracles. Give thanks for His tender care. And celebrate that Jesus is enough for everyone. He’s all we need!

In the song, “O Holy Night” it says in one of the verses, “He knows our needs. To our weakness He’s no stranger.” Give thanks this Advent that Jesus is enough, that He knows our needs, and trust Him to supply and care for you.

Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Acts 10:30-31

“For some time now, we have had a small community of sisters in Guatemala. We came there during the earthquake of 1972 that caused so much damage. The sisters of Guatemala came to love and serve, as they do everywhere.

They told me something beautiful about a very poor man who was picked up from the city streets and brought to one of our homes. He was very sick, disabled, hungry, and helpless. But somehow, with the help he received, he got well again.

He told the sisters, “I want to go and leave this bed for somebody else who may need it as much as I needed it when I came here.” Now he has a job. Every time he gets a little money, he remembers the other disabled people who are in the home and comes to see them.”

He always brings something for them. Even with the little he has, he always brings something. This is the great gift of our poor people: the love they have.”

Mother Teresa (1910-1997) in In the Heart of the World, ed. by Becky Benenate (New York: Fine Communications, 1997) 73-74.

God remembers our giving. And those touched by His matchless love remember to give to others.

How is your memory? Do you remember what God has done for you? Do you remember those who have helped you?

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10

“The other day, two friends of mine came to see me. They brought me a large amount of money to use for feeding the poor. I asked them, “Where did you get all this money.”

They answered, “We were married two days ago, but before that we had decided not to have a large wedding banquet. As a witness of our love for each other, we wanted to bring this money to Mother Teresa.”

This is the greatness of young people! They are so generous! I asked them further. “Why did you do this?” They answered, “We love each other so much and we wanted to share our love with other people, especially with those you are serving.”

Mother Teresa (1910-1997) in In the Heart of the World, ed. by Becky Benenate (New York: Fine Communications, 1997) 71-72.

The generosity of this young couple demonstrated a witness of their experience of God’s love in a radical way.

Many times, my wife, Jenni, and I, saw our kids do unthinkably generous things while growing up. We committed to not try to discourage their radical, countercultural living, giving, serving, and loving, but rather, throw gas on it.

How might you do something generous this Advent season that would reflect your Christian witness?

When the Apostle Paul wrote the church in Rome, he said to be devoted to each other in love, like this couple was devoted to Mother Teresa and the poor. And notice how the couple honored others above themselves.

This practice of honoring others above ourselves is an area for growth for all of us. God help us.