Imitating God’s Generosity
One of our former landlords was a successful businessman who made lots of money and was proud of it. He paid his own way wherever he went and never wanted to receive anything for free. He often pointed this out, and it was clear that he saw it as a moral issue, something that made him a good, admirable person. He always paid his own way, and he was suspicious that others were trying to take advantage of him, that others were trying to get something for free at his expense. Just as he didn’t want to take anything without paying for it, he didn’t want anyone else to get something they hadn’t paid for with their own money.
I was thinking about him recently, and Pope John Paul II came to mind as an obvious contrast. George Weigel tells of him as a young priest: "The new curate’s personal charity soon became apparent. Determined to live simply, he gave away what he thought he didn’t need. When an old woman complained that she had been robbed, he gave her the pillow and comforter some parishioners had just given him, somewhat to the donors’ disgruntlement. As for Father Karol, he went back to sleeping on a bare bed" (George Weigel, Witness to Hope, p. 93). This pattern continued after he became archbishop in Poland. He didn’t have a bank account or personal money, since his needs were met by the archdiocese. "If a priest or parishioner gave him a gift of money during a parish visitation, he wouldn’t even open the envelope, but gave it away the same day to someone in need" (p. 201). He believed that God calls us to give freely to others, that only in this way do we become fully ourselves. He said, "It is through the free gift of self that one truly finds oneself" (Pope John Paul II: In My Own Words, p. 48).
The first man jealously grasped after things he felt entitled to, and he dehumanized himself in the process. The more I talked to him the more I was aware of his impoverishment as a person. John Paul II was constantly giving; we might feel hesitant to give him a gift, because he’d probably give it away as soon as we were out of sight, not because he despised the gift but because he saw someone in greater need than himself. He emptied himself, and in doing so he became more.
This is rooted in the Gospel: "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39). Grasping after everything we think we deserve will eventually destroy us. It’s in the way of self-emptying that we enter into the fulness for which we were created. It’s only in the way of self-emptying that we become fully human. Here’s John Paul II once more: "The Gospel contains a fundamental paradox: to find life, one must lose life; to be born, one must die; to save oneself, one must take up the cross. This is the essential truth of the Gospel, which always and everywhere is bound to meet with man’s protest. Always and everywhere the Gospel will be a challenge to human weakness. But precisely in this challenge lies all its power" (p.32).
In God’s created order, buying and selling, earning our own way, are not terribly important. We do these things as part of life in this world, but we need to realize that these things are part of a world that is passing away. We heard these words today in our Old Testament reading: "Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isaiah 55:1). At the very center of creation is a free gift; God gives and we receive freely from His bounty. The ability to make a living, a stable society in which to carry out our occupations, sufficiently good health to do our work, all these things are given to us. We need to always keep that in mind as we conduct business in this world; the very ability to do this comes to us as a gift. We emphasize that the Gospel is offered free of charge, but this truth is not limited to the Gospel. All of creation is built on the free gift of God. We can see something of this spirit in today’s Gospel reading.
Notice, first, that Jesus freely gives His time to this crowd that has just interrupted a private retreat. Jesus and His disciples had learned of the death of John the Baptist, and we see in the parallel account in Mark’s gospel that the Twelve had also just returned from a missionary trip. Jesus says to them, "‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest awhile,’ [then Mark explains] for many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat" (Mark 6:31). They need to be able to process what happened while they were out preaching, and they need time to come to terms with John’s death. This is really not a good time to interrupt. They’re in need of a break from the constant demands of the crowds.
And yet, Jesus responds to these uninvited guests with compassion. He lays aside His plans for a retreat and begins ministering to them in their need. He sees this interruption as the Father’s call. Often the things we see as interruptions are things God is calling us to respond to by laying aside whatever it is we’re trying to accomplish and paying attention to what He is doing. Listen to these words by a French author on responding to God in the present moment: "O, glorious celebration! Eternal bounty! God forever available, forever being received. Not in pomp or glory or radiance, but in infirmity, in foolishness, in nothingness. God chooses what human nature discards and human prudence neglects, out of which he works his wonders and reveals himself to all souls who believe that is where they will find him" (Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment, p. 20). "God chooses what human nature discards and human prudence neglects," inconvenient interruptions, disturbances to our schedules and plans, lack of resources, weariness with human neediness. We experience God as we respond to His call in the present moment..
By the end of the day, the disciples have had enough. After all, they were intent on having some time alone with Jesus and everything fell apart as soon as they left the boat. So they say to Jesus, "send the crowds away." Jesus responds by telling them, "no, that’s not necessary; you feed them." It’s clear that they don’t have much, certainly not anywhere near enough to feed several thousand people. But Jesus doesn’t call them to give enough; He calls them to give what they have.
Of course, if they give what they have they won’t have enough to eat themselves. Their giving puts them at risk, and it also seems pointless; they’re going to be hungry and they won’t have accomplished anything toward feeding so many people. Jesus is calling them to empty themselves, not only in a spiritual sense, but in a very concrete, tangible way. He’s calling them to give up their possessions in a way that truly puts them at risk. He’s calling them to give freely without worrying about the consequences.
Following Jesus in the way of self emptying will often seem imprudent. He may call us to do things that don’t seem sensible, that aren’t cost-effective. On another occasion, Jesus and His disciples were in the temple, watching people put money into the treasury. "Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came, and put in two copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him, and said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living" (Mark 12:41-44). Jesus praises her, but what she is doing doesn’t make any sense. She’s not giving enough to make a difference; her offering is a drop in the bucket compared to those of the rich. And now she doesn’t have enough to meet her own needs. Why does Jesus praise her? Because He doesn’t value things in the way that we do; He calls us to give what we have, not what we think is needed to remedy the particular situation we’re faced with.
The same thing is true of the early Church in Jerusalem. Luke says about this church: "And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need" (Acts 2:44-45). Did they really need to do this? We don’t read that this was the pattern in other churches. It’s not recommended in any of the epistles. I’ve even heard preachers claim that this was a mistake, that they over-extended themselves in their new zeal, because later in Acts we see other churches sending them help during a time of famine. The claim is that if they had held onto their property and acted with greater prudence, they wouldn’t have been in need of help. But there’s not a hint of this in the Book of Acts. Luke suggests that their generosity was a direct result of the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And he also sees the help provided by other churches later in the book as another instance of the work of the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t seem overly interested in cost-effectiveness. He calls us to follow Jesus in the way of self emptying, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense.
So the disciples go ahead and do what He’s telling them to do. They contribute their handful of food, five loaves of bread and two fish, and Jesus multiplies it to feed the whole crowd. They give the little they have, which is barely enough for themselves, and Jesus multiplies it so that there is more left over in the end than there was to begin with. In giving of their limited resources, they experience God’s abundance.
Anne and I worked with Operation Mobilization on the ship Logos in 1982 and 83. There were 25 or so nationalities onboard the ship, and the cultural differences often led to conflict. Besides this, there was a lot going on all the time. There was all the work of keeping a ship in condition, dealing with port authorities, and working together with local believers. We had conferences onboard, a large book shop, evangelistic teams on shore, and there were also training programs for those involved in the ministry. It was easy, in the midst of all this, to lose sight of what we were doing. And I was often startled, as we were wrapping up the ministry in one port and getting ready to move somewhere else, to hear what God had done in the lives of the local people. We could see nothing but trouble and weakness and conflict, but God ministered to people in ways that went beyond anything we were doing or saying. I suspect that it may have been something like this for the disciples. They offered what they had, which was not much, and Jesus multiplied their offering with an abundance that took them by surprise. They may have felt just as empty and drained in the end as they had felt when they came to Him and said, "send the crowds away." But God had multiplied their small offering to meet the needs of this large crowd; by making use of their loaves and fish, He had graciously included them in this great thing He was doing.
Jesus is the One who multiplies the loaves and the fish, but before He does that, the disciples need to give what they have. He calls them to empty themselves, to step out in faith and take a risk, before He works the miracle. God gives us a part in the work He is doing, but that part is not easy or free from risk. It involves emptying ourselves, which often leaves us feeling empty. We want Him to work in a way that feels better. We’d like to feel His power surging through us, with an immediate certainty that we’re being used. But the truth is that God very often works in a way that we can’t feel. All we’re aware of is our own lack of resources, five loaves and two fish; why can’t someone else give? After all, there are plenty of people out there who could give ten times as much and hardly notice the difference. We barely have enough for ourselves. But Jesus calls us, like the disciples, to give not what we think is needed, but what we have; the sufficiency is not in our giving but in Him. He is "able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work" (2 Cor. 9:8).
Francis and Edith Schaeffer started a ministry to young people in Switzerland called L’Abri, which means "shelter," or "refuge." People from all over the world found refuge there and still do. The Schaeffers also gave freely to people who came to them in need asking for help. One day Edith said to Francis, "do you know that we’re getting a reputation for giving handouts, and some of these people are taking advantage of us?" He responded, "I’d rather be taken advantage of than to turn away someone who is really in need." His idea was that it’s better to err on the side of generosity than on the side of protecting our possessions.
God, in both His creation and redemption, has given to us freely from His abundance. Jesus emptied Himself – became poor – to restore us to life in the Father. Self-emptying generosity is of the very essence of God, and as people made in His image it’s central to our humanness. The choices we make in using our resources are moving us in two possible directions: we’re either emptying ourselves, using our resources to bless others (like God does) or we’re grasping after the best for ourselves, making sure we get everything we think we deserve. May God enable us to use His gifts in ways that we will not be ashamed of when we stand in His presence.
Matthew 14:13-21
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
Shiloh Lutheran Church
One of our former landlords was a successful businessman who made lots of money and was proud of it. He paid his own way wherever he went and never wanted to receive anything for free. He often pointed this out, and it was clear that he saw it as a moral issue, something that made him a good, admirable person. He always paid his own way, and he was suspicious that others were trying to take advantage of him, that others were trying to get something for free at his expense. Just as he didn’t want to take anything without paying for it, he didn’t want anyone else to get something they hadn’t paid for with their own money.
I was thinking about him recently, and Pope John Paul II came to mind as an obvious contrast. George Weigel tells of him as a young priest: "The new curate’s personal charity soon became apparent. Determined to live simply, he gave away what he thought he didn’t need. When an old woman complained that she had been robbed, he gave her the pillow and comforter some parishioners had just given him, somewhat to the donors’ disgruntlement. As for Father Karol, he went back to sleeping on a bare bed" (George Weigel, Witness to Hope, p. 93). This pattern continued after he became archbishop in Poland. He didn’t have a bank account or personal money, since his needs were met by the archdiocese. "If a priest or parishioner gave him a gift of money during a parish visitation, he wouldn’t even open the envelope, but gave it away the same day to someone in need" (p. 201). He believed that God calls us to give freely to others, that only in this way do we become fully ourselves. He said, "It is through the free gift of self that one truly finds oneself" (Pope John Paul II: In My Own Words, p. 48).
The first man jealously grasped after things he felt entitled to, and he dehumanized himself in the process. The more I talked to him the more I was aware of his impoverishment as a person. John Paul II was constantly giving; we might feel hesitant to give him a gift, because he’d probably give it away as soon as we were out of sight, not because he despised the gift but because he saw someone in greater need than himself. He emptied himself, and in doing so he became more.
This is rooted in the Gospel: "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39). Grasping after everything we think we deserve will eventually destroy us. It’s in the way of self-emptying that we enter into the fulness for which we were created. It’s only in the way of self-emptying that we become fully human. Here’s John Paul II once more: "The Gospel contains a fundamental paradox: to find life, one must lose life; to be born, one must die; to save oneself, one must take up the cross. This is the essential truth of the Gospel, which always and everywhere is bound to meet with man’s protest. Always and everywhere the Gospel will be a challenge to human weakness. But precisely in this challenge lies all its power" (p.32).
In God’s created order, buying and selling, earning our own way, are not terribly important. We do these things as part of life in this world, but we need to realize that these things are part of a world that is passing away. We heard these words today in our Old Testament reading: "Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isaiah 55:1). At the very center of creation is a free gift; God gives and we receive freely from His bounty. The ability to make a living, a stable society in which to carry out our occupations, sufficiently good health to do our work, all these things are given to us. We need to always keep that in mind as we conduct business in this world; the very ability to do this comes to us as a gift. We emphasize that the Gospel is offered free of charge, but this truth is not limited to the Gospel. All of creation is built on the free gift of God. We can see something of this spirit in today’s Gospel reading.
Notice, first, that Jesus freely gives His time to this crowd that has just interrupted a private retreat. Jesus and His disciples had learned of the death of John the Baptist, and we see in the parallel account in Mark’s gospel that the Twelve had also just returned from a missionary trip. Jesus says to them, "‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest awhile,’ [then Mark explains] for many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat" (Mark 6:31). They need to be able to process what happened while they were out preaching, and they need time to come to terms with John’s death. This is really not a good time to interrupt. They’re in need of a break from the constant demands of the crowds.
And yet, Jesus responds to these uninvited guests with compassion. He lays aside His plans for a retreat and begins ministering to them in their need. He sees this interruption as the Father’s call. Often the things we see as interruptions are things God is calling us to respond to by laying aside whatever it is we’re trying to accomplish and paying attention to what He is doing. Listen to these words by a French author on responding to God in the present moment: "O, glorious celebration! Eternal bounty! God forever available, forever being received. Not in pomp or glory or radiance, but in infirmity, in foolishness, in nothingness. God chooses what human nature discards and human prudence neglects, out of which he works his wonders and reveals himself to all souls who believe that is where they will find him" (Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment, p. 20). "God chooses what human nature discards and human prudence neglects," inconvenient interruptions, disturbances to our schedules and plans, lack of resources, weariness with human neediness. We experience God as we respond to His call in the present moment..
By the end of the day, the disciples have had enough. After all, they were intent on having some time alone with Jesus and everything fell apart as soon as they left the boat. So they say to Jesus, "send the crowds away." Jesus responds by telling them, "no, that’s not necessary; you feed them." It’s clear that they don’t have much, certainly not anywhere near enough to feed several thousand people. But Jesus doesn’t call them to give enough; He calls them to give what they have.
Of course, if they give what they have they won’t have enough to eat themselves. Their giving puts them at risk, and it also seems pointless; they’re going to be hungry and they won’t have accomplished anything toward feeding so many people. Jesus is calling them to empty themselves, not only in a spiritual sense, but in a very concrete, tangible way. He’s calling them to give up their possessions in a way that truly puts them at risk. He’s calling them to give freely without worrying about the consequences.
Following Jesus in the way of self emptying will often seem imprudent. He may call us to do things that don’t seem sensible, that aren’t cost-effective. On another occasion, Jesus and His disciples were in the temple, watching people put money into the treasury. "Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came, and put in two copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him, and said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living" (Mark 12:41-44). Jesus praises her, but what she is doing doesn’t make any sense. She’s not giving enough to make a difference; her offering is a drop in the bucket compared to those of the rich. And now she doesn’t have enough to meet her own needs. Why does Jesus praise her? Because He doesn’t value things in the way that we do; He calls us to give what we have, not what we think is needed to remedy the particular situation we’re faced with.
The same thing is true of the early Church in Jerusalem. Luke says about this church: "And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need" (Acts 2:44-45). Did they really need to do this? We don’t read that this was the pattern in other churches. It’s not recommended in any of the epistles. I’ve even heard preachers claim that this was a mistake, that they over-extended themselves in their new zeal, because later in Acts we see other churches sending them help during a time of famine. The claim is that if they had held onto their property and acted with greater prudence, they wouldn’t have been in need of help. But there’s not a hint of this in the Book of Acts. Luke suggests that their generosity was a direct result of the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And he also sees the help provided by other churches later in the book as another instance of the work of the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t seem overly interested in cost-effectiveness. He calls us to follow Jesus in the way of self emptying, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense.
So the disciples go ahead and do what He’s telling them to do. They contribute their handful of food, five loaves of bread and two fish, and Jesus multiplies it to feed the whole crowd. They give the little they have, which is barely enough for themselves, and Jesus multiplies it so that there is more left over in the end than there was to begin with. In giving of their limited resources, they experience God’s abundance.
Anne and I worked with Operation Mobilization on the ship Logos in 1982 and 83. There were 25 or so nationalities onboard the ship, and the cultural differences often led to conflict. Besides this, there was a lot going on all the time. There was all the work of keeping a ship in condition, dealing with port authorities, and working together with local believers. We had conferences onboard, a large book shop, evangelistic teams on shore, and there were also training programs for those involved in the ministry. It was easy, in the midst of all this, to lose sight of what we were doing. And I was often startled, as we were wrapping up the ministry in one port and getting ready to move somewhere else, to hear what God had done in the lives of the local people. We could see nothing but trouble and weakness and conflict, but God ministered to people in ways that went beyond anything we were doing or saying. I suspect that it may have been something like this for the disciples. They offered what they had, which was not much, and Jesus multiplied their offering with an abundance that took them by surprise. They may have felt just as empty and drained in the end as they had felt when they came to Him and said, "send the crowds away." But God had multiplied their small offering to meet the needs of this large crowd; by making use of their loaves and fish, He had graciously included them in this great thing He was doing.
Jesus is the One who multiplies the loaves and the fish, but before He does that, the disciples need to give what they have. He calls them to empty themselves, to step out in faith and take a risk, before He works the miracle. God gives us a part in the work He is doing, but that part is not easy or free from risk. It involves emptying ourselves, which often leaves us feeling empty. We want Him to work in a way that feels better. We’d like to feel His power surging through us, with an immediate certainty that we’re being used. But the truth is that God very often works in a way that we can’t feel. All we’re aware of is our own lack of resources, five loaves and two fish; why can’t someone else give? After all, there are plenty of people out there who could give ten times as much and hardly notice the difference. We barely have enough for ourselves. But Jesus calls us, like the disciples, to give not what we think is needed, but what we have; the sufficiency is not in our giving but in Him. He is "able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work" (2 Cor. 9:8).
Francis and Edith Schaeffer started a ministry to young people in Switzerland called L’Abri, which means "shelter," or "refuge." People from all over the world found refuge there and still do. The Schaeffers also gave freely to people who came to them in need asking for help. One day Edith said to Francis, "do you know that we’re getting a reputation for giving handouts, and some of these people are taking advantage of us?" He responded, "I’d rather be taken advantage of than to turn away someone who is really in need." His idea was that it’s better to err on the side of generosity than on the side of protecting our possessions.
God, in both His creation and redemption, has given to us freely from His abundance. Jesus emptied Himself – became poor – to restore us to life in the Father. Self-emptying generosity is of the very essence of God, and as people made in His image it’s central to our humanness. The choices we make in using our resources are moving us in two possible directions: we’re either emptying ourselves, using our resources to bless others (like God does) or we’re grasping after the best for ourselves, making sure we get everything we think we deserve. May God enable us to use His gifts in ways that we will not be ashamed of when we stand in His presence.
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