giving
God’s Generosity
By Linda Rex
November 10, 2024, Proper 27 | After Pentecost—One of the stories from the gospels that warms my heart when it comes to generosity, is where Jesus points out a poor widow who was dropping her last coins into the temple treasury. In comparison to the rich people who were putting large sums into the treasury, Jesus said that this woman “put in all she owned, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:38–44 NASB).
When we look more closely at what Jesus was saying in this passage, we realize that he was trying to help those gathered around him to see who he really was. Here, in their midst, stood the One who was at that moment, investing all of heaven’s resources in his human existence, for the sake of the kingdom of God and for all of us, the spiritually poor. Standing there, Jesus was the Son of God in human flesh, fully at the mercy of human beings, who would soon betray him and condemn him and crucify him. This widow woman, who laid down her life by giving her last cent to the treasury, was a living parable to the Suffering Servant Messiah, who was in the process of giving everything up by laying down his life on behalf of all.
The New Testament passage for this Sunday, Hebrews 9:24–28, reminds us that Jesus Christ did not enter a humanly constructed holy place, but into heaven itself, to appear before God on our behalf. Jesus did not offer any animal sacrifices on our behalf, but offered his own blood to be shed for our sakes. Because of who he is and was as the Son of God in human flesh, who lived, died, and rose again, Jesus’ one-time self-offering was sufficient for all time. Unlike our human efforts to make ourselves right with God, which need to constantly be repeated, Jesus offered himself just once, and it was sufficient because of who he is and was. In this offering of himself for us, in our place, Jesus put away sin once and for all. How wonderful is that!
But how does this impact our everyday life and the difficulties we face day by day? We are much like the poor widow or the rich people in the temple, going about our business, trying to do the right thing when we get a chance. First, I’d like to note the reality that even though this poor widow was ignored by the powers-that-be, she was noticed by the One who really matters—Jesus. God was not unaware of her circumstance, nor did he reject her feeble efforts to serve and to do the right thing before him.
Humble service and giving may not be noticed or given much attention by the world around us. Often, people’s attention is captured by the generosity of those who are able to make a big splash by pouring large sums into their favorite charity. Giving away large amounts of money isn’t a bad thing. When rich people use their money for the benefit of those who don’t have as much, they are actually following God’s instructions (1 Tim 6:18). But they are to do it in a way that reflects the character and nature of God as demonstrated to us in Jesus Christ, who—“though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). In other words, the attitude of humility in generous giving, and an effort to lift up those who are poverty-stricken and unable to help themselves, is what best reflects our Lord Jesus Christ.
In this passage in Hebrews, the author uses the word “now” two times. The first “now” has to do with where Jesus is presently—in the presence of his Father in the Spirit, standing in our place and acting on our behalf. Jesus is hidden from our human view at present, but is actively at work, intervening and interceding constantly for us. He is aware of our circumstances, our challenges, and our need, and is constantly seeking our best in each situation. As we come to him in faith, we begin to recognize and experience the reality of our participation in his life with his Father in the Spirit.
The other “now” has to do with the already-not-yet of God’s kingdom, inaugurated at the culmination of the ages when the Son of God entered our sphere in the person of Jesus Christ, and offered himself in our place on our behalf. We live in the midst of this “now” of Jesus’ high priestly ministry on our behalf, and look forward to the day when he will return in glory to establish the new heaven and earth. We can anticipate this day with eagerness and joy because Jesus took care of all our sin, removing it once and for all when he laid down his life for us. This means that the judgment which follows death is meant for our restoration and renewal, not for our destruction. What Jesus is bringing when he returns is our salvation. This gives us great hope. And it is in this Spirit of hope that we quietly, yet generously give to others in humble gratitude for all God has given to us in his Son Jesus.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your generosity towards us in giving us your Son and your Spirit. Thank you, Jesus, for giving your all for our sake, that we may be included in your life with your Father in the Spirit now and forever. Grant us the grace to be humbly generous with others as you have been with us. Amen.
“For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” Hebrews 9:24–28 NASB
“In His teaching He was saying: ‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.’ He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.’ ” Mark 12:38–44 NASB
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The Grace of Giving
By Linda Rex
June 30, 2024, Proper 8 | After Pentecost—As I grow older, I find that I am more and more aware of how far my actions and behavior are from my ideals and beliefs. One of the areas in my life where this is true is the area of giving.
In our New Testament passage for this Sunday, 2 Corinthians 8:7–15, the apostle Paul reminds the members in Corinth about a gift they had pledged to give their sister church in Jerusalem. The members in Jerusalem were suffering through some hard times, while their brothers and sisters in Corinth were prospering. Paul was encouraging the Corinthians to follow through with their pledge and to help their needy brothers and sisters.
What did the apostle Paul use as the basis for his request? He went back to the foundation of all our giving—the realization that Jesus gave all for us. The One who had everything—the Son of God who had all the benefits and blessings of eternal glory with his Father in the Spirit—left his abundance behind to join us in our broken human flesh. In Jesus Christ, the Son of God dwelt among humans as a human being, and experienced the poverty of our existence. He who had everything became poor, that in his poverty, we might be made rich. We find our spiritual wealth in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ and his gift of the Spirit. He paid the ultimate price, gave it all up, for our sakes.
In the light of this, Paul says that we are to give as we are able, to care for and help others. For what purpose? For the sake of equality. This is an interesting point. He doesn’t say that it’s wrong or bad to be wealthy, but that wealth provides an opportunity to help lift others up. Neither does Paul say that poverty is bad, but rather, it provides an open door for creating communion—a place where those who have can bless those who have not, to bring the two together in unity. The goal is not that everyone is the same but that each has what they need.
The divine Persons of the Trinity are each unique but are equal and yet are one. They created us as human beings to be equals. But inevitably, we find ways in which we elevate ourselves at the expense of others. We push others down, that we may be raised up. Our goal should not be to do this, but to follow Christ—the One who came down, lowered himself down into the place where we are, to bring us up to where he is in glory. This is the calling he has given each of us—to be turned outward, toward others, not to push them down or keep them beneath us, but to lift them up, so there is equality. We are designed to live as unique equals in union and communion with God and one another.
So back to my comment about ideals and actions. In this life, it is a real challenge to live this out. There are so many things demanding our attention, so many responsibilities, and so many opportunities. All around are possibilities, ways to spend our money, to use our time, and to occupy our attention. It’s possible to spend every moment from the time we wake up to the time we close our eyes in sleep attending to what’s right in front of us without ever noticing that all around us are people in need. It is so easy to be so self-absorbed that we never attend to the need that others may have to be lifted up into a space beside us, to share life with us, and to be included in the unity and oneness of our life in the Trinity.
And the greatest need of each and every person here on earth is to know that they are loved, accepted, forgiven, and included in God’s life and love. Yes, they have physical needs too. In Paul’s day, the needs the Corinth church helped with were food, clothing, and shelter. Their financial contribution ensured that their poverty-stricken brothers and sisters would have the basics of physical life. In the same way, we can look at the blessings the Lord has given us and find ways to enable those with less to have what they truly need.
It is Christ’s life in us by the Spirit who enables us to see those around us with new eyes, and to recognize opportunities to lift others up out of their need, to join us where we are. It is God’s Spirit at work in us who enables us to do this. Giving is a grace of the Spirit. Our ability to recognize a need and to actively work to fill that need, comes from God himself—the One who saw our need as poverty-stricken human beings, and came in Jesus Christ to lift us up to life with our Triune God, now and forever. How might we open ourselves up more completely to the indwelling Spirit, so that God can lift others up to share in the Triune life and love?
Thank you, dear Trinity, for your selfless generosity toward us in our brokenness and need. Thank you, dear Jesus, for generously offering yourself to us so that we might join with you in your life with your Father in the Spirit. Grant us the grace to love others as you have loved us, by being generous and helpful to those in need, in your name, Jesus, by your Spirit. Amen.
“But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also. I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality— at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality; as it is written, ‘He who’ gathered ‘much did not have too much, and he who’ gathered ‘little had no lack.’ ” 2 Corinthians 8:7–15 NASB
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Manifest in Us
By Linda Rex
April 28, 2024, 5th Sunday | Easter—Do you know what love looks like? Do you know what it feels like to be loved with self-giving, sacrificial, other-centered love?
According to the apostle John, we should be experiencing this kind of love when we encounter those who profess to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is especially true in our covenant relationships, small group gatherings, and spiritual communities. In our New Testament passage for this Sunday, 1 John 4:7–21, the apostle explains how he and those who shared in his apostolic ministry had personally seen and experienced this kind of love in the person of Jesus Christ. As God in human flesh, Jesus personified this love which is particularly found within the Father, Son, Spirit Triune fellowship.
Apart from our participation in Christ, we are unable to love one another in this way. No, it is not until we receive God’s love as a gift, that we are able to offer other-centered, sacrificial, self-giving love to others. John stresses the importance of loving one another, that in doing so, we will show those around us who God is as love. We become living testimonies of the love of God poured out in us and for us in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. The abiding of God in us, and therefore, us abiding in God, is an essential part of our being able to love others in a way that is a true reflection of the divine love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The gospel reading for this Sunday, John 15:1–8, is where Jesus uses the image of a vine, its branches, and a vinedresser, to talk about our direct connection with himself in the Spirit. Abiding, then, becomes more than just staying in one place. Rather, we find it is a dynamic state of rest (if that possible) in which we as believers are always drawing upon the source of our being, in Christ, and are always growing into the fullness of what we were meant to be, in Christ, coming to the place where we blossom and produce fruit which will last. This drawing from and pouring out is a way of being which reflects the inner relations of the Father, Son, Spirit fellowship, where each pours into and receives from the other, overflowing love.
When we look at our fellowship with one another, especially within the body of Christ, the Church as a whole, we don’t often see or experience this type of pouring into and receiving from that reflects the divine love and life. In the Triune life and love, there is authenticity, transparency, truth, purity, affection, kindness, giving—all things which too often, we are missing in our interactions with one another. The result of not living true to our design to be image-bearers of God in Christ is fear, the dread of punishment. This fear, which isolates us and damages our relationships, is a kind of punishment in itself, for it blinds us to the reality of the love poured out for us in Christ, which frees us from such fear.
As the body of Christ, we want to be living out the truth of who we are as those made in the image of God to reflect his likeness. In order for us to love God and love others, which we cannot do on our own, we need to receive first the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the heavenly Spirit. We need to attend to Jesus Christ, all he has done for us in his incarnation, his life, his death, resurrection, and ascension. In Christ, we see our heavenly Father and his great love. As the apostle John shows us, the whole Trinity is involved in our salvation—God is love and loves each and every one of us profoundly. Making the effort to focus on this love, to sit at Jesus’ feet as Mary did and learn of him, is one way in which we open ourselves up to God’s love.
Gathering with others who are believers to worship, pray, serve, give, help, study the Word of God, hear and share the gospel, opens us up so the Holy Spirit can begin to pour God’s love into us. We understand that humans are broken and not every fellowship recognizes what it means to participate in Christ’s life and love in this way. But as we allow the Spirit to lead us, we will find others who are abiding in Christ, and together we can grow into a fellowship where God’s love finds full expression.
Dear Father, Jesus, Spirit, thank you for loving us so profoundly and unselfishly. Thank you for living in us and with us. Grant us the grace to see, recognize, and receive your love. And in receiving your great love, grant us the grace to love others in the same way as you have loved us, through Jesus and by your Spirit, for your glory, Father. Amen.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.” 1 John 4:7–21 NASB
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” John 15:1–8 NASB
Recommended reading: What if Jesus Meets Us in the Good, Bad, and Messy? by Greg Williams and Mark Mounts [Grace Communion International publication].
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We Know Love by This
By Linda Rex
April 21, 2024, 4th Sunday | Easter—The other day I was in a supermarket looking for a few items which we had run out of and which I needed for a special family gathering. While I was standing in the dairy section, looking at the items in the refrigerator box, I noticed someone I had seen earlier elsewhere in the store. In fact, I had seen this person four or five times, gathering items and putting them into a grocery sack.
In my mind, I questioned whether or not they intended to pay for the items. Then I realized that this person looked very familiar, a lot like someone I had seen in another locality entirely—on the streetcorner, holding a sign. Was this someone who was homeless who happened to have been given some funds with which to buy some food?
At this moment, I was called away by my shopping companion, and had to leave. But this story came to my mind as I was reading the New Testament passage for today, 1 John 3:16–24. The apostle John was speaking regarding our care for brothers and sisters within the body of Christ, but our expression of the love of God in Christ is meant to cross all barriers, and not be restricted only to those who are believers in Christ.
I find one of the greatest challenges as I write this blog is to live out what I believe to be true. However difficult it may be to write honestly and openly about what I believe to be true (and it can be very difficult at times), it is even more so to live out the ideals I write about. The truth which I have in Jesus Christ and have been given by the Spirit is profoundly wonderful. But as one who is fully redeemed, restored, and accepted by God, and at the same time, broken, wretched, and so far from being what I ought to be, I realize that too often, what I say isn’t always backed up by my actions.
The body of Christ, the Church, has a lot to answer for because too often what we have preached about the love of God in Christ has not been backed up by our actions. True, at times people expect unreasonable things of believers—as human beings, we do have limits to what we can do. But at the same time, Jesus said we would be known as his followers, by our love for one another. And the love Jesus was talking about was the same love he showed for every human being when he laid down his life, took up his cross, and died for each of us.
If, as John says in our passage for today, that we know love by the way in which Jesus laid down his life for us, then the truest expression we can give of God’s love is to lay down our own life for someone else, especially when they are a fellow follower of Christ. What are some ways in which we can lay down our lives for one another?
Our minds often go to the ultimate sacrifice, which our brothers and sisters in the military or police force do on a regular basis (for which we are so grateful). But there are many other ways in which our everyday lives are full of opportunities to lay down our lives in tangible ways. In our job, we may risk our life daily by caring for sick people or by having to work in a job situation which isn’t safe. If we are next in the grocery line, there may be a person behind us who only has one item and looks to be in a hurry. How difficult would it be to lay down our need to be first and allow them to go ahead of us? Or, as we are getting on the interstate, to allow others to merge onto the interstate by slowing down for a moment, rather than competing with them for a position? Attending one more mid-week event or meeting, or inviting a small group over, may absolutely ruin our schedule and disrupt our household—but what if doing this would make a difference in the life of someone who is lonely or struggling?
As you can see, our everyday lives are full of opportunities to express self-giving, sacrificial love. This is especially true within our own households as we interact with our family or within the household of God, with our spiritual family. It is God’s Spirit who pours the love of God into our hearts and enables us to love as Jesus loved us. We trust in Jesus and in his love, and by his Spirit love one another, and do so in tangible ways by living sacrificially in a spirit of service and giving. As we live in this way, God’s love spreads out from us into the world, enabling others to see and experience God’s love in ways that are lifechanging, healing, and restorative.
Dearest Father, thank you for pouring out your love through your Son Jesus and by your Spirit. Enable us to receive the love that you give, and in receiving your love, offer it to others as freely has you have offered it to us. Lord Jesus, grant us the grace to live in other-centered, self-sacrificing ways as you did and do. Pour your love by your Spirit in and through us to all those around us, in your name, Jesus. Amen.
“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” 1 John 3:16–24 NASB
“Love is known in its othercenteredness; just as Jesus laid down his life for us to free his love within us for others. The indwelling love of God compels one to live sensitively aware of people around us, and not to exclude those in need. My darling children, let’s not deceive ourselves by paying lip service to love while we can truly live the dynamic of love in our practical daily doing! In this we know that our beingness is sourced in that which is really true about us; our doing good is not phoney or make-belief; this is who we are in God’s sight! So, even if our own hearts would accuse us of not really being true to ourselves, God is greater than our hearts and he has the full picture! His knowledge of us is not compromised. Beloved when we know what God knows to be true about us, then instead of condemning us, our hearts will endorse our innocence and free our conversation before God. Now, instead of begging God, we speak with confident liberty as sons. We also treasure the conclusion of his prophetic purpose [in redeeming our sonship] and fully accommodate ourselves to his desires and pleasure! Knowing the warmth in his eyes inspires poetic freedom in our every expression. And this is the ultimate conclusion of his intention and desire that we would be fully persuaded concerning the name of Jesus Christ who has successfully accomplished his mission as the son of God to rescue mankind’s authentic sonship! Our love for one another completes his joy! Everyone who treasures this final conclusion of God’s dream, abides unhindered in seamless oneness in him and he in them. His gift of the Spirit is to endorse our awareness of his abiding within us!” 1 John 3:16–24 Mirror Bible
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Finding Our Security in Christ
By Linda Rex
November 7, 2021, PROPER 27—One of the hazards to being a pastor is having to sit before God’s Word, letting it penetrate to the core of one’s being, while maintaining one’s ability to speak that Word to others. The Lord showed me years ago that when I read the Word, I must let him speak to me first by the Spirit through it, and then speak to the congregation. This means that the Word applies first to myself and then to those I am responsible for ministering to. I am often convicted by God’s message, cut to the heart and broken, but find I still have to preach that message in such a way that others may also experience God’s penetrating ministry. Thankfully, this is the work of Jesus Christ by the Spirit in me.
In the gospel passage for this Sunday, Mark 12:38–44, Mark brought up two significant and powerful lessons which were intertwined into a central theme—false religiosity contrasted with humble, sacrificial giving. First, Jesus spoke to the crowd, warning them about the scribes, whose ostentatious displays of religious observance hid hearts full of greed, pride, and self-aggrandizement. Secondarily, Jesus showed the profound difference between giving out of one’s abundance and giving out of one’s poverty.
On the one hand, the scribes, who were often the ones entrusted with the financial wellbeing of the widows and handled their legal affairs, many times worked it out so they were, through the temple, the beneficiaries of the widows’ livelihood. Those they were to protect and defend ended up being taken advantage of and made dependent upon others due to the scribes’ clever manipulation of their affairs. Even though the scribes feasted upon the adulation of the people, enjoying the notoriety of special greetings in the marketplace and the seats of prominence in the synagogue and banquets, and gave lengthy showy prayers, these scribes were facing acute condemnation due to the true state of their hearts. They looked great on the outside, but their inner beings desperately needed cleansed and restored.
Then, as Jesus sat and watched the people enter the women’s court in the temple and place money in the thirteen trumpet-shaped receptacles, he pointed out the profound difference between the size of the gifts given. On the one hand, the wealthy entered the temple and poured extremely large amounts of money into the boxes. What they gave was impressive and, no doubt, brought them admiration and praise for their generosity. But Jesus was not that impressed.
What caught Jesus’ eye was the widow who came into the area and went to place her gift in the receptacle. She, possibly a victim of the scribes’ graft and greed, poured the last two coins in her purse out into her hand. These two lepta, the smallest of the Roman coins, were all that she had left. But she placed them in the box. Jesus was deeply moved by this woman’s willingness to lay all she had at God’s feet, trusting he would care for her and provide for her. She did not think about how the money might be mismanaged or misused. She simply gave, from the heart, all that she had to God.
On both of these levels, we see that the central issue is a matter of the heart. Who has the heart Jesus is looking for? Obviously, the widow. She is the one who best resembles her Lord, the One who would soon lay himself down on the altar of sacrifice, offering all of himself in our place and on our behalf. Jesus shunned the notoriety, ostentation, and prominence that the scribes thrived upon. He preferred to be humble and self-effacing, displaying a servant’s heart throughout his life and ministry, willing to give it all up for our sakes.
We often struggle with the idea of the kind of generosity the widow displayed. It is instructive that her generosity provided a teaching moment for Jesus to use with his disciples. Some of us would say that she was very unwise, and should not have given her last bit of funds to the temple. Some of us would say that she would have been better off using those few coins to provide for herself in some way. But she seemed to understand something many of us struggle to understand and it is simply this—God knew exactly what that widow’s situation was, knew exactly what she needed, and was already working in that moment to provide for her and take care of her needs. Her security was not in her money, but in the God who was trustworthy, dependable, and faithful.
In 1 Kings 17:8–16, we read of when Elijah was told by God to go to Zarephath and find a certain widow. This widow was in dire straits, having only a little flour and oil left, enough for one last meal for her and her son. There was a famine in the land, so it was a real struggle for her to find anything for them to eat. Directed by God, Elijah asked the woman to give him a piece of bread before she fed herself and her son.
What was the widow to do? Logically, it would have been insane to give the last of what she had to the man of God simply because he asked for it. Why should she risk death by starvation any sooner than necessary?
But, as we see in this story, the woman did not put her faith in the oil and flour. She did not put her faith in her ability to stretch what little she had out as far as possible. She simply trusted that what Elijah said was true—that once she served him first, she would have a continuous supply of oil and flour from then on. She trusted in the Lord’s provision, even though what she had been asked to do didn’t make any sense at all.
God has a special place in his heart for widows and orphans. He knows how hard it is to hold everything together when it’s just you. He also understands the intensity of the temptation others face and fail to resist of taking advantage of the weakness, poverty, and defenselessness of these vulnerable ones, and he offers them his grace. And he sees the heartfelt self-sacrifice and service of those left at the mercy of others that so often exemplifies the heart of God expressed in his own self-offering in Christ.
Mark’s gospel message resonates within me on all levels, calling me to reexamine my heart and my motivations for what I do. Why do I get up each day and do the work of a pastor? Are my motives self-seeking or are they self-sacrificing? Do I depend upon myself or others for my security and worth, or do I simply trust in the love and grace of my heavenly Father, and in my kinsman-redeemer Jesus Christ to meet my every need? These are matters of the heart—and Jesus came to write God’s law and ways on our hearts, enabling us to be and do what does not come naturally to us. He is the One who with a pure heart, offered himself in such a way that each of us by faith can have his heart living within us by the Holy Spirit.
Today is a good day to pause and look at our loving Savior, asking him to renew by the Spirit his heart of humble service and self-sacrifice within us. We can practice his presence and trusting in his provision by praying a simple breath prayer. Breathe in: “Trustworthy Father;” breathe out: “I trust you.” Or, breathe in: “Jesus, pure of heart;” breathe out: “I rest in you.” May you find comfort and peace in the presence of the one who knows our hearts and loves us still.
Heavenly Father, thank you for caring so tenderly for us, and for reminding us of what really matters to you. Grant us the humble, serving, self-sacrificing heart of your Son. By your Spirit, may we worship and serve you whole-heartedly, for your glory and praise, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, ‘My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you?’” Ruth 3:1 (2–5, 4:13–17) NASB
“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” Hebrews 9:(24–26) 27–28 NASB
“In His teaching He was saying: ‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.’ And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.’” Mark 12:38–44 NASB
Real Life—Richly Supplied, We Give
By Linda Rex
September 29, Proper 21— On the streets of Nashville I often see well-dressed people driving Mercedes, Jaguars, and BMWs at the same intersection with people in ragged clothing holding signs that say “homeless” or “help me”. At Good News Fellowship, we are often faced with the challenge, and the blessing, of helping those who cannot or will not help themselves.
One of the marks of a healthy community is the way it handles the radical difference between those who have and those who do not. The early Christian church handled these profound differences in a way which was counter to their Roman culture—a culture in which those who were wealthy were given a more elevated status than those who did not. It was not unusual for a wealthy person to sponsor or support someone less fortunate than themselves, but that person wasn’t normally elevated to a place of equal status with their benefactor. The believers in the early church, however, understood that in Christ, we are all equals, all members of one body.
God’s way of doing things is so different than ours. Today, when it comes to money and being rich, we often see extremes among people of the Christian faith. Wealth may be seen either as an evil to be rejected or as a sign of one’s favor with God because of one’s obedience and goodness. Either extreme is not how God meant us to view wealth. Wealth is given, the Word of God says, to be enjoyed, but also for the purpose of doing good and sharing with others.
Having wealth or nice things is great—it makes life pleasant and enables us to do a lot of things we could not do otherwise. But the problem with being rich is that often our focus turns away from the God who gives the wealth and blessings and turns to the riches themselves. People can get so absorbed in accumulating and maintaining their wealth, and enjoying it, that they miss the whole point of it all—they are a beloved child of a generous and loving heavenly Father, a dad who wants to share all of his blessings with them.
If we took the time to turn away from our abundance and wealth for a moment and to turn to Jesus, we would see a wealthy, abundantly blessed Son, who did not for a moment count any of his good stuff worth holding on to. We read in Philippians 2:5-11 how the Word of God, the divine Son of God, temporarily set aside the privileges of his divinity for our sake. He knew we would be and were caught in the poverty and darkness of our sin, and evil had us in its grip. Death was the result of our stubborn willfulness and pride. Because of this, he set it all aside to join us where we were to bring us to be where he was.
The one gift above all others the Son of God wished to share with us, which supersedes any physical blessing or gift he could give us, is the ability to participate in his perfect, intimate relationship with his Abba. He and the Father always have been, are, and always will be, one in the Spirit. This is the relationship we were created to participate in and which we seem to always trade in for the tangible things of this life.
In this culture, at least in this country today, we are surrounded with so much abundance, that it is hard to see beyond our human existence. We have so many human solutions to our problems that we lose site of the role God is meant to play in all of this.
We may believe we don’t really need God’s healing when we can go see a doctor, or a specialty surgeon, visit a hospital, or even see a psychotherapist. All of these are excellent ways to take care of our health, and yes, we should do them when we can, but what about starting the whole process with the one Being who has created us, given us life, and who can heal us, however others may or may not be involved in the healing process? Wouldn’t it be more important to have our heavenly Daddy with us through the whole circumstance, walking with us and guiding us, helping the doctors and nurses as they give us care?
Many people grew up in families where the only food available was eggs from the chickens, milk from the cow, and food from the garden. They survived quite well on the little that they had because they had an implicit faith in God and in his provision. Today if we don’t have our favorite foods on the table or in the fridge, we think we are starving. The blessings we have so easily become more important than our relationship with the God who provides them. What has happened to us that we have lost this simple connection between ourselves and God, and knowing that we are his beloved children and he is our loving Father?
What about filling our cupboards and refrigerators with food? I do meet people who are lucky to have one good meal a week. I rarely ever hear them say that they asked God for their daily bread—to take care of this simple need. Strangely enough, we often expect other people to take care of us rather than simply calling on and trusting in our Abba Father to provide. I’ve heard many stories from people over the years who told about how God provided for them in a variety of ways—often through other people, but without them being asked to do it—it was solely a work of the Spirit. Wouldn’t that build your trust in and love for your Abba if you saw him provide for you without you first asking other people to take care of you?
Getting back to my point, I see that we are so blessed with so much, but it is never quite enough. We experience life in this world as a glass half empty rather than half full when our focus is on what we do or don’t have rather than on the One who gives it to us to enjoy and to share. Jesus came so we could have life abundant—not with overflowing coffers of wealth, but with an abundant overflow of God’s love and grace and the ability to participate individually, and as brothers and sisters, in a personal relationship with our heavenly Father through Jesus in the Spirit.
By all means, we should enjoy those blessings God gives us. We can enjoy the benefits of living in America, experiencing an ease and pleasure so many in the world wish they could share in, and do so without guilt and shame. These are God’s gifts to us.
But God says to us that the greatest treasure of all is that which is stored up for us in heaven when we take the abundance we have and share it with those less fortunate than us. We, along with Jesus, join others in their poverty and darkness to bring them up into fellowship with us, into a place of equality and unity in our uniqueness. We share what we have been given, not because we are asked to or expected to, but because Christ is at work in us, in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, giving us a desire to share what we have been given with those around us and to share in our Abba’s generous heart toward his beloved children.
The divine life we are called into involves both receiving and giving. There is an ever-flowing pouring out and pouring into that are part of the perichoretic love of the Father, Son, and Spirit, and we are included in that life as we trust in Christ and follow the leading of the Spirit. All we have, all we are, we receive as a gift from Abba. Do we receive these gifts with joy and gratitude, as gifts from a loving Father? Do we bless our Abba with love and fellowship in response? And, today, how would Abba want us to share his abundant gifts with others? Are we being obedient to the Spirit’s promptings to share?
Dear Abba, thank you for all your many gifts and blessings, and most of all, for including us in your life with Jesus in the Spirit. Give us a heart of generosity and an understanding of the transience of physical wealth so we will hold these things loosely and freely share them with others. Keep our eyes on you and our hearts enraptured with your love, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” 1 Timothy 6:17-19 NASB
See also Luke 16:19–31.
Giving Living
By Linda Rex
It’s been an interesting journey as I have participated with Good News Fellowship in caring for the community in which we located here in Nashville. I’ve experienced a wide spectrum of responses to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed. Some were expected, while others were very unexpected.
As a Christian in today’s culture, I have found that people have unspoken expectations of me. Because I am a Christian, they seem to believe I will be, or should always be, nice, friendly, and well-behaved—and I inevitably disappoint them. Many people assume because I am a Christian that I am examining them and their lives in detail so I can have something to criticize or put down—and I’m not.
As a Christian, many people say, I must never make anyone feel bad or tell them that they are wrong and must change—after all, they are free to do whatever they want—it’s a free country, right? But sometimes the most loving thing I can do is to bring to their attention something hurtful or dangerous they are doing to harm themselves or others.
Some people seem to believe that since I am a Christian, I’m obligated to help anyone who comes to me and asks for help, no matter what the circumstance or situation. If someone is in need or struggling, it is my responsibility to help them and give them whatever it is they ask for, no matter the cost to myself or the inconvenience it may be for me to help them, or that it might not be in their best interests for me to help them in that way.
Yet God calls us to be, as followers of Christ, generous and giving. We are to share all the gifts God has given us with others. We are to be compassionate, understanding and loving. We should be positive examples of “giving living”—by nature being generous with all God has given us as our participation in Christ’s own generosity.
The fundamental thing is, we are not created as human beings to have a life centered around our own selves. Self-centered living destroys relationships. A self-centered person expects people to orbit around them as they slowly drain people’s energy and heart out like a black hole consumes the stars around it. When we center our lives and other people’s lives about our own needs, desires, and plans, we become more and more selfish, cold, and calculating.
Now, speaking for myself, I recognize there are times when I am self-centered and do not even realize this is what is going on. How disconcerting to walk away from a situation or conversation and realize I have made myself the center instead of keeping Christ and others at the center! These types of realizations keep each of us humble and dependent upon God’s grace and the patience of those near and dear to us.
If we want to be followers of Christ, though, we need to be attentive to these nudges of the Spirit and realign our center to where it should be—in Christ. It is important to be attentive to what the Spirit is saying in each moment and to follow Christ’s lead in our generosity because if we focus on ourselves, we will come up empty. God is the source of all things, including the capacity to be generous and giving, especially when we do not have the energy, resources, or heart to give.
A life centered in Christ is a life which draws its sustenance and well-being from the Source of all things, our Abba. When we are drawing our life from the Life-giver, we will find that our life and our being will be enriched and grow. If we are drawing our life from within ourselves or from the other people in our lives, we will eventually find ourselves frayed, worn-out, and exhausted, and our relationships in shambles.
This is also the case when it comes to our giving. Our generosity must have its roots in Jesus Christ himself. He is the one who came into our humanity, laid down his life, died our death, and rose again on our behalf and for our sake. He set aside the benefits and privileges of his divinity to live within our humanity, even though it cost him his human life. There is a fundamental generosity in the being of God which is rooted in God’s very nature as love.
First, and foremost, God in Christ is the center around which everything in this cosmos orbits and from which everything draws its life. Giving to others and being a giving person must begin with this center. Our center, the center of every part of our being and our life, is in Christ. It is not in ourselves or anyone else. What we do in our lives comes out of who we are, and who we are must be and is based in Christ as the perfect image-bearer of God himself, and the Source of all things.
So fundamentally at the core of our being, because we are made in our Generous and Giving God’s image to reflect his likeness, we are generous and giving people. Our lives, then, are centered around generosity because we are, in Christ by the Spirit, full of a heart of generosity. We recognize all we are and all we have has their source in God himself, and everything in this cosmos, including us and all we think we own, belongs to him.
This true humility with regards to our existence enables us to be open-handed and free with all we have been given since we realize it all came to us as a gift. Even if we worked hard to earn our resources, we recognize and admit that even the ability to earn a living came from the One who gave us the opportunity and capacity to do the work we are doing. There is no holding back what we have been given when we are in the position to help another who is in need or to further the work God is doing in this world to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
But this doesn’t automatically mean we give to every person in every situation without attention to the wisdom of doing so. Yes, we need to be putting our resources to work to further God’s agenda in the world and to spread his gospel. Yes, we should always be generous and giving to those in need. But sometimes the better gift is not to give at all, but to enable that person to trust God to meet their needs in another way.
Maybe we are hindering God’s work in their lives by just giving them cash when we need to be giving them our time and attention instead. Perhaps rather than just giving them our resources, we should be helping them learn what is needed so they can provide them for themselves. These are complicated issues which must be guided by the Word of God and the Spirit, and wisdom.
There is plenty in this world but too often we do not see our plenty as a resource to accomplish Jesus’ mission in this world or to provide for others so they might have what we have. Granted, we’re not all able to share—some of us are the needy as well. But even the needy have something to offer others. We all can share and give, when we draw upon the infinite resources of our generous and giving God, recognizing whatever we have has been given to us as a gift from him to share with others. This is the perichoretic life.
Dear Abba, thank you for being so generous with us, giving us all we need for life and godliness, and for giving us your very best in your Son and in your Spirit. Grant us the grace as you give us the resources to always be generous with others and share diligently in your ministry to this broken and hurting world. In your Name, amen.
“But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also…. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich…. For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality—at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality;…” 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-14 NASB
The Death and Renewal of Community
by Linda Rex
This week I was reading an article about the recent upswing in homicides which has been happening in our church neighborhood. Although it’s hard to know exactly what is sparking this upswing in these individual events which don’t seem to have any tie to one another, the article made an interesting observation: “…most shootings are not completely random. If you look closely, they’re often fallout of interpersonal conflict that can go back and forth over months or even years.” ( See http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/homicides-spike-east-nashville-precinct-its-commander-looks-answers#stream/0 )
Everywhere I look I am beginning to see and sense a deep sense of rage underlying people’s response to politics, relationships, and even stopping too long at a red light. It seems to me that we are growing into a generation who do not know how to have healthy relationships or how to handle conflict in healthy ways. It’s so much easier to defriend someone on Facebook than to have a difficult conversation in which healthy limits are set and respected by each person involved.
But there is a reality we cannot ignore and it is that in spite of all our efforts to create an orderly, safe society, we cannot create one by simply legislating right behavior and enforcing laws. I believe there is a fundamental disconnect between our desire to be free individuals who can make our own choices and live our own agenda, and the reality of living in community. This is because living in loving, respectful community requires a change in our being, not just in our doing. And that is the issue.
We have, whether we want to admit it or not, an inner drive to be our own masters and in control of what we do and don’t do. We also want to be free to live uninhibited by rules or the control of another human being—unless of course, giving that control over to another person allows us to feel in control of our safety and peace. We want to be free to do what we want, when we want, how we want, without God (if we believe there is one) or anyone else telling us otherwise.
The problem with this type of freedom and control is, we live in a world with millions of other people who also have this same desire for freedom and control. When one person’s desires and plans clash with another’s—we have conflict. When one group’s agenda clashes with another group’s agenda, we end up with war. And this is not what we were created for.
Such an intense desire to be free and rulers over our own lives is not necessarily an evil thing in and of itself. In many ways it is a reflection of the God in whose image we were created. God has given us this world and our lives to be responsible for—they are ours to care for, use responsibly, and to share with others. And we need to be doing those things. And God, in his being, is fully and completely free. We reflect that.
But we need to realize God’s freedom is not the type of freedom we believe we were created with and for. This is a different kind of freedom from just doing what you want, when you want, and how you want. God’s freedom is held within his real existence as a Being who lives in other-centered love. The Word of God who came into our human flesh revealed to us a God who is Father, Son and Spirit and who lives in a relationship of equality, diversity and unity which the church fathers would later call circumincession or perichoresis.
These are interesting terms. The first one, circumincession, was used to express an ongoing movement of pouring out from one into another and receiving in return. If we were to give this some consideration, we would realize we as human beings, made in the image of this God, were designed to be other-centered persons who live in a constant existence in which we pour out from ourselves into others so we may receive that which is poured out into us. This constant pouring out and receiving is a movement which exists within true loving community.
A misguided sense of personal freedom shortcircuits true community. When a person turns away from those around them and seeks only to receive and not to give, this kills healthy relationship. The natural give and take which should occur between people cannot because there are walls between them, or there is abuse, neglect, indifference—you name it. We do all these things to one another because we are broken. And we find ourselves unable or unwilling to live together with others in the mutual submission, the compassion and understanding, and the mutual giving and receiving we were created for.
In my opinion, we do not need more rules to live by. Rules just create in us a desire to break them or to beat other people over the heads with them. We don’t need more legislators or enforcers. What we need is to realize and live out the truth of what God meant for us to be from the beginning. We need a deep realization of who we are, and whose image we were created to reflect, and to begin to live out of this center or core in our being.
God created us with good hearts, to live in loving relationship—this is the truth of our being. When we don’t live in this way, we are miserable and we make everyone around us miserable too. It seems we choose to live in misery, and God knew that wasn’t what we were created for. So he came himself in Jesus and allowed us to dump on him all the rage and evil of our broken humanity. And in doing so, he restored our broken humanity.
God’s purpose in allowing what we did to Jesus was to provide each one of us with the capacity for true humanity again. God gives us through his Son Jesus and by his Spirit what we really need—a change of heart and mind. We need a change of being which will drive a change in our doing. We need to be transformed by grace. So God in Jesus Christ made a way.
When a person comes to themselves—i.e. realizes they are not living as they were created by God to live, and not being the person they were created by God to be—it is a humbling experience. And I think God intends us to come to this place over and over in our lives, not so we can beat ourselves up, but so that we will face our need for him to heal, transform and renew us, and so we will invite him to enter in and begin to create in us anew the capacity for true, healthy relationship with God and with the people in our lives.
This is the whole purpose of the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost. The Spirit creates true community among all people, because all people have been included in Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension. The Spirit can be resisted, rejected, and even quenched, but this gentle Dove works diligently to resolve differences, to renew relationships and to heal wounded hearts. The Spirit can be invited to stay or be ignored. Either way, the Spirit is still present and at work—it is our experience of God’s presence which is unfelt or felt.
When we open ourselves to the Spirit’s work, we experience the reality that Christ is here in the midst of us, drawing each and every one us together into loving community. I am more and more convinced each day what we really need in our neighborhood, and throughout our world, is for God by his Spirit to breathe new life into each of us.
Darkness and evil will continue to resist the Spirit of life and truth. But in time Light will drives away the darkness, for darkness is merely the absence of light. Those who live and walk in the Light of God’s love and grace need to be willing to share in the sufferings of Jesus—for truth and grace are always resisted in some way. May we have the strength and wisdom to continue to demonstrate in a real way in spite of resistance and opposition what it means to live in loving community, and to suffer for the sake of love and grace, through Jesus our Lord, and by his Spirit.
Abba, thank you for the gift of your love, truth and grace. Thank you for rescuing us from evil, sin and death through your Son Jesus, and for sending us your Spirit so we could begin to recognize and experience true community. We pray you will breathe your Life into our neighborhood and indeed our world so we can live once again in the love and fellowship we were created for. Drive out the darkness with your Light. Enable us to experience the truth of the perichoretic life we were created for. In your Name Jesus we pray. Amen.
“You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph 4:20–24 NASB
Sharing God’s Love Builds Bonds
By Linda Rex
Last Saturday I held the Sharing God’s Love women’s retreat at my home. It was a small gathering—altogether there were nine of us who participated. I have limited space in my downstairs, so it was a tight squeeze for everyone to have a place to sit, especially around the dining table at lunchtime. But we did it, and I believe we all had a good time together.
We began our event with an icebreaker where we shared some things we didn’t know about each other. Then we moved into contemplative prayer where we invited the Holy Spirit to show us areas in our hearts and lives where God would like to bring healing and transformation. We wrote these things down as God showed them to us.
I talked briefly about the spiritual discipline of inner-healing prayer and how God uses it to bring healing and renewal in each of our lives. I used as a reference the book The Handbook of Spiritual Disciplines by Calhoun. The ladies then split up into pairs and prayed for one another, specifically keeping the concerns in mind God had showed them earlier. I saw tears and heard laughter. It was a moving experience for those involved.
We paused to have lunch together, and then I began the afternoon session. I read Acts 2:42-47 and showed how what we had done so far that day was like what the early church experienced shortly after Pentecost. We had spent time hearing the Word of God, we had prayed together, and had fellowshipped and shared a meal together. They each had received a small gift. The ladies had also each brought an item to the event to give away, and put it in one of the baskets we would be giving away to some of our Community Café visitors in February. 
During the afternoon session we continued in the spirit of the early church and created something to give to others. We began making Valentine’s Day cards using some templates and precut items Pat and I had made earlier in the week. Some wrote messages on the cards, others just pasted scriptures and greetings on the cards. It was all a simple project. We ended up with about 65 cards to give away.
We split these cards up between two people. Teresa would be taking some to the nursing home where her mother was, and Valinta would be giving some away at work. Our goal is to have them return and report to the church the way the early apostles would do after a trip sharing the gospel. So, we all gathered hands and prayed for Teresa and Valinta and God’s blessing on their efforts to share the message of God’s love with all those who received the cards. We followed this with communion and a benediction.
We had hosted one of these two years ago at Mercy Convent here in Nashville. That had been quite a different experience since we had the use of the chapel, the porch and the grounds during that event. But no matter the location, gathering together to share in spiritual community in this way is often healing, and creates a sense of refreshment and renewal.
I believe there is something significant which is lost when we do not slow down long enough to experience renewal with others. I’m afraid we are often so busy being individuals with our own plans and agendas, we don’t have time or even the desire to sit and be silent, or to share important parts of ourselves with others who can pray with us and for us, and be a part of helping us to heal and to be renewed.
The irony about this event, in my experience, was what happened afterwards in my own personal life. As a pastor, often we are the ones hosting these types of sessions, and we are not always the participants. Because this is the case, we don’t often experience the renewal others experience while participating in them. We had an uneven number of ladies on Saturday, so when we split into pairs to pray, I sat out. I prayed silently while they were praying, but did not specifically participate in the inner-healing prayer.
Indeed, God had brought a particular thing to my mind during the contemplative prayer session, but I held onto it, thinking the Lord and I would work it out together later. I would have some downtime later, and we would talk about it then. And God did address it with me, but not as I expected.
The next day I had a busy day at church. I not only played keyboard in the band during worship, but I also preached. That is draining enough, but I also had a meeting following the service which I felt was very important. So by the time I left the church building and headed home, this introvert was pretty drained.
I got into the car and started up the road. I vaguely realized I needed gas for the car, so I started looking for the brand of gas I prefer to use. And I just started driving, and driving, and driving. I finally realized I was just driving absentmindedly, and stopped to fill the tank. I had not realized how overcome with grief I was until that moment when I felt I could just keep driving and not look back.
I wasn’t really very far from home, so I went there, parked the car, and called one of my team members. I explained what had happened and asked her to pray for me. And as she prayed, I cried. God had called me into inner-healing prayer in spite of my neglect of it at the retreat. God knew I was grieving and needed to grieve, but also knew I needed to grieve with someone. God works healing within the context of relationships, whether we like it or not.
It’s tough to let go of our rugged individualism and humble ourselves enough to confess our brokenness and need to someone so they may pray for us and we may be healed. But this is what God encourages us to do (James 5:16). This is extremely difficult to do in a culture where such spiritual, emotional intimacy is mistaken for other types of relationships, but it’s what we were created for. God did not intend for us to live as islands—we were created for deep, close, loving relationships with him and with one another.
If I might share this piece of encouragement—find a safe person who you feel you can trust, and who loves the Lord, and ask them to pray with you and for you. Don’t keep your grief, struggles, and brokenness to yourself. If you don’t have one, begin seeking one out, asking God for direction and wisdom. God never meant for you to carry this all alone. And if I might help, I would be more than happy to pray with and for you—just ask.
Abba, thank you for surrounding us with caring people who are willing to pray for and with us when we are in need. Make us more aware of the love which you have placed in our lives—show us how you share your love with us day by day through all the caring relationships we participate in. If we do not have these, then Lord, I pray—shower us with your love. Without you, and without one another, we are truly lost. Thank you for your faithful love, through Jesus and by your Spirit, we pray. Amen.
“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42–47 NASB
Hanging on to Stuff
by Linda Rex
One of the most difficult tasks that come with a loved one dying can be going through their belongings and dealing with the things they leave behind. This can be extremely difficult, especially when so many memories arise with each item we handle.
It’s amazing how much a person or a family can collect over the years! Sometimes it’s just the things of daily living, or the important papers or documents. But then again, it may be stuff—things that were useful at one time, but no longer have any use or value.
The memories and feelings that are attached with such items can have more pull on us than we realize. We may hang on to these things because of the fear if we let go of them we will lose everything we associate with those items. Sometimes the loss of something dear when we were young causes us to hang on to similar things when we are older, even though we really don’t have any use for these items.
I remember one time many years ago when I was still married, my husband was doing tree cutting as a way to help with our income since he was out of work. We were called by a man who lived in a quiet cul-de-sac in our small town, so we went to cut his tree. While my husband was up in the tree and I was spotting and praying he wouldn’t fall, the man whose tree he was cutting and his neighbor struck up a conversation. Since they were standing right next to me, I really couldn’t ignore what they were saying.
They got to talking about what they owned and what each other had. Early on it became a contest as to who had the most and best of whatever it was they had. The irony was that nearly everything they named, my husband and I couldn’t afford to own. I guess I could have been insulted, but instead I felt sorry for them. They felt having the best and most of these things was what was necessary to their self-worth and self-esteem, and what was necessary for their happiness.
This came to mind the other night when at our small group we were talking about a famous man who hid all his money in the mantel in his house. By the time it was found after his death, it was moth-eaten and useless. To me that is a good example of the transience of human wealth and property. In our affluent society, so often we don’t know the difference between what we want and what we need.
And sadly, as I have learned over the years, all such things are useless in the face of death and dying. When a person dies, they leave all these things behind. And then who gets them? The answer to that question has divided and destroyed many a family and relationship.
And I think that is what is crucial in this whole discussion. When it comes to the things we own, or the things we hang on to, how do they impact our relationships and the people we love? How do they impact our community and our neighbor?
Many wealthy people are wise enough not to give their children everything they want or to give them large sums of money when they are young. They realize how destructive affluence can be to a person’s character and well-being. When a person understands that money is a tool that can be used for good and that with wealth and abundance comes responsibility and duty to one’s fellow man, then wealth is not such a dangerous thing to have.
But that is a different discussion. Here we are considering the reality that someday the person who is wealthy will have to pass that wealth on to someone else. Everything we own in this life cannot be carried with us into the next. We cannot fill a pyramid with food, luxuries and people to bring with us into the life to come. It doesn’t work that way.
Through all this sorting, I’m being reminded again to narrow down my belongings and my activities to what is really essential and useful for this moment. This is the spiritual discipline of simplicity. Some things are just not important in the grand scheme of things, while others are worthy of our focused attention and devotion. May God grant us the grace to discern the difference and to choose only what is most important. And may he enable us to let go of all the rest.
Lord, we thank you for the abundance with which we live day by day. Thank you for providing us with so many wonderful things, but most especially for the people you bring into our lives—our neighbors, our friends, and our families. You shower your love on us daily. Grant us the grace to see it and always be grateful and generous with what you give us. Through Jesus and by your Spirit, we pray. Amen.
“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—A time to give birth and a time to die; …” Ecclesiastes 3:1–2 NASB
“And He told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, “What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.’ “ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16–21 NASB
Our Life in the Trinity 