how to overcome a condemning heart, a guilty conscience

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God, and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

1 John 3:16-24; NRSVue

If we take moral responsibility seriously in this life, we’re going to realize there’s always something that we did wrong and something else that we should have done, and something else we may have not done good enough in our minds. There are a host of ways that we can feel guilty and condemned.

We are told that laying down our lives for the believers in our midst means helping those in material need, doing what we can, be it big or little and everything in between. It is then evident that indeed God’s love resides in our hearts. Through adherence to the simple commandment to believe in the name of Jesus and to love one another, we can indeed overcome our guilty conscience (see helpful NET footnotes in link above), and condemning heart which can often plague us.

The commandments we’re to keep are again simple: believe in Jesus’s name and love one another. As we do that and seek to do all that pleases God, not only is our heart set at rest in God’s presence, but we have boldness in prayer that God will answer our simple, humble prayers. Our hearts set free to live in the love of God in Christ, a love intended for all.

what is life? and the American dream (part two)

He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith! And do not keep seeking what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that seek all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 12:22-34; NRSVue

Yesterday we considered Jesus’s parable of the rich fool, which precedes this passage. It’s good, even important to consider that with what follows. Hoarding in significant part is tied to a sense of insecurity. It seems natural to do so when one sees the possibility of economic fallout up ahead or has experienced that. Probably many of those who came out of the Great Depression here in the US were known for their thrift and conservative spending, not bad things in themselves, along with hoarding for not a few. That might merely be a part of one’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), certainly nothing to condemn anyone over.

At the same time, all of us must be wary of just where we put our confidence. If it’s in the capitalist free market, then there can never be full assurance that all will be well. A good community in the heart of love for one’s neighbor as oneself, will at least see to it that all are taken care of, that no one is left behind. Ultimately Christ-followers believe one’s trust should be in God. But that does not at all alleviate the necessity of peoples doing what they can to help each other.

None of that is diminished in the least in what Jesus says above, yet it was in a setting in which Rome’s rule was galling, debilitating for the average person and family living in Judea and Gallilee. The vision of God’s rule/kingdom that Jesus brought in harmony with the Old Testament prophets cast a vision in which all are taken care of, no one is left behind. In the meantime, while that vision is beginning to be seen and realized, Jesus’s disciples are to totally trust God, that God as their Father(/Mother) will take care of them, will meet all of their needs. That indeed, even “the kingdom” is theirs. And that they’re to be generous in the very same way that God is generous to them.

God’s goodness is everywhere. And we are recipients of that. We’re to seek that first, a goodness that is for all. Where our heart as followers of Jesus is supposed to be.

“together for the long haul” mentality

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Acts 4:32-35; NRSVue

In our consumer culture, we pick and choose and that goes for everything, after all, why not! And that certainly includes churches. I’m not one to want to go back to “the good ole’ days” because I think there’s inevitably a selective look back, into a nostalgia that forgets or even brushes away obvious problems. But one feature of the past that I do think had its advantages is the idea of a parish church. I admire those who have been in one church their entire lifetime or have stayed in the same tradition of churches when they’ve moved. The idea of a church which retains most all of its members is less and less a prospect given how people work nowadays.

But what should be one of the staples of any church? Surely one of them is being in it, in life fully together in the long haul. That includes through thick and thin, when there’s disagreement, disappointment, even failure of different kinds. We need to patiently include all, even those who don’t have this vision, but at the core of our being and doing, committed to this.

This is not about selling everything and living together in a community like the Hutterites, though in itself, that’s certainly not wrong or bad. However precisely we work it out, it certainly will include our material resources including money. We are to be generous and systematic in our giving, if I understand the Bible and the teaching of Christ and the apostles correctly. We do all that we can together to make sure that everyone in the community of believers is taken care of in resources and in receiving the help they need.

It seems to me that if we commit ourselves to praying for each other, but not helping each other in practical, down to earth ways, then our prayers lose much of their power and efficacy. “Thoughts and prayers” mean nothing if we don’t do our part to see that they’re answered. And as we take care of each other, that same love spills out in “good Samaritan” ways outside our “four walls.”

One heart, one mind, one soul, one body in Christ.

holding nothing back

“Do good, and evil will not overtake you. Prayer with fidelity is good, and almsgiving with righteousness is better than wealth with injustice. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold, for almsgiving saves from death and purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life, but those who commit sin and do wrong are their own enemies.

Tobit 12:7b-10; NRSVue

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:1-4; NRSVue

Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. Also, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Matthew 19:16-22; NRSVue

So give as alms those things that are within and then everything will be clean for you.

Luke 11:41; NRSVue

Maybe it’s my older brain, but it just dawned on me that St. Patick is not St. Francis of Assisi (tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day). Both are worthy of being remembered and honored. Patrick brought the gospel to Ireland and Francis left everything to follow Christ in radical obedience. There’s surely much we can learn from both and we’ve been blessed with the legacy they left. So my meditation today is really connected with Francis.

The words in Tobit and from Matthew’s and Luke’s gospel accounts quoted above center on giving of one’s material wealth, and almsgiving. “Follow the money” explains a lot, no less so in the Bible (see Walter Brueggemann’s helpful book on this, Money and Possessions). Idolatry and greed are linked together by Paul (Colossians 3:5b), and really by the entire Biblical narrative.

Giving is a grace into which we grow (see 2 Corinthians 8-9), not an iron-clad law we must follow. But it’s neither automatic nor easy. That’s quite evident from what Paul writes to the Corinthian church. When one not only finds it in their heart to give, then follows through, one does find favor not only with people, but with God. I don’t think that’s overstating it if one really takes the above passages seriously. When we give from the heart, we participate in the grace of God meant to be poured out to all. And we experience something of that grace, as it’s poured out through us.

perspective on poverty and wealth

Let the brother or sister of humble means boast in having a high position and the rich in having been humbled, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same way with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away.

James 1:9-11; NRSVue

It doesn’t matter where you live, whether in a war torn, famine ravaged place in Africa, with little to nothing to make it through during a North Korea winter, or not having enough to eat with no affordable healthcare in the wealthiest nation in the world, the United States. Abject poverty is bad. With that we see homelessness, totally unnecessary, but part and parcel of capitalism, which prioritizes money over people so that it’s almost like a contest to see who can get the most at the expense of many others.

For most of us, we’re somewhere in between. Many struggle from week to week and month to month to make ends meet with little set aside in the case of an emergency. They are then subject to predatory lending, just another staple of the “rugged capitalism” which is more and more taking its toll. The stock market continues to rise (at this point), stockholders are happy, but workers on whose backs the money is made often don’t have a living wage and so try to work two or more jobs, and add to that, not affordable healthcare being the case for many as well, unless they press through the complicated hoops of the US health system, even after that, tough. A mockery of neighbor love, of justice.

But again, to try to speak of people in between, many will have to watch their money all the time, while some live in relative comfort, with a cushion and along with that tax breaks the poor don’t have, to make life predictable and aside from its normal stresses, manageable. Then the very few who have more than they could ever spend at least on themselves. And all such people meeting together in the name of Jesus as church. Or even those who do not. It seems like James in the above passage is speaking to all.

The poor should rejoice because they are rich as God’s children, God’s loved ones. Ironically with less money, they have less concerns of others stealing them blind. After all, what will the thieves get? But like the poor widow Jesus referred to, they can still give more than all the rich people together, as they trust in God to provide.

On the other hand, the rich can rejoice because they are merely stewards of all that God has given them. They know their time is limited, that they exist to love their neighbor, that while they’re to take care of their own, they’re also to watch out for the poor, for those in need, to help wisely where they can along with others. To try to get to the root of the problem which is inevitably systemic, not stop at giving handouts which too are important.

Rich and poor together can rejoice and glory in the God who gives life to all. Naked they came from their mother’s womb and naked they’ll return. They brought nothing into the world and they’ll take nothing out. The wise remember this, and pray, think, plan and act accordingly.

More to meditate and act on from the book of James.

giving from the heart

Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.

I do not say this as a command, but I am, by mentioning the eagerness of others, testing the genuineness of your love. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I am giving my opinion: it is beneficial for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something. Now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written,

“He scatters abroad; he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”

2 Corinthians 8:7-11; 9:6-9; NRSVue

2 Corinthians 8-9 is worthy of a careful read and study since it is written by Paul to the Corinthian church in regard to a special need among the poor of God’s people in Jerusalem. Fastforward this to the present day, and there’s no shortage of good endeavors which we can help. I am not at all against helping causes for humanitarian aid, urgent medical care, or whatever important, good services there are in the world which are not done in the name of Christ. But I like to begin with organizations which are ministries done in the name of Christ.

Good works need to start at home. When family is struggling, we have to be present for them as best we can. Neighborhood and community issues should matter to us as well. The goal should not be just charity, but systemic change. We need to be a voice for those who can’t afford to live, yes, even here in the United States, the wealthiest nation on earth. Yet too many of its citizens and people who live here can’t afford housing and may not be given needed healthcare available here. If we don’t pay attention to issues like this, and are happy just to give handouts, we’re frankly not doing well enough. At the same time, there are always great needs in the world for food, water, basic provisions for life in famine ravaged or war-torn nations, or whatever people are facing.

But now to some of Paul’s point in the matter of giving. Elsewhere in Scripture we read about systematic giving, say a tenth of one’s gross or net income, what a person or family may set aside to give each week for the ministry of church or of good works to help people in need. That is good. What Paul was referring to here was a special needs project. After letting the Corinthian church know about the poverty of the church in Jerusalem, they eagerly committed themselves to help. That was a good start, but Paul was writing to remind them that there needed to be a good follow through, a completion of what they had begun or at least had purposed. Paul points to the generous act of Christ in becoming one of us and all that followed, and he urges them to complete this work with that in mind.

Paul also lets them know that God wants this to come from the heart, not regretfully or under compulsion since God loves a cheerful giver. I think that we need to begin to see that giving sacrificially from the heart is part of what it means to be a follower of Christ and the point of that, what it means to be human. Humans have a tendency to be greedy and to hoard. In that is lack of faith in God and God’s provision. Idolatry in Scripture is often tied to gaining exorbitant riches at the expense of others. Paul’s vision we find in this passage (2 Corinthians 8-9) is that the churches will take care of each other. Giving certainly doesn’t stop there, but this is foundational to all other necessary giving done in the name of Christ. And from that we open our hearts to the needs of the world.

Jesus on money and wealth (what really matters?)

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.“

Matthew 6:19-21, 24; NRSVue

Jesus’s words here are just part of his teaching on money, wealth, the poor and the rich. If we take the gospel accounts seriously (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), we’ll have to take seriously what Jesus says about wealth and money. Yes, as it says elsewhere, it’s not money that is a root of evil, but the love of money. Strictly speaking money is not the enemy. But when it occupies our thoughts day and night, and we think that if only we had more, if only we would hit the jackpot and then everything would be okay, we’ve crossed the line already. It is a ready and eager idol, waiting to control us, and make us live a lie, even if it’s a religious one.

Jesus makes it clear: We can’t serve both God and wealth. What wealth we receive from God is a part of God’s good gifts, but we’re to be stewards of such gifts. Yes, we’ve been given richly all things to enjoy, but as that passage in Timothy goes on to say, to do good, to be generous in sharing with others, in those words addressed to the rich. But back to Jesus again.

Are we willing to have less money, or do we think our future, our lives depend on money? Whatever we trust and make the priority is our god, whatever that may be. Yes, we should not be reckless with money, we ought to invest for the future. At the same time, in following Christ, we will want to make generosity the priority. To grow in that. Yes, to apply wisdom in it all. Proverbs has plenty to say about money and wealth. And as followers of Christ we major on what he said and what follows in the New Testament.

God will help us. If we are loaded with money in the end, that being our god, what good will that be? How we got there, mostly hoarding it, is how we’ll end: high and dry. Instead, yes, we give money, we meet expenses, we save some for future needs of ourselves and others, and in all of that we seek to grow in our trust in God alone. That the Father and mothering God will see us through come what may. While we thank God for the gifts God gives us, including money, we treat money as a blessed yet dangerous commodity. And we seek always to trust and serve God with our lives and what wealth we have.

the privileged and the down-and-outs

Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.

Romans 12:13; NRSVue

Admittedly, the above passage doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with what I want to think a little on today, though it could. I was thinking how so many of our efforts are often with reference to “first world problems” though in the United States where I live, there are people and situations which don’t seem to be included in the “first world.” But my point is that often we pour so much effort in prayers and good works for people who yes, can use the help at certain times, and this is not necessarily bad at all. But what slips off the radar are people and situations which are in grave need, be it homelessness, marginalization and rejection, abject poverty, fleeing from war and threats of violence, and the list goes on.

Should we curtail the prayers and help we give to the privileged? Not at all, not by any means, they need prayer and help, we all do, and no one is ever beyond that need. But we don’t want all of our focus to be just on that, perhaps just on our own world, what we’re aware of. Our heart and concerns need to include other things as well. Jesus in Matthew 25 talks about the division in the final judgment between the sheep and the goats. And what does it have to do with? About the down-and-outs, about those we can easily dismiss as just too many, the need too great for us to even wrap our mind around, or do anything.

While we can have a concern for everything, and indeed should, we certainly can’t help in everything. We need to pray and look and start somewhere. Giving to a trusted charity which does good work. In our case we have given to Mennonite Central Committee which does important relief work around the world. But there are other good organizations as well, doing various needed good works to help those in need.

We don’t leave the privileged behind, never. But we also must look around and consider people and situations in dire need. We might even find such in our own circle, but we need to look beyond as well, expanding our circle so to speak, finding perhaps neglected places, people, and situations in which we can lend a hand along with our prayers, our hearts and lives.

against miserliness

Riches are inappropriate for the small-minded,
and of what use is wealth to misers?
What they deny themselves they collect for others,
and others will live in luxury on their goods.
If they are mean to themselves, to whom will they be generous?
They will not enjoy their own riches.
No one is worse than those who are grudging to themselves;
this is the repayment for their meanness.
If ever they do good, it is by mistake,
and in the end they reveal their meanness.
Misers are evil people;
they turn away and disregard people.
The eyes of the greedy are not satisfied with their share;
greedy injustice withers the soul.
Misers begrudge bread,
and it is lacking at their tables.

My child, treat yourself well, according to your means,
and present worthy offerings to the Lord.
Remember that death does not tarry,
and the decree of Hades has not been shown to you.
Do good to friends before you die,
and reach out and give to them as much as you can.
Do not deprive yourself of a day’s enjoyment;
do not let your share of desired good pass by you.
Will you not leave the fruit of your labors to another,
and what you acquired by toil to be divided by lot?
Give and take and indulge yourself,
because in Hades one cannot look for luxury.
All living beings become old like a garment,
for the decree from of old is, “You must die!”
Like abundant leaves on a spreading tree
that sheds some and puts forth others,
so are the generations of flesh and blood:
one dies, and another is born.
Every work decays and ceases to exist,
and the one who made it will pass away with it.

Sirach 14:3-19

A miser…is a person who is reluctant to spend, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities, in order to hoard money or other possessions.

Wikipedia

Sirach gives some refreshing wisdom to those who have any measure of wealth. This passage speaks powerfully against hoarding. The idea is that of piling up more and more money, or at least holding tightly to the money, wealth and possessions one has. Instead we’re told in the wisdom here that we need to first of all accept what we have as gifts from God. So that we’re willing to be generous in some measure to ourselves, enjoying each day in responsible ways. And then with the thought that hopefully we will then be more than willing to be generous to others.

We’re to love our neighbors as ourselves, and in the way of Christ, to put others ahead of ourselves. But we use (or steward) what money and wealth we’re blessed with, accepting the reality that God has richly given us all things to enjoy. Generously looking after the needs of those we’re responsible to help, as well as ones God may put on our path. With prayer and wisdom, to be sure.

To give generously and systematically is surely good. To begin to see the possibilities of how we might bless others with a heart especially for those in need, beginning with our families, then our sisters and brothers in the community of faith, as well as all who are in need.

This word of wisdom from Sirach can set us free to help others with something of the blessing God has given us.

where does our security lie?

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.“

Matthew 6:25-33

In the United States we have on our paper money the words, “In God We Trust.” It raises an interesting question: Do we really trust in God, or in money itself? It’s not like money is evil in itself. It’s the love of money which is called a root of all kinds of evil. Our lives and well-being are not dependent on our material wealth, but on God. Do we really believe that?

It’s not easy to write about things which hit so close to home. Words can be so deceptive, an actual substitute for substance in actually doing and becoming what is being talked about. Of course it’s a matter of the heart, of worship, and that always plays out in what we do and don’t do.

No matter how much one is worth or not worth money-wise, our trust should always be in God. This will never be like a slam dunk, in other words it won’t be like we’ve arrived in this life. But as far as we know, and what we should forever and always be striving for is nothing more nor less than total and complete trust in God.

Which means we’ll want to be obedient and will take the steps to do so, giving to those in need and seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness first and foremost in our thoughts and actions.

We’ll never really be secure unless our security comes from God which is where our only true security lies.