Okay, here it is for today.  I know I’ve quoted this on here before, but it bears repeating…and it is in order of how Jen writes it in 7.

“Give from what is within you to the poor, and then everything is clean for you.”  Luke 11:41

“I’m starting to wonder if Jesus actually meant that.  Was He serious about sanctification through extreme generosity?  Is He really advocating giving our goods to those without?  I don’t know if He knows this, but this would mean completely retooling the way we live and spend….

What if we’re buying a bag of tricks?  What if wealth and indulgence is creating a polished people rotting from the inside out, without even knowing it? 

Is there a reason Jesus called the rich:

Blind, Deaf, Unseeing, Unhearing, and Foolish?

And, dear readers, shall we stop imagining these sad, sorry, rich people belong to a different demographic?  A brave believer admits,

‘He’s talking about me.’

Look at our houses, cars, closets, our luxuries; if we are not rich, then no one is.

If we aren’t swept up in entitlement, indulgence, and extravagance, then Jesus is a fool and let’s get back to living. 

If tithing the minimum and consuming the rest is OK, then we can dismiss Jesus’ ideas and act obsessed about other stuff He said.

But what if?

What if we are actually called to a radical life? 

What if Jesus knew our Christian culture would design a lovely life template complete with all the privileges and exemptions we want, but even with that widespread approval, He still expected radical simplicity, radical generosity, radical obedience from those with ears to hear, eyes to see?

How could Jesus suggest that giving to the poor would make ‘everything clean’? 

Everything?

These Pharisees [in the previous verses in Luke 11] were a spiritual mess.  What does this passage communicate about the relationship between extreme generosity and everything else Jesus then called out

(Injustice, Pride, Spiritual Abuse, Unrepentant Hearts)?

Evidently just as money has the power to ruin, generosity has the power to heal.

This is big.”

The 7 Experiment pgs. 137-138

I know it’s a kick in the teeth.  Sometimes we need that.  I know when I’m starting to feel stingy or anxious, giving to others always helps.  It gets my mind off myself and – without excusing or minimizing my own issues – helps me focus on other peoples’ needs.

Have you found that to be true, too?

Regarding Zion, I can’t keep my mouth shut,

    regarding Jerusalem, I can’t hold my tongue,

Until her righteousness blazes down like the sun

    and her salvation flames up like a torch.

Foreign countries will see your righteousness,

    and world leaders your glory.

You’ll get a brand-new name

    straight from the mouth of God.

You’ll be a stunning crown in the palm of God’s hand,

    a jeweled gold cup held high in the hand of your God.

No more will anyone call you Rejected,

    and your country will no more be called Ruined.

You’ll be called Hephzibah (My Delight),

    and your land Beulah (Married),

Because God delights in you

    and your land will be like a wedding celebration.

For as a young man marries his virgin bride,

    so your builder marries you,

And as a bridegroom is happy in his bride,

    so your God is happy with you.

Sought-Out,

Here we go for today.  Remember, we’re friends, right?  Smile.

“Don’t imagine I’m advocating for no savings.  The Bible has several instructive nuggets on maintaining a cushion, saving for seasons of drought and hardship.  Wisdom plans ahead (that is, if she has the luxury of expendable income; this is a First World extravagance).

But the numbers are so tipped in our favor, I wonder if God doesn’t expect more from the top 20 percent (and most of us are in the top 5 percent) than simply buying 86 percent of the stuff and harboring savings accounts with the rest.  I wonder if there is a graded option somewhere below our means.

As with any healthy conversation, we must look at the whole of Scripture rather than proof texting ones we like.  I took an intricate view of the Bible for so long, I missed the high view, the one where God’s big story comes into focus and the parts become the whole. 

The one where God’s heart for the oppressed is in every single book.

So when it comes to managing money, we must take a holistic approach and ask,

“What is God mostly saying in Scripture?”

Luke tells us a man wanted Jesus to tell his brother to split their inheritance.  Jesus wasn’t dealing with a crooked lawsuit or a spat between enemies.  These were brothers with a rightful claim.

‘Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’

Jesus replied, ‘Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?’

Then he said to them,

‘Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’

And he told them this parable:

‘The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do?  I have no place to store my crops.’

Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do.  I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years.  Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.’

But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you.  Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.’

(Luke 12:12-21)

This is me now.  I just want to say I know it could be easy to look at this passage and completely dismiss retirement.  I know and have heard of so many people who use retirement to bless others and serve Jesus even more full-time.  I do not think this is an indictment against retirement.  But let’s lean into what it does mean…

Jen now:

“Why do you think Jesus answered the man like He did rather than offer a practical solution [to the inheritance issue]?

What connection do you see between the ‘rightful entitlement’ of these brothers and our attitude toward our wealth and advantages?

Again, Jesus took a swipe at stored possessions, which He understood to be the inevitable end of this argument.  He interpreted this high level of angst correctly; it was for more stuff; this inheritance wasn’t going to land in the hands of the poor.

Nothing can turn humans into thrashing, clawing, desperate enemies quicker than money. 

With precision, Jesus identified why they were fighting (greed) and what the end result would be (hoarded wealth) without asking a single question.

Money makes us super predictable.

What sticks out to you [in the story of the man with a good crop and bigger barns]?

What false assumptions did the man embrace?

Is this like selling perfectly lovely houses for bigger ones because our stuff outpaced our square footage?

Has it become standard protocol to go bigger than live smaller?

I believe we are liquid consumers, able to till any container we pour ourselves into, no matter how spacious it feels at first.

I find Jesus’ take on savings so practical. 

Evidently, there is a limit to what we sock away, ensuring our ease and merriment later.

This flies squarely in the face of the American Dream, but Jesus apparently doesn’t give one whit.

I wish He would’ve given us a clearer formula or income-to-savings ratio, but He did give us clues to check our temperature:

                             Relational distress, specifically among family

     Greed               Abundance                Excessive Wealth                   Upsizing

    Hoarding                       Selfishness                            Spiritual Poverty

                         Striving toward ease and merriment (“Take life easy…”)

How do you need to respond to Jesus’ difficult teaching?”

I tell you, love your enemies.

Help and give without expecting a return.

You’ll never—I promise—regret it.

Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst.

Our Father is kind; you be kind.

Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment.

Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang.

Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier.

Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing.


Giving, not getting, is the way.


Generosity begets generosity.



Luke 6:37-38 The Message

God and I seem to work well when I’m in action.  Or maybe it’s just obedience that He blesses (yes).  Either way, as I’m just doing the thang, He is speaking to me. 

But not without some “hiccups.”

First, our microwave is broken.  Bleh.  While we could go buy a new one, it’s not a super convenient time with some upcoming expenses.  And besides, didn’t I want this to pinch?  Smile.  So this makes my morning oatmeal a bit of a challenge.  And reheating coffee.  It’s not even hard – just do it on the stovetop.  But since it’s inconvenient – and I can quickly get addicted to convenience – it’s a stretch for me.  I told my Fall Avoidance class next thing they know I’ll be down at the river washing our clothes.

Second, one of my girls called this morning asking what she could do to help.  I told her to make sure to ask if I’m getting too legalistic in my heart with this. 

She goes, “Are you worried more about being legalistic in this or in cheating?”

(Don’t you love how a well-timed question can often do so much more than a litany of advice?)

I thought for a bit and realized it’s the second.  I told her that since I’m in a season with not much parenting help, I start to feel like I deserve things.  Dan’s been gone all day and has class tonight.  I deserve to not cook and eat out instead.

Is that sometimes a wonderful thing?  To eat out when you’ve had a long parenting day?  Of course.  But you know how you can know something in your heart?  I know right now I need to be obeying in this.

And finally, some wisdom from my man on his way out the door:  “Remember, don’t completely overhaul everything.  You’ll make everyone, and yourself, crazy.  We’re just trying to create some new habits.”

Man, he knows me so well.

(I think living with an all-or-stinking-nothing person for almost 12 years has qualified him for some sort of medal.)

But anyway, I should tell you something about me: I’m not a big fan of behavior modification.  I know that it is necessary.  I understand the psychology behind it.  But I’m a much bigger fan of talking through what’s behind behavior and understanding people’s motives.

About a month ago I was at a training for work at our gym.  (We have to do 15 Continuing Education credits every two years to stay certified.)  The trainer was a-mazing.  She was talking about her work in coaching and holistic health and totally had me.  Then she goes, “And, folks, the bottom line is we’re in the business of behavior modification.”

Something died inside me.

Okay, not really. 

But it is hard for me to feel like the main thing I’m doing is habit training.  But God’s been working on this area.  Showing me some balance.  How that’s a good thing.  And our pastor is so great at reminding us faithfulness in daily tasks is worship to Him. 

Last week he said, “When God is first in our lives, every single thing we do has meaning.”

Thank You, Jesus.

Parenting and homemaking has taught me this, too.  And I read this interesting book about daily life being worship before God in the repetition. 

Even just walking outside this morning checking on the growing garden with my boy is worship.

So it is okay with me if this spending fast turns into new habit formation.  That’s where the rubber meets the road on what we say we believe anyway.

Okay, there’s more. 

God is so….smart. 

This morning I was ready for Isaiah 58 in my daily reading.  Isaiah 58.  About true fasting.

Let’s hear verses 6-12 in the Message version:

This is the kind of fast day I’m after:

To break the chains of injustice,

Get rid of exploitation in the workplace,

Free the oppressed,

Cancel debts.

What I’m interested in seeing you do is:

Sharing your food with the hungry,

Inviting the homeless poor into your homes,

Putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,

Being available to your own families…

If you get rid of unfair practices,
    quit blaming victims,
    quit gossiping about other people’s sins,

If you are generous with the hungry
    and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,

Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
    your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.

I will always show you where to go.
    I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
    firm muscles, strong bones.

You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
    a gurgling spring that never runs dry.”



Here’s the thing He won’t let me get away from:  Loving the King means loving the Kingdom. 

I cannot get away from the idea of joining Him where He is at work.

Of advancing the Kingdom.

Of allowing the new heart He forms in His people to get out there and be a shining beacon in much, much darkness.


But this is coming from someone who – in my flesh – can rush around trying to anxiously please if I feel someone is demanding certain behavior or punishment is at stake.


But “there is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”  (1 John 4:18)


So I need to be careful with my heart.  And maybe your heart, too.  You, reading this. 


So we’ll just have to remember this about it all:

It’s about Him. 

We align with Him. 

We seek to obey Someone Who can never love us more or less than He does right this minute as we stand covered in the blood of the Spotless Lamb.


It really is such freedom. 


Let’s stay in this place.

 

Okay, let’s do some “why?” stuff:

One of my favorite books on fasting is Hunger for God by John Piper.  Not favorite as in, hey what a fun read.  Nuh uh.  Favorite as in oh my word this is convicting. 

I can’t find my copy, so I can’t check my memory on this quote.  But the story he told was about when he and his future wife were first dating, he was away from her one summer while working at a camp.  When he would get a letter from her, he would completely skip lunch to read the letter instead.  He didn’t think about it, it’s just that he wanted to feel close to her more than he wanted food.

Fasting is like that.  In Matthew 9:14-15, Jesus is asked about why his disciples don’t fast.  He answers:

“How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?  The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”

Our Bridegroom is gone for now, but He’s coming back.  Until then, as we long to be with Him and feel close to Him, we give up some of the world’s pleasures.

But, as Piper points out, that’s not the whole story.  Usually, instead of longing for His return and completely wanting to give up any earthly pleasure to feel close to Him, we instead find other little pleasures with which to fill our souls.

And when that’s the case, fasting becomes a useful tool to reawaken our heart for Him. 

So that’s where we are.  Usually, the things we fast from (media, excessive time with people, food) are perfectly wonderful things.  We just need to concentrate, so we give them up for a time.
 

That’s how I’m looking at this spending fast.  Nothing wrong with eating out.  Not a problem to have treats.  Just going to set them aside – again – and re-read what I learned around this time last year from The 7 Experiment.  I remember being challenged in the purpose of our finances and perspective on how we should live.

I want to revisit that.  Join me?

Okay, friends.

It’s happening.

I’m gonna do that spending fast. 

If you’ve read this blog for more than two minutes, you know that follow through is not my strong suit.

And my resident Follow-Through-er (aka family responsible person) is swamped right now.

So I’ve enlisted some reinforcement.

Their assignment (should they choose to accept it) is to shoot adrenaline into my soul when I want to slack off.

Also, they will be the people I call when everyone is whining and I’m inside my head and just want to give in to a treat or eating out or something. 

The conversation will probably go something like this:

Me: I wanna quit.

Them: No.

Me: But I have rights.

Them: No you don’t

Me:  But this is hard.

Them: We can do hard things

Me: Okay. 

Them: Plus you’ll have to confess on your blog if you blow it and you hate to disappoint people.

Me: Shut your mouth.

We love each other.

I can’t prove my motives are perfectly pure.  And that I’m not serving my Performance/Approval/Acceptance Idol.  I guess I can just give you my word that I’m committed to getting down each morning and asking Him to help me do it for His glory, my good, and from a standpoint of obedience out of love.

Besides, Tim Keller says,

“If you wait until your motives are pure and unselfish before you do something, you will wait forever.”

My parameters are still a little unclear.  I know the boys and I need to not eat out right now.  Or get something superfluous at the grocery store.  Or the Target store.  Or the Kwik Shop store.  Not sure how long.  I want this to pinch.  Again, not so I can feel righteous.  That’s silly.  But so I can go to Him in that pinch and say, “This hurts.  This little convenience clearly owned me a bit.  Help me and be Enough for me.”

I know this will not interfere with my man leading our family.  (Which is a saintly way of saying, if Dan says let’s eat out, I’m on board!)

Our actual convo this morning:

Me: I’m gonna do that spending fast finally.  But it won’t affect your decisions.  Just when I’m in charge during the day or when you’re gone in the evenings. 

Him:  Are you expecting this to be something I disagree with?

Hmmm….it’s time, friends.

Okay.  Have chatted with my people.

Have thought and prayed through the difference between wanting to earn favor with God and, as our pastor says, “working hard.”

Effort, not earning.

As usual, one of my peeps reminded me of “living in the tension.”

And the importance of the motives of my heart.

I talked about abiding in the Vine last time, so I think we’ll start there again.  John always helps me stay in the motivation of love.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. 

Now remain in my live. 

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed the Father’s commands and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends

You are my friends if you do what I command.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.

Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 

This is my command: Love each other.”

John 15:9-17

Why is love so hard?  Why is genuine community such a struggle?  Why do we treat strangers nicer than the people in our homes sometimes?  Why do we so desperately want to be known and yet fight with everything we have to show only the “good” side of our still-sinful-this-side-of-heaven hearts?

Anyway, even though Jesus is talking to His intimate friends in this passage and says He no longer calls them servants, I don’t think that means we get to throw away the stewardship parables.

Know what I mean?

But I think for my purposes and scars, I should stick to a friend motivation. 

Did you know that right before John 15, the last line is “Come now, let us leave”?

And they were going to the Mount of Olives?

Don’t you think there were probably vines around them as He talked through how His Father was the Vine and we are the branches?

Isn’t He wonderful?

There’s a lot in the above passage we could pull out and hammer on.  But taken as a whole it is seamless.  There is talk about obeying His commands.  But it is in the context of loving each other.  We are told we can bear fruit, but it’s because He chose us and it’s for His glory.

And He’s already gotten all the way down to the ground to show them “the full extend of his love” (John 13:1) and “the most excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31b).

From there we can handle Him talking about pruning us: yes, He cuts, but it’s so we are ever more fruitful. 

And obeying His commands: yes, we obey, but it’s because He loves us as much as the Father loves Him.  And because obedience is for our joy.

Now my heart can hear about how money shouldn’t be of primary importance.  Or how this world cannot fulfill me.  Or that heaven is my home.  Or that what I make is probably not mostly for me.

I can do that because He is Love. 

He doesn’t need “my” money.

But, if I’ll cooperate, He’ll show me how to honor Him in handling money and the absolute thrill that only giving can provide.