Conversations 1: part outgiving God

yesterday at the Simple Way we had our very first session of Conversations at the Simple Way which three of us had largely been working on pulling together for a while – 15 people signed up to hang out with us as we did a couple of different sessions including one on intentional community, a practical serving the community aspect, a story over lunch from someone in the neighborhood who is involved in doing some really life-giving stuff within Kensington, where we live, and a sharing and question time around a specific theme – this one being ‘how to serve God with your Time, Treasures and Talents’ – it really was a great day and a few lines of thort or concept struck me as different people were sharing and i wanted to be able to pass those on:

Coz is a friend of ours from Australia [i know!] and he shared a little about being a good steward of your Treasures [so money and things] and one thing he said which really stood out was that “You can’t outgive God!”

now, maybe to some of you that will seem like an obvious thing. But i think to many of us, and even perhaps a lot of us that ‘know’ it as ‘an obvious thing’ we often don’t really believe it. i mean, not really. Rather our picture of God [whether stated or not, and usually not] is that of this long-bearded fellow sitting on a cloud with his lightning bolt waiting for the second we step out of line so that He can absolutely nail us and make sure that we behave better [which is possibly why we as the church have ended up so often focusing on what we are against and trying to avoid than what we are for?

but it is so true that we cannot outgive God – God is so completely generous and Loving and kind and compassionate and opportunity-giving and the list just goes on… we just maybe need to realign our minds [and our actions] to the fact…

it reminded me of this passage in Luke 11:

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Coz spoke about it in terms of putting the focus on our giving. Trusting God and at times risking what might seem ridiculous in terms of being generous to others with the idea in mind that we cannot outgive God and so God will constantly supply our needs and how much more so if we have held loosely on to the things He has entrusted us with before. Those who are faithful with little will be entrusted with much.

How are you doing on the scale of generosity? [money yes, but also time and things and energy] And would it help you to be a little more generous if you truly believed that you had an uber generous God watching over you?

to read about “no technology time” head over here…

psalmthing to chew on: psalm 24

hm, after the richness of 23 which i could have explored a lot more and in greater depth, i found 24 a bit more of a dig. nice poetic vibe and all, but not a lot jumping out at me and so maybe this is one where a bunch of you can chime in with your suggestions…

i guess the one thing that stood out is the beginning which reads – ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.’ [vs. 1-2]

this kinda reminds me of something i have been saying, or at least writing, a lot lately, especially in the welcome letters to people who come and visit the simple way – be still and know that He is God – take a moment to remember that this story is all about Him. we do like to make it all about us, but it’s not. and the same goes for the planet. kind of like the idea of colonisation – the white man arrives [it’s always ‘the blasted white man’] and moves into land that clearly has other people living on it and proudly declares that ‘we have discovered this land’. now a huge focus all around the world in recentish times [lets go with decades] has been that, “no, in fact this is not your land, we the native Americans/Africans/Australasians were here before you and what right have you to come and take our land and claim it as your own.” important point and really needs to be examined and worked out and repentance/restoration/reconciliation needs to happen for sure… however, that is not the complete truth as ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it…’ And so even before the native peoples were on that particular piece of land, there is Someone who is making a previous ownership claim.

and so this becomes a stewardship question. whoever you are, this story is not about you, it is the story of God and you have been invited to become an active part of that story. wherever you are is not land that actually belongs to you but to God and He has invited you to look after it well, in such a way that it exists in good shape for generations to come.

we have a lot of work to do. and i guess 24 did have something in it…