Brown's Daily Word 5-5-08

Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this bountiful and beautiful day, a gift from the Lord. I trust you had a blessed weekend of worship and service, a time of rest and renewal, a time with the Lord and His people, a time to give and a time to receive, a time to gather and a time to scatter. Ecclesiastes 11:1-8 opens with the familiar words, “Cast your bread upon the waters.” It meant that sometimes we do things for others that may appear to be wasteful, extravagant. This “casting of bread” means that we should be willing to take a chance where we perceive that a need exists. This is a faith venture. The bread of charity goes forth, like ships transporting their cargo over the waters. C. S. Lewis was walking with J. R. R. Tolkien in Cambridge when the two were approached by a shabbily-dressed man asking for money. Lewis fished out of his pocket all his spare change and handed it to the man. Tolkien chided Lewis, saying that the man would likely use it for drink. “Well,” said Lewis, “I’d probably use it for drink myself.” We should give wisely, but sometimes we simply give out of the goodness of our hearts. In his book, "The Power of Generosity", Dave Toycen maintains: “Panhandlers deserve to be treated as human beings. Whether we choose to give money or not, our first obligation in a caring society is to acknowledge their presence. Looking away is a form of denial that diminishes and distances at the same time. Generosity sets a standard that builds relationships rather than destroys them.” Some people who go to the city bring extra sandwiches to give to panhandlers. On the other hand, I saw a t-shirt that read, “No change--don’t ask.” We can be mean-spirited, or we can communicate grace. It’s wiser to give to shelters and soup kitchens, and steer people to them, particularly if we suspect our money may aid someone’s addiction. Are we generous or greedy? If we fantasize about winning a magazine sweepstakes, what first comes to mind? a) What we could buy for ourselves; or b) what we might do for others? Proverbs 11:24 says, “the world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller” ("The Message"). Generosity is not something religious fanatics do; it’s a lifestyle of sharing that enriches the giver. Chuck Swindoll tells a story about his time in the Marine Corps. His barracks mate was a young guy who made it clear he wanted nothing of religion, “Don’t cram that stuff down my throat, OK?” Chuck was involved in a Scripture memory program and asked his Marine buddy to help him review his verses. He was told, “I’ll help you with the words, Chuck, but I ain’t interested in being some kind of monk!” This Marine went along with the plan--he listened, corrected Chuck, even encouraged him, but there was never a glimmer of interest…until 25 years later. Chuck got a phone call one day. “Hey Chuck, this is Eddie, your old bunk buddy in Okinawa. I’m a Christian thanks to you. Remember the verses we worked on? It worked!” Jesus commended a poor woman who gave to the temple two “mites”, an insignificant amount, yet Her giving received special notice from God. We don’t give to gain favor from God; we certainly don’t do it to get to Heaven. We give because we cannot help ourselves; we are grateful for all God has done, and we want to give, cheerfully. We need to keep from limiting our generosity. Verse 2 says to “give portions to seven, eight”, whatever is needed. Seven is the Hebrew number of completeness; eight goes one step further. Giving becomes a habit, a way of life, both in good times and in times of disaster. We should not wait for an earthquake or flood, but give regularly. In verse 3 our kindness is compared to clouds swelling with rain, the natural outflow of a full life. We empty ourselves again and again. Our lives are full with God’s blessings, and we in turn shower others with our bounty. We don’t know what disasters may come upon us. In other words, this could be our last day, so we are to be benevolent. Solomon used a symbol of trees falling to the south or north in verse 3. Whatever direction a tree falls, that is where it is meant to be, according to God’s providence. In the same way, we are placed where God wants us, for His purpose. Things don’t happen by accident. The people to whom Solomon is writing are struggling with causality; they see life as meaningless. They wonder, does anything matter in life? As people of faith, we accept God’s will and we try to bloom where we are planted. Sometimes we lack faith, and hesitate to act. Verse 4 cautions that we lose out by waiting for the perfect time and occasion to proceed. Waiting for perfect conditions can keep us from growing, and failure to get things done. Time and events wait for no one. Procrastination is the thief of time. Faith means trusting God, especially when His timing disagrees with ours. One thing we eventually discover about life is just how little we really know. We frequently are baffled by what God does in His world, and why; we have no control over His activity. Verse 5 reminds us that we don’t know the path of the wind, nor can we comprehend the mystery of birth. We do not need to know all the answers to life’s mysteries. We marvel at Creation and are humbled by all that God has wrought. The winds are directed by His command. Until God takes us home we will not grasp the mystery at work in all He does.God expects us to continue sowing our seed, verse 6. We can’t foresee whether our efforts will be fruitful, but we labor on, nonetheless. We don’t stop; we don’t give up, and we don’t know how our work will turn out in the end.Verses 7 and 8 speak of light and darkness. When the sun breaks through a darkened, cloudy sky we thank God for getting us through the storm. There will be many days of darkness, many inevitable trials in life. God helps us grow through them, and He intends that we become blessings to others. The true source of the world’s light is the Lord Jesus, and we are His hands in the world, bringing comfort to those in need.
In Christ,
Brown
"All the exaggerations are right, if they exaggerate the right thing." - "On Gargoyles." Alarms and Discursions . G.K.Chesterton