Give What You Cannot Keep, Gain What You Cannot Lose

'But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it.' 1 Timothy 6:6,7 

In recent years we have seen the ascendency of digital or cryptocurrency with the Bitcoin, founded in January 2009. There are no physical bitcoins just a virtual commodity that has purchasing power or value that could be traded online and even for real goods. Bitcoins are not backed by gold, banks or governments. They are not even legal tender. Yet, one Bitcoin is valued at S$47,641 today, up from S$0/- when it was introduced in 2009 and S$0.08 in 2010. In the month of May 2021 alone, one Bitcoin was valued at the lowest price of S$45,569 to highest price at S$78,000.

In that volatility, many investors in Bitcoins have gained and some have lost their fortunes, almost instantaneously. It seems that nowadays, money need not be hard earned. 

Life has become complicated. 

What is the value of things? What is Wealth? "Our wealth is not measured by what we own but what we give away," wrote Bishop Robert Solomon (Ref 1) Bishop was not merely advocating generosity with that statement, he was urging us to keep life simple and not to allow one's wealth to complicate one's life. The missionary and martyr, James Elliot learned this lesson early in life, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

John Wesley urged Methodists, "Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can." Each instruction in the dictum highlights a certain way to live, a certain habit to develop, a certain value to possess. They are Diligence, Frugality and Generosity. Living by these principles, Bishop Solomon surmised, will bring Simplicity to one's life.

Kent Nerburn wrote in the Introduction to his book Simple Graces, "We dream our lives in grand gestures, but we live our lives in small moments. For though we may not live a holy life, we live in a world alive with holy moments. We need only take the time to bring these moments into the light." (Ref 2)

How then do we keep our lives simple, contented and unafraid? Jesus reaches out to us and tells us to walk with Him. A song 'I Know Who Holds Tomorrow' clarifies this.

I don't know about tomorrow

I just live from day to day

I don't borrow from its sunshine

For its skies may turn to grey

I don't worry o'er the future

For I know what Jesus said

And today I'll walk beside Him

For He knows what is ahead

Many things about tomorrow

I don't seem to understand

But I know who holds tomorrow,

And I know who holds my hand

I don't know about tomorrow

It may bring me poverty

But the one who feeds the sparrow

Is the one who stands by me

And the path that be portion

May be through the flame or flood

But His presence goes before me

And I'm covered with His blood

Many things about tomorrow

I don't seem to understand

But I know who holds tomorrow

And I know who holds my hand

But I know who holds tomorrow

And I know who holds my hand

 Jesus said in Matthew 6:25,26 and 34

 

'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body what you will wear. is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.' 

Keep Life Simple. 

Lionel

Ref 1. Bishop Robert M Solomon. Spiritual Disciplines for Urban Christians. Genesis Books, 2021

Ref 2.  Kent Nerburn. Small Graces, The Quiet Gifts of Everyday Life. New World Library, 1998.

Parable of The "Lazy" Gardener

An English Garden in Spring May 2006

'For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.'  Isaiah 61:11

There is nothing more pleasing than a walk through an English Garden. On a cool spring day, it is a sheer delight to take in the sights, sounds and smells of a well laid out landscape. 

How does your garden grow? Tending to the garden should not be taken too lightly, it is hard work. We may take these beautiful gardens for granted and miss the tremendous efforts of the gardeners to plant, manicure and maintain such  artistic displays. 

Yet, despite their hard work, the gardeners cannot cause the plants to grow nor cajole the flowers to blossom. Beneath it all, the discerning person should see the hand of God, invisible yet clearly evident, in the making of the garden. This is the miracle of growth.

Remember, the English nursery rhyme? It makes gardening so easy.

 

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells, and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row

Jesus in Mark 4: 26-29 explained that while one can acknowledge the labour of the farmer, the miracle of growth takes over and we all benefit from the harvest.

'This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.'

a. Growth is a miracle. When we leave it to God, the seed left alone will grow. God gives the increase

b. Growth is gradual. Don’t expect crops to grow overnight. The patient hand of God is at work.

All we need to do is to plant a little seed. The Story of Teddy Stallard helps to drive home this point

The story is an encouragement for the witnessing teacher, doctor, pastor, missionaries, indeed for all of us! Don't think that the things you do are insignificant, Jesus said in Matthew 13:32 and Matthew 5:16

"Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches."

"Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

A song released in 1969 'Put A Little Love In Your Heart' echoes these same sentiments.   

Think of your fellow man

Lend him a helping hand

Put a little love in your heart

You see it's getting late

Oh, please don't hesitate

Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place

And the world will be a better place

For you and me

You just wait and see

Another day goes by

Still the children cry

Put a little love in your heart

If you want the world to know

We won't let the hatred grow

Put a little love in your heart

Take a good look around

And if you're looking down

Put a little love in your heart

 I hope when you decide

Kindness will be your guide

Put a little love in your heart

Do we need any more convincing? To do a lasting deed, plant a little seed.

Lionel

All You Need Is Love

'Love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is Love.' 1 John 4:7-8

Modern society especially its entertainment industry has a fixation on love. It is a theme that draws and tugs at the heartstrings of young lovers. For a brief moment in life they can revel in its romance.

In July 1967, the Beatles released a single, All You Need is Love, at the first live global broadcast by satellite in the international TV programme, One World. This was at the height of the Hippie movement, the eclectic flower children, which culminated in the Summer of Love in 1967. More than 100,000 young people camped at San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighbourhood wearing hippie style outfits, sporting long hair, listening to hippie music, some smoking pot while others shooting hallucinogenic drugs. It was a celebration of love. 

All You Need Is Love expresses with very simple lyrics, the celebration of love.     

Love, love, love

Love, love, love

Love, love, love

There's nothing you can do that can't be done

Nothing you can sing that can't be sung

Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game

It's easy

Nothing you can make that can't be made

No one you can save that can't be saved

Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time

It's easy

All you need is love

All you need is love

All you need is love, love

Love is all you need

There's nothing you can know that isn't known

Nothing you can see that isn't shown

There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be

It's easy

It did not last. By the end of that summer many participants left the scene, resumed school studies, got jobs and started on their careers. The realities of having to make a livelihood forced them to abandon these feelings of love in order to face the uncertain future. Like the hippies in the 1960s, many young lovers will soon realise that romantic love can be fleeting.

But, the need to love and be loved remains. This song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love emphatically states this reality.   

What the world needs now is love, sweet love

It's the only thing that there's just too little of

What the world needs now is love, sweet love

No not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don't need another mountain

There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb

There are oceans and rivers enough to cross

Enough to last till the end of time 
 

Lord we don't need another meadow

There are cornfield and wheatfields enough to grow

There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine

Oh listen Lord, if you want to know

Comparing these two songs, one should notice that the second recognises God and realises there isn't enough of this kind of love - 'the only thing that there's just too little of.' 

In his sermon at Aldersgate Convention Singapore on 22 May 2021, Bishop Gordon Wong brought this love of God to our attention. Speaking on the passage of the love of God in 1 John Chap 4, Bishop Wong (and the apostle John) made a few points that are worth repeating

• Love with the Love of God. In asking us to love one another, the reason is presented that love comes from God. If we do not love we actually do not know God either, for God is Love (1 John 4:7,8). To love somebody, we rely on the love God has for us (1 John 4:16)

• Love God by loving others. John states that Jesus Christ has given us a command, anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. Put in a negative way, anyone who does not love their brother or sister whom they have seen cannot love God, whom they have not seen. (1 John 4:20,21)

• Love without fear. This means we should love unreservedly. We need not fear of loving too much or giving too much or have a fear of being made used of when we love someone. There is no need to fear in giving love. (1 John 4:18)

Bishop Wong went on to say that the love of God is in us; this is Perfect Love. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning understood this perfect love as she expresses her love to her husband in Sonnet 43 How Do I Love Thee?. She moved from romantic love to spiritual love. She posited that true love is everlasting, all-encompassing, surpassing time, space and death.  

Elizabeth's love is Agape Love, Christian Love. The Love of God starts a relationship of love in every Christian and connects us to an everlasting community of love not just for one brief summer of love.

Lionel

A Solitary Space

Garden at Kubota Ichiku Kimono Musuem

'Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.' Mark 1:35

In April 2007, I chanced upon this quiet wooded area just outside the Ichiku Kubota Kimono Art Musuem on the northern shores of Lake Kawaguchiko in the Yamanashi, Japan. The extensive gardens designed by the artist himself stretch from the entrance gate far into the wooded slopes behind the museum buildings. I took a solitary stroll along quiet paths and hummed softly the Christian song, In The Garden. 

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am his own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing

The garden and the solitary walk epitomises man's need for silence, stillness and solitude. Emeritus Bishop Robert Solomon in his book 'Spiritual Disciplines for Urban Christians' (Ref 1) observed that the speed of life has increased in the crowded social environment and the soul cannot keep up with the body. Perhaps the enforced social distancing and the ban on overcrowding brought about by the current Covid-19 pandemic have brought us to recognise this need.

We need to find our God-given space to be alone with God. The Latin term 'Coram Deo' describes this space as being in the presence of God or before the face of God. We need not find a solitary place, just a solitary space, which Richard Foster reminded us as 'a state of mind and heart.' 

Being alone is not the same as being lonely. Being alone or finding solitude is a choice as in Jesus getting up early in the morning and to retire to a solitary place. Being lonely is an imposition much like not having friends, no fellowship and perhaps pining for the company of others.

Sometimes we go out of the way to find peace and quiet as in the case of the garden at the Ichiku Kubota museum. Other times it would suffice just to keep to ourselves in our rooms. Bishop Solomon added "It is not where we are that matters but who we are with. The place of solitude is where we are alone with God." 

The Hebrew word, 'Kavanah' convey the concept of being aware of God's presence. This is especially enhanced when we find a solitude which Henri Nouwen calls the "solitude of the heart, an inner quality or attitude that does not depend on physical isolation." (Ref 2) Dave Adamson wrote "The key is to intentionally focus on God in everything we do. Kavanah comes when you have a mindset that God is in every conversation, every step, every breath, every action and reaction, every relationship, every social media post, everything.' (Ref 3)

Solitude in a lonely garden, a desert or a crowded city engender a spiritual longing for God.

'You God are my God 

Earnestly I seek You

I thirst for You

My whole being longs for You." (Psalms 63:1)

A favourite worship song, written by Don Moen expresses this longing for God in more contemporary language and music - 'I Just Want To Be Where you Are.' 

I just want to be where you are

Dwelling daily in your presence

I don't want to worship from afar

Draw me near to where you are

I just want to be where you are

In your dwelling place

In your dwelling place forever

Take me to the place where you are

'Cause I just want to be with you

I want to be where you are

Dwelling in your presence

Feasting at your table

And surrounded by your glory

In your presence

That's where I always want to be

I just want to be

I just want to be with you

I just want to be where you are

Dwelling daily in your presence

Dwelling daily in your presence

I don't want to worship from afar

Draw me

Draw me near to where you are

Oh my God, you are my strength and my song

And when I'm in your presence

Though I'm weak, you're always strong

In your presence

That's where we always want to be

I just want to be

I just want to be with you

Lionel

 

Ref 1: Robert M Solomon, Spiritual Disciplines for Urban Christians. Genesis Books, 2021.

Ref 2: Henri J M Nouwen, Reaching Out - The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life. Doubleday 1975.

Ref 3: Dave Adamson, 52 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know. Christian Art Gifts, 2018.

The Pearl Of Great Price

 'For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.' Matt 6:21

We spend an inordinate amount of time and expenses in search of possessions, physical beauty and pleasures. This materialistic, modern society places a high premium on treasured possessions as  signs of success. But to store up treasures on earth is not the smart thing to do, they cannot last. The forces of nature and society will corrupt, deplete and devalue these things. 

Jesus taught, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."  Matt 6:20

Tevye, the dairy man in the musical 'The Fiddler on the Roof', dreamt of elusive wealth. Singing 'If I were a Rich Man' he thought of many things he could do with wealth and ended his song with the unforgettable question 'Would it spoil some vast eternal plan, if I were a wealthy man?'

The Bible warns that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim 6:10) Indeed Jesus says "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money" Matthew 6:24.

What can money buy? Recently a Singaporean buyer bought a digital artwork, 'Everydays: The First 5000 Days for a princely sum of USD$70 million'. In 1958, a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci 'Salvator Mundi' was bought for USD$60. In 2017, that same painting was sold for USD$450 million, the most expensive painting in the world.

It seems that wilful blindness are at play in the price of things. Oscar Wilde said, "Nowadays people know price of everything and the value of nothing."

What is the value of things? Jesus spoke of two individuals. The first person was an explorer who searched for treasure concealed in a field. He discovered it and then pulled together everything he owned to buy the field so that he could possess the treasure. The second person was a businessman who was on a lookout for priceless pearls. He found this one exquisite pearl of incredible value and sold all his fortune in order to buy this one pearl. These two gentlemen had clarity of the bargain. They found treasures, they thought, that had priceless value and lasting worth, acquired them without so much as batting an eyelid.

What was Christ teaching in the stories of these two treasure hunters? Jesus was reminding His listeners to look for real value in life. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God," He proclaimed. Bishop Robert Solomon wrote that this will mean an internal reorganisation in us, unsettling our worldly priorities and steering us towards the perspectives and priorities of the heavenly kingdom. (Ref 1) 

What is our pearl of great price? I found that pearl when I was only a teenager. I found Jesus and since then, Jesus is all the world to me.

Jesus is all the world to me

My life, my joy, my all

He is my strength from day to day

Without Him I would fall

When I am sad, to Him I go 

No other one can cheer me so

When I am sad, He makes me glad

He's my friend

Jesus is all the world to me

My friend in trials sore

I go to Him for blessings and

He gives them o'er and o'er

He sends the sunshine and the rain

He send the harvest golden grain

Sunshine and rain, harvest of grain

He's my friend.

Jesus is all the world to me,

And true to Him I'll be

Oh how could I this friend deny

When He's so true to me

Following Him I know I'm right

He watches o'er me day and night

Following Him I know I'm right

He's my friend

Jesus is all the world to me,

I want no better friend

I trust Him now; I'll trust Him when

Life's fleeting days shall end

Beautiful life with such a friend

Beautiful life that has no end

Eternal life, eternal joy

He's my friend

Marc Chagall painted the 'Fiddler on the Roof.' This fiddler opens and closes the musical of the same title with a haunting melody, standing in a precarious position on the roof, a metaphor of the uncertainty of this world. Indeed, contrary to expectations the treasures of this world do not bring stability; only the same precariousness as fiddling on the roof  

So, let us find our lasting treasure - Jesus Christ, all the world to us!

Lionel 

Ref 1: Robert M Solomon, Spiritual Disciplines for Urban Christians. Genesis Books, 2021