Archive for August, 2023
Belated Payment
There is a TV commercial that shows a young boy who has slipped away from his parents at a concert. When the curtain opens the child is sitting at the piano playing “Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star.” The parents are shocked when the concert artist walks up behind the child and reaching around to the keyboard begins to improvise with the child all the time whispering, “Don’t stop. Don’t quit, keep playing.” Together they charm the audience. That artist was the internationally renowned Ignance Paderewski of Poland. The following is also a true story based on an incident that happened in 1892 at Stanford University. Its moral is still relevant.
A young, 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. He was an orphan, and not knowing where to turn for money, he came up with a bright idea. A friend and he decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their education. They reached out to the great pianist, Ignacy J. Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano recital. A deal was struck. And the boys began to work to make the concert a success.
The big day arrived. Paderewski performed at Stanford. Unfortunately, they had not managed to sell enough tickets. The total collection was only $1600.
Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and explained their plight. They gave him the entire $1600, plus a check for the balance of $400. They promised to honor the check as soon as possible.
“No,” said Paderewski. “This is not acceptable.” He tore up the check, returned the $1600 and told the two boys “Here’s the $1600. Please deduct whatever expenses you have incurred. Keep the money you need for your fees and just give me whatever is left.” The boys were surprised, and thanked him profusely.
It was a small act of kindness, but it clearly marked out Paderewski as a great human being. Why should he help two people he did not even know? We all come across situations like these in our lives.
Paderewski later went on to become the Prime Minister of Poland. He was a great leader, but unfortunately when World War I began, Poland was ravaged. There were over 1.5 million people starving in his country, and no money to feed them. Paderewski did not know where to turn for help. He reached out to the US Food and Relief Administration for help. The head there was a man called Herbert Hoover who later went on to become the US President. Hoover agreed to help and quickly shipped tons of food grains to feed the starving Polish people. A calamity was averted. Paderewski was relieved. He decided to come to America to meet Hoover and personally thank him. When Paderewski began to thank Hoover for his noble gesture, Hoover quickly interjected and said, “You shouldn’t be thanking me Mr. Prime Minister. You may not remember this, but several years ago, you helped two young students go through college in the US. I was one of them.”
What goes around comes around. It still does. Long ago instruction was given to ”Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
To Know God
Acts 22 – 30
“Philosophy” derived from “Philio” meaning love and “Sophia” meaning knowledge.
There were two primary groups that loved knowledge, but understood it differently. Acts 17: 18
Epicureans believed in luxury and indulgence in sensual pleasure.
Stoics, this Hellenistic school of thought, was started by the philosopher Zeno. They believed the path to happiness is found in basically denying our emotions and feelings.
They believed God was in everything therefore anything could be worshiped.
Paul observed they were very religious.
In addressing them he observed their condition and began where they were, saying: “I perceive that in all things you are very religious.”
Initially they took this as a compliment, not knowing his view of religion. Religion is a system of works designed to gain the favor of a god. The biblical view of religion is that good works are not the way to God…
Religion can lead one away from God.
Sincerity in religion does not gain the favor of God. A person can be sincerely wrong.
He said he had been “considering the objects of your worship.”
They considered this also to be a compliment, praise for their art.
In reality he was speaking of their idolatry.
In the Ten Commandments is this restriction:
“You shall have no Gods before Me. You shall not make for yourselves any graven images, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water that is under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them….” Exodus 20: 3 – 5a
I Corinthians 10: 14 instructs us to “flee from idolatry.”
Paul observed a statue intended to insure no god was left out. On it was the inscription: “agnostos theos,” (ag–no-stas, tha-os) meaning “the unknown god.”
Six hundred years before Paul, a terrible plague came to the city and a man named Epimenides had an idea. He let loose a flock of sheep through the town, and wherever they lay down, they sacrificed that sheep to the god that had the nearest shrine or temple. If a sheep lay down near no shrine or temple, they sacrificed the sheep “To the Unknown God.”
Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, came to reveal the true God to us, and as the Lamb of God died for our sin and guilt. It is through Him God is made known.
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4: 12
How to Find Contentment
Contentment, who doesn’t want it. People go to great lengths to find it. Most such efforts inevitably seek it in material goods. Material goods are good, but alone are a distraction, often leading to the absence of contentment.
We live in a society where more is better, but more is never enough.
If your contentment is contingent upon things, it is inevitable you will suffer discontent because invariably there will be times you don’t have certain things. There are things that aid contentment which money can’t buy. Money can buy – – –
A bed but not sleep.
Books but not brains.
A house but not a home.
Medicine but not health.
Food but not an appetite.
Amusement but not happiness.
A crucifix but not a Saviour.
In her book entitled: “Living on Less and Enjoying It More,” Maxine Hancock said of contentment: “Similar to happiness, that greatly sought-after but always elusive goal of society. However, it is deeper and more fulfilling than happiness. It is a quiet plateau that can be reached internally even when there seems little external reason for it.”
That “quiet plateau” is reachable by means of “godliness with contentment.”
There were other ancient sayings circulating at the time of the writing of I Timothy which closely parallel this quote.
Democritus reputedly used the word “avarice” as a summary for improper love of money and said, “Expel avarice, the mother of all wickedness, who, always thirsty for more, opens wide her jaws of gold.”
“Always thirsty for more” describes our era. I repeat, we live in a day when more is better but more is never good enough. This “more syndrome” causes perpetual discontent.
Epicurus, building on the philosophy of Democritus said, “To whom little is not enough, nothing is enough.”
When used in the New Testament “contentment” is used as a noun The Greek word is “autarkeia,” meaning self-sufficiency, carrying the secret of fulfillment in yourself, completely independent of outward things.
Godliness and contentment are Siamese twins joined at the cerebral cortex. That is, they are inseparable. Yet, many people still seek contentment by ungodly means. That’s like trying to find a black palomino.
If there is godliness there is contentment. In seeking to be more like Jesus one awakens to find self content. Now that you know where it is, go seek your objective: to be like Jesus. Therein is contentment.
A Heavenly Exchange
Read Isaiah 40: 28 – 31 First
Good news “those who wait on the Lord,” He “Shall renew their strength.”
This term “renew” means He shall exchange their weakness for His strength. This brings to mind the image of an exhausted athlete who brings his dirty, sweaty, stained uniform to the equipment manager and exchanges it for clean, fresh equipment.
That is what the Lord wants to do for us. We bring Him our weakness and exchange it for strength.
We might well pray, “Lord, I will provide the weakness if you will provide the strength.”
One successful African distance runner who had shown great endurance was asked how he does it. He said, “I just tell the Lord that if He will pick up my feet, I will put them down.”
At this point we can enter into a cooperative agreement with God. Notice the sequence.
“They shall mount up with wings like eagles.”
The text that describes us as faint, weary, and fallen now flows into a triad of refreshing potential.
An eagle is illustrative. God created eagles with certain abilities. However, for the eagle to live up to its potential, it must develop and use that ability.
The eagle is a masterful aerodynamic specimen. Its bones have air cavities, making them light, but not weak, the muscular structure is ideal for prolonged extension of the wings, and its sleek sculptured feather-coated cylindrical body lacks no aerodynamic advantage. Its anatomy makes it virtually a balloon so that when it spreads its wings, its tendency is to go up, not down.
The eagle is designed for flight in the upper atmosphere. They have been seen by pilots above 35,000 feet. They are fashioned to be at home in the upper atmosphere. As the air becomes more rarefied and defies most birds to enter it, the eagle becomes more at home. Turbulence causes thermal drafts that give the eagle greater lifting power. It loves turbulence; it works to the eagle’s advantage.
When God says we “soar like eagles,” He is saying He has designed us to soar above problems.
Though an eagle is aerodynamically designed and has a powerful body and wing system, the bird never knows it has such ability until it spreads its wings in flight. As believers we have certain spiritual reserves, but they are never known to us or revealed to anyone until we have to spread our wings. Adversity enables us to show our ability, by God’s grace, to rise above adversity.
Three Character Traits
Plato, the Greek philosopher, was once accused of dishonorable conduct. “Well,” he said, “we must live in such a way that all men will see that the charge is false.”
Three things are advocated in I Timothy 4: 12 as traits of an honest and honorable life. They are fundamental for all life.
The first is love, The Greek word “agape” means unconquerable regard for the welfare of another without regard for what is gotten in return. It means to seek only the good of others. It rules out bitterness, vengefulness, resentment, and does not tolerate hate. Not all who say, “I love you,” really love you. If they love you they will deal with you personally and never try to expose or exploit your weaknesses.
Love, such as a boy has for a girl or a girl for a boy, is instinctive. It is a thing of the heart. Agape love is a thing of the will.
Michelangelo was reviewing the work of some of his students. For a long time he paused silently before the work of one of his favorite students. Then with a brush he wrote one word across it: “amplius,” meaning “larger.” The young artist had shown great skill but his small canvas made the design appear cramped. Could it be our Lord is respectfully writing “amplius” across your life? Do you need to expand the horizons of your love? Paul’s prayer for the Philippian church is worthy of application today: “This I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment.” (Philippians 1: 9) AMPLIUS !
The second is loyalty. This is an appeal for devotion to Jesus regardless of the cost. Loyalty to Jesus is an authenticating mark which defies circumstances. It is true whether you are in the light or in the shadows.
A 20th Century example of loyalty in Corrie Ten Boom. She lived through the worst Satan could hurl at her. In a Nazi concentration camp she saw her family tortured, starved, and finally killed. She survived through a clerical error. Yet through all of her anguish, torment, and pain she was loyal to her Lord and strong in her faith.
Her loyalty might be explained by these words found on a cell wall in a German concentration camp:
“I believe in the sun, even when it isn’t shining.
I believe in love, even when I feel it not.
I believe in God, even when He is silent.”
The third is purity. Purity is an unconquerable allegiance to the standards of the loving Lord.
When Trajan was Emperor of Rome, Pliny his governor in Bithynia, wrote him of the Christians in his territory:
“They are accustomed to bind themselves by an oath to commit neither theft, nor robbery, nor adultery; never to break their word; never to deny a pledge that had been made when summoned to answer for it.” Aspiration to live by that standard today is admirable. Pause and realistically examine yourself in light of those three standards.