Give and It Shall Be Given
It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment. Psalm 112:5 NASB
Gracious – Exodus 34:6 and 7 are crucial verses. They communicate God’s own self-description. The words He uses as He passes by Moses reveal the character of the God we serve, worship, and love. If a man wants to be the image of His creator, then ḥānan must be an integral part of his life. Without it, men are in league with everything that opposes their Maker. The state of the world today could probably be summarized in just two words: lo ḥannûn, “no graciousness.”
What does ḥānan imply? What does it mean to exhibit the graciousness of God? “The verb ḥānan depicts a heartfelt response by someone who has something to give to one who has a need.”[1] Sometimes we call this “pity,” but that pushes the idea toward an internal emotional response rather than an external decision to act. Hebrew isn’t Greek. In the Greek world, pity does not require response. You and I can “feel” upset by the misfortunes of others, but that doesn’t mean we will actually do anything about it. We can simply turn to another station, delete the email, pretend it doesn’t affect us, go to the mall. We can push the images from our minds while still feeling sympathetic. In our world, there is a statue of limitation on compassion.
But not in Hebrew. If we are going to act like God, think like God, choose like God and be His children, then it is simply impossible to pretend that the sorrow of the world doesn’t really matter to us. The rationalization, “What can I really do about this anyway?” is sin! Would God ever say such a thing? Will He tolerate those who do? Oh, and just in case you thought ḥānan applied only to people, you need serious correction. ḥānan is also for the pangolin. Ah, you don’t know what a pangolin is? “Pangolins are hunted and eaten in many parts of Africa and are one of the more popular types of bush meat, while local healers use the pangolin as a source of traditional medicine. They are also in great demand in southern China and Vietnam because their meat is considered a delicacy and some believe that pangolin scales have medicinal qualities. Over the past decade, over one million pangolins are believed to have been illegally trafficked, making it the most trafficked animal in the world.”[2]
Pangolins are like these children [CLICK HERE]. Trafficked. Abused. Turned into profit by evil men. Men who disregard everything about God, and don’t care. Pangolins are like rhinos, elephants, lions, red wolves, black-footed ferrets and righteous people. Nearly extinct. Victims of greed and self-indulgence. On Judgment Day men will answer for this callousness. On Judgment Day, God may ask you, “And what did you do to save my creation?”
Topical Index: ḥānan, gracious, Psalm 112:5, Exodus 34:6
[1] Yamauchi, E. (1999). 694 חָנַן. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 302). Chicago: Moody Press.
First, do no harm. Hippocrates.
We cannot be a source of healing; cannot even heal ourselves, if we do not stop the hemorrhaging and the killing first. We have to repent for death before we can have life. We have to quit sinning before we can start saving. We have to stop blessing and cursing out of the same mouth (James 3;10); and we have to stop being part of the problem before we can be part of the solution.
God somehow made Himself a part of us, which means He tied His fortunes to ours. He created us in that same image, and tied us to the rest of His creation, as well as each other. Pause and reflect what the designation “steward” really means. I bet it does NOT mean that we are free to kill it all! A steward is not only answerable for all in his care, he is tied to all, like a shepherd who cannot sleep until all the sheep are in the fold.
I don’t think that this is merely semantics. I don’t think that this is ‘just’ a ‘spiritual’ nicety. I believe that this is a description of how the cosmos really is. We really are tied to the fortunes of all in our stewardship; our care. A large part of our suffering; nay, all of our suffering, is a result of the sum total of the suffering of what has been entrusted to us. What is wrong with you IS what is wrong with me, and my pain or joy is, conversely, the pain and joy of the world. My salvation causes the planet to breathe a little easier, and my return to shalom; to connection with all through the connections of my Big Brother, brings peace on earth, good will to men. The world IS a better place because we are in it, and it will suffer our loss if we are not.
If we are supposed to be returning to a corporate Body, through which we are returned to our full power to that original commission given, not at the first Ascension, but in the Garden, we will likewise seek the restoration – the salvation – of all as the good stewards we were created to be, as that Great Commission calls us back to. The Great Commission is simply a call to restore the planet – starting with our own salvation, but not ENDING there – to its original state, which is that state of life. As stewards, we must choose life for not only ourselves, but for all given to our care, for our lives have been tied to the lives of all. We must literally love it all as we love our own soul, for that is HOW we love our own soul. This is why love works, for love works through the fact that all was created to connect. Kingdom principles.
Good TW.
THIS IS EXQUISITE: “We have to repent for death before we can have life.”
I struggle with this daily. How Gracious? When Gracious? What type of Graciousness? I am inundated daily with appeals for ‘Graciousness’ usually in the form of money. How much? Do I give the edges of my ‘field’ of crops or do I give away the whole field (Ruth)?
I actually think it’s relational not awareness. We are made aware 24/7. Hurricanes in Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Dominican Republic et al. Earthquakes all over Mexico. Flash floods a lot of other places. Does simply being made aware of these demand ‘Graciousness’ or skip to the next email to judge if abused in another part of the world are more worthy?
And what is there to note of the times of the Old Testament? Was God saying to respond to those three men who stand in front of you (Abraham) or the ones who arrive at your gate (Lot)? And think of Lot…there was a ton of abused children he walked past every day!
13 years ago my wife and I met a family in deep jungle (I won’t offer more info as it is my place to show ‘Graciousness’ to those in front of me) living in a stick shack with little food and four children. They were at my gate, they were at the edges of my field. I had a choice to physically walk away or…
I do extend support for others efforts when I have a personal relationship with that other and trust their call to help those who stand in front of them. But I’m not sure how Abraham would have responded in this era of mass media pollution (not a comment on subject matter, more of quantity).
I think God looks at relationship.
Richard, our Example did not solve the problems of the planet, either. He did what was in front of His face, but He did not heal all He saw, either. He could only heal those who wanted it. BUT, He spent a whole lot of time in prayer. We can pray for all we cannot do.
I have found most people do NOT want to be healed when I ask them, for healing would mean that they had to take responsibility back. This dance takes two to tango, and people are where they are through their choices. Our choices cannot override theirs.
I think we can only work with those who want to be worked with. Now THAT is what we are given the resources of heaven to do, and what we must pray for.
Amen!
Each of us travels our own unique path.
What we most proactively see and do in this world
happens on that path. The classic story of the good Samaritan
is always ours to ponder. How many truly needy people have we
passed by on our path? How many times have we stopped?
I pray as we all grow in our faith walk, we will find more of His power
working through our weakness.