Giving up the spotlight

As I was reading through Matthew 6 yesterday, I couldn't help but think, "Let it to Jesus to get right to the heart of the matter."  He seems to be asking, "What is your motivation? When giving to the poor or needy, do you want center stage or back stage?"

That Jesus addresses the question of giving to the poor is no accident.  Supporting those less fortunate than you was an important part of Jewish piety.  As Jesus teaches, He assumes that His hearers will help the poor.  The question is not "whether" but "how."

Unfortunately, there were some who gravitated toward center stage so that they could make a big show of their acts of righteousness.  In case you weren't paying attention, a trumpet blast would signal when a person was offering a gift, drawing attention to the person's generosity - center stage!

Jesus calls such center stage people "hypocrites."  From the Greek, the word means "play actor."  Jesus can see right through such folks.  "Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks upon the heart."  (1 Samuel 16:7)  A heart exam of such hypocrites shows that such giving is not to practice piety but to increase popularity.

Instead, the giving that pleases God comes from backstage, away from the spotlight.  Those who give with sincere hearts do not do so in such public places as the synagogue or on the streets.  Instead, giving is done in secrecy.  Without trumpet or fanfare or show.  This is what Jesus is getting at when He says, "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."

What is our motivation for giving to the poor or helping the needy, both in our church and in the community?

Jesus shows us the way.  Instead of setting up shop in Jerusalem, where He could have really been noticed, the Lord walked dusty trails while helping those He met in the villages of Galilee.  He fed the hungry.  He helped the hurting.  He offered hope to the hopeless.  Finally, He gave Himself as the payment of the sins of the world.  Through faith we receive His gifts of forgiveness, peace and hope.  We look forward to realizing that reward that the Father has for us - eternal life in heaven.

I found the first four verses of chapter 6 of Matthew to be good food for thought.  This week, as I am able, I'll look to take my place...backstage.  Out of the spotlight.  Looking to help, for sure, but doing my best to make sure that God gets the glory and the praise. 

Hope - You Can't Live Without It

It's the thing that keeps us going during the dark night of the soul, the power that keeps us moving forward when we're ready to give up.  It moved Job, who was tested and tried, to confidently write: "I know that my Redeemer lives."  Even as he faced death, it led the apostle Paul to write: "Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day." That's hope - pure and simple.

A favorite verse of my is Hebrews 6:19(a): We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Writing about this verse, Rev. Richard Lauersdorf has this: "Few things were more important to the sailor in a storm than a good anchor and a good ground for it.  Believers in Christ have both.  They have an 'anchor for the soul, firm and secure.'  Like some anchors whose strong flukes cannot be twisted out of shape, so we have in Christ an absolute strong and reliable hope."

In Christ Jesu we have a safe harbor.  The storms of life, while threatening to us, cannot destroy us.  We flee to Christ.  Anchored in the solid ground of His Holy Word, we can stand firm against the temptations of the devil.  Satan cannot steal our soul.  Christ comeback victory on the third day ensures us of new life now and eternal life in heaven.  As Jane Fryer writes, "Flee for refuge to Him! Take hold of the life He offers you! Live in great courage!  You are His now and forever!" 

Satan's goal?

Reading a great Old Testament survey book written by John Jeske, a WELS pastor and professor.  I really appreciated this paragraph:

(Satan's goal) is to rob us of our thankfulness for God's good gifts.  If it was within Satan's power, he wouldn't let us have a single piece of bread, not a single penny of income, not even a single hour of life.  But since that's not in his power, he'll try to rob us of God's blessings by making us ungrateful and unappreciative of them.

Isn't that what Satan did to the Israelites? They had God's constant attention and protection, they received everything they needed and more from God's gracious hand, and still they grumbled and complained.  God has done the same for you and me.  If an ancient Israelite could be thrust into our world, the Israelite wouldn't believe it - we have so much! Yet, how often are we prone to grumble about the stuff we don't have or the stuff that someone else has? 

Don't fall prey to the devil's evil schemes.  Let this prayer be on your lips today: Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His mercy endures forever!  Amen. 

18 Inches - The Greatest Distance in the World

What's the greatest distance in the world? Not the miles across the Atlantic or down to Antarctica, but the distance between the human head and heart.  Those 18 inches are the most difficult in the world.  Why? Because only God the Holy Spirit can travel them.  Millions hear about Jesus Christ as their only Savior, but only some believe.  The rest shake their heads in rejection or nod in seeming approval, only to go their own ways.  Their ears have heard but not their hearts.

What about me? Can I say with my heart, "Jesus is my Savior whom God raised from the dead?" Can I say with conviction: "His death counted for me.  His resurrection assures my resurrection.  Because He lives, I also will live, body and soul, in heaven some day?" Then thank God the Holy Spirit.  Through the gospel he carried the message from my head to my heart.  My faith is His gift.  Through that gospel He still works when my faith wavers to bridge the distance between head and heart.

The Spirit helps me travel another distance, the one between my heart and mouth.  When Jesus has moved from my head to my heart, then he'll also move from my heart to my mouth.  I'll proclaim gladly what I believe and thank Him for it.  I'll tell others what I believe and ask them to join me.  By God's grace it'll be head to heart to mouth, with the name of Jesus my precious Savior.

Richard E. Lauersdorf
"Together with Jesus - Daily Devotions for a Year"

Northwestern Publishing House 

What is the secret to having joy?

Here's the secret: if we seek joy for its own sake, we will not find it.  If we seek Jesus, we shall be engulfed and inundated by joy, and quite by surprise.

Matthew Harrison
"A Little Book on Joy"

page 9 

The Friday Funny!

 

Today's funny...

One day the pastor came to visit me.  He said, "You know, you're getting older.  Are you prepared for the hereafter?"

I replied, "Sure! I'm ready right now."

The pastor exclaimed, "Really? How is this so?"

I explained, "As I walk through my house each day - whether it be in the kitchen, family room or bedroom - I am always asking myself, 'Now, what am I here after'?"

A Collect for New Year's Eve

Almighty and everlasting God, from whom comes down every good and perfect gift, we give You thanks for all Your benefits, temporal and spiritual, bestowed upon us in the year past, and we ask You of Your goodness, grant us a favorable and joyful year, defend us from all dangers, and send upon us the fullness of Your blessing; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Adapted from the Lutheran Hymnal