Tags
Giving, Jesus, Jesus Manifesto, Jesus Sayings, Matthew 6, Praise, Reward
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” ~Jesus Source: Matthew 6:2-4 (ESV)
There are a number of challenges here for me to pay attention to. Jesus changes how I think and act on giving when I listen to Him directly. This is a good thing since I have spent most of my career raising money for charitable causes. Yikes!
The first imperative of Jesus is that I need to give. Jesus say “when you give”. I should be very generous, even if all I have is a little (see the story of the widows mite).
The second imperative is that I need to give to the needy. I am struck that Jesus didn’t say give to the church (synagogue) or government or some other charity. I am not thinking that was inadvertent on the part of Jesus. This challenges me to rethink how I give.
The third is the giving should be a secret and not for the benefit of looking good in front of others. Now that shoots a hole in our whole culture of giving. What, no more shaming at offering time at church?
The fourth is that my reward comes from God directly and not the IRS. I think I and others are of the subtle thinking that when I give, I will benefit, perhaps even directly. Jesus is clear that my reward comes from God and God alone.
I guess it was Paul who gave more instructions about giving to the church. I would assume it is okay to give to the needy church, to the needy charities, to the needy people (family and strangers). If we try all that we must trust Him to be our source for ourselves as well as for giving away.
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Of course it is ok to give to the church and charities. The focus here is on giving (directly) to the poor, which Jesus challenges us to do.
Be blessed.
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At the time Jesus spoke about giving to the needy, His church had not yet formed. The Gospel had yet to be. Our Savior had not yet died upon a cross. He had not risen from His tomb. The day of Pentecost had not yet arrived.
Who were the needy? They were the poor, those without sufficient food, clothing, and shelter. People His listeners could help.
Since then Pentecost has come. Christians have the Holy Spirit. Who can we help? If we have material wealth, we can use that wealth to provide for those who need food, clothing, shelter, an education, and the Gospel. As someone like Michael well knows, there are people in dire need of many things, His Word most of all. Yet to have eyes that see and ears that hear it is imperative to know that someone cares and why.
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“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:34-40
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My comment was intended to point out that there are organized groups as well as individuals who are needy. I guess I was sort of back-handedly expressing my disgust at the big organizations and churches who make a fortune by pleading to the poor to send them money. I do know what Jesus said about the widow with her two mites. Obviously he blessed her but I hope the “temple” used the money wisely.
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Great point. I am not a big fan of the “prosperity gospel” ministers and churches. I actually think it is heresy.
At any rate, some seem to use the money well and others don’t.
Be blessed.
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I put this together. Hopefully it is a useful guide.
https://quotesthoughtsrandom.wordpress.com/2018/03/04/everything-jesus-had-to-say-about-wealth-prosperity-poverty-the-poor-the-needy-and-giving/
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Wow, a lot of work. Thanks for sharing. In my opinion too many “big” churches are mostly big businesses. They do have some good outreach programs, however, that cannot be achieved by the “needy” churches. I have pretty much found out that God doesn’t need my advice about such things, however. 😀
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My pleasure to put it together. It started as “research” for myself. The more I have read what Jesus had said, the more curious I got. Hope it is helpful.
When Jesus cleaned out the temple, Jesus recognized they were in the “business of religion”. That made Jesus mad. It happens, way too often. Without the power of Jesus, a church will worry about how to market themselves better. If you are really curious, Google is happy to tee up 3,300,000 articles on church marketing.
Some of the “mega churches” are on dangerous territory. One very prominent one here in Dallas reminds me of the Temple Jesus cleaned out. When you enter, you have to get through a maze of stuff they are selling. The book store, kiosks selling all kinds of things, the food court, the chapel they rent out for weddings and more. Eventually you get to the auditorium that can seat close to 15,000. Much of it does seem like the “business of religion”.
Of course, Jesus is the judge. Here is the criteria He will use if we don’t take care of the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, the sick, prisoners, etc.
“Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
I think our job is the be clear about the message of Jesus. Everyone gets to choose for themselves.
Again, thanks for the great insight. Be blessed.
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