Title: Right Relief (Matthew 6:1-4)
Contents
The donation culture can be said to be an important measure of a country's maturity. To be honest, when I heard that Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the world, donated $37 billion, or more than 85% of his fortune, or when the donor emperor Bill Gates (Chairman of Microsoft) said, 'If you do charity, you will feel greater happiness'. When we spoke, we heard words like a dream, far from us. However, as there are 84 individuals who have donated more than 100 million won to the Community Chest of Korea, I think the donation climate in Korea has changed a lot. 23 people joined the Honor Society, a group of major donors who donate more than 100 million won, according to their wishes, and there are also 6 anonymous donors.
The Social Welfare Community Chest raised 221.9 billion won through the “Hope 2010 Sharing Campaign” for a total of 62 days from December to the end of January last year, which is the highest amount since 1998. I think that the strength of our people, who work hard to share in difficult times, has been maximized.
Today is the day we donate relief offerings to help Haiti in our church. I think it is meaningful to look at relief among the religious obligations that the saints, the people of God, must perform in Matthew chapter 6.
act of righteousness
Verse 1 says, “Be careful that you do not practice your righteousness in front of men to be seen by them, otherwise you will not receive a reward from your Father in heaven.” This is the attitude that believers should take when practicing righteousness. “Righteousness” refers to the religious duties that were important in the Jewish society at the time of Jesus. Specifically, there were almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, but when you do these things, do not try to be seen by others, but do it with an attitude to receive God's reward.
In general, a person cannot do anything without being conscious of others. Being conscious of others means being careful not to harm others, but it also means doing something to gain approval from others. In the old days, neighbors were said to be better than relatives living far away.
For example, when a neighbor builds a house, there are cases in which the construction cannot be completed because of the neighbor. In the past, dust and noise were a problem, but these days I am concerned that my rights such as the right to sunlight and the right to view will be infringed.
Therefore, it is perfectly natural to be conscious of others in order not to harm others, and it is right to do so even a hundred times. However, you should refrain from working consciously, even if it is not religious, to brag about yourself or to get praise from others.
In particular, the text emphasizes that believers should not try to show people when they give alms or prayers. The phrase 'visible to people' means to show prayer or fasting to people. Then those things will eventually become things for people. This is why Matthew 5:20 says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Doing good in front of people is good, but trying to show people is wrong. That's why Chrysostom said, "Do good before men, but do not seek human praise."
If you do something good to be seen by people, it becomes an outlier. The word eating out in the Bible refers to ‘acting by an actor’. A term used to describe someone who hides their feelings and expresses the feelings of others. What an actor does is acting, not real. Likewise, doing good deeds consciously of people is far from the attitude of love that God desires. Therefore, you may receive praise from people, but you will not receive a reward from God. The only motive for doing good should be the glory of God. Then you can receive a reward from God. Please keep in mind that those who do not realize that religious works are done before God, not before men, cannot please God with any good deeds.
biblical salvation
In general, people think of relief as 'helping people in need and helping them out of their situation'. It refers to worldly relief, and the relief we must do is higher than this. In other words, “sharing the love and grace received by those who have experienced God’s grace with their neighbors” is salvation. The most important thing when giving relief is that you should not give any help. You have to be careful, because it can hurt your self-esteem, and it can make you dependent on others, which can make you less independent.
The reason we need to give alms is because alms are the practice of love, the command of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we should do our alms with love. That is what pleases God.
When I went to Jerusalem, I didn't take the train or subway, so I couldn't see it in person, but it is said that there are beggars at every station and station to give the Jews a chance to give relief. Because almsgiving is the duty of every Jew. Although the characteristic of Judaism is salvation by works, it should not be done artificially.
The object of salvation is those who cannot live on their own, and the people who are most pitiful in the Bible are orphans and widows, so they are the first object of salvation. Adoption is the best way to help an orphan. However, it is not as easy as you might think. It is a matter to decide according to each person's beliefs and circumstances. At the time of Jesus, no matter how rich a man was, when his husband died, only his children inherited it, and no one was given to his wife. Today, however, spouses inherit more than children. So, if you have money, even a widow is not so pitiful. However, in the past, widows were the most pitiful beings, so the early church distinguished between old and young widows and helped them. In other words, the old widows helped two meals a day, and among the young widows, those who could not live alone were encouraged to remarry, and those who did not were allowed to serve in the church.
Besides orphans and widows, the people we need to help are the disabled. Nowadays, national and social groups have increased interest in people with disabilities, but they still need more attention and help. Even in a wealthy country like Canada, it is said that 25% of the population is disabled, and in a country like Austria, 15% are disabled. Statistically, Korea is also said to have one million people, but considering the 6.25 war, the world's highest rate of traffic accidents, and industrial accidents that occur frequently in the course of industrialization, the actual number would be much higher. Therefore, it is estimated that there are about 4 million people, which is about 10% of the total population. It is important to pay attention to these people with disabilities.
In providing such precious relief, we must pay attention to the following facts.
First, the trumpet must not be blown. This means not to show condescension or the savior himself. If you take the things God has entrusted to you and give it to your neighbors in need, it is wrong to brag as if you are giving your own. In the days of the Lord, when the trumpets in the temple were blown, people brought relief offerings. So when the trumpet sounded, they knew that they would give relief, and they praised them as good people. It is also mentioned in verse 4, but alms must be done in secret and not to be revealed to others.
Second, you must be sincere. Romans 12:8 says, “Let him who gives alms be sincere.” I mean, don't do it casually. If you don't think about the meaning of salvation and do it for the sake of maintaining your own face, you cannot do it faithfully.
Third, you must not force yourself to do so with a pitiful heart. Deuteronomy 15:10 says, “When you give, do not be stingy.”
Finally, it must be kept secret. The text says, “When you give alms, 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” (verses 3 and 4). The right and left hands are the closest and most closely related members of the body, so how can the left hand not know what the right hand is doing? Thus, it means a covert attitude of not remembering the relief that has been given. If you don't do that, you will not be rewarded before God if you boast in memory of your almsgiving. The reason why we are emphasizing secret relief like this is that if we have an attitude to receive praise or approval from people, we have no choice but to give people-centered relief rather than God-centered one. First of all, we must immediately forget the almsgiving we have done before God. Since God is the one who has the heart to give or gives us the means to give, we can give proper almsgiving only if we have a heart to give all glory to God.
If you try to save
If you give right alms, it is said, “Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you” (verse 4). The word ‘repay’ means that God will give you a proper reward. Also, Proverbs 28:27 says, “He who gives to the poor will never be in need, but a curse is great on him who pretends to be blind.” As I said earlier, there are many people who blow trumpets in newspapers and broadcasts, just like the Pharisees in the past publicly provided relief in synagogues and streets. This relief is not remembered by God. Because verse 2 says, “They have already received their reward.”
In addition, the indirect result of giving is that when you give, you learn to be content, and when you are content, you can feel true happiness. I hope that you will receive such blessings by using your strength to give the right relief.
Jesus said, “Toil to help the weak… It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), and we must do our best to help and give to those in need. As I said today, I pray that you will receive great blessings from God who sees in secret by giving alms in the right way.