“Be careful NOT TO PERFORM YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS before men TO BE SEEN by them. If you do, you will HAVE NO REWARD from your Father in heaven….” Matthew 6: 1 BSB (Emphasis mine)
In recap, we established that, a procedure is a set of instructions that one needs to perform a specific task; a subroutine or function. Therefore, Kingdom procedures are the official ways or methods of performing our righteous acts as citizens of the kingdom. Without going through the right procedures, it is likely all the efforts put in place will end up in a fiasco.
This morning, we will be considering alms giving. Alms giving can be defined as a religious act, inspired by compassion and a desire for justice, whereby an individual who possesses the economic means helps in a material way his/her less fortunate neighbor. It is also giving to individuals, societies and organizations as an act of virtue, either materially or in the sense of providing capabilities such education, infrastructure etc. Alms giving involves charities, donations, contributions, gifts and offerings. It is a practice that is endorsed by almost every religious organization including atheism.
In the Bible and in historic Christianity, alms giving was the act of filling a material need for someone less fortunate, usually by giving money, food, clothing etc. God incorporated the concept of alms into the Torah and was emphasized by some of the Prophets. For instance, God ordered land-owners to leave to the poor the corners of the fields (Leviticus 19:9-10), and every seventh year, leave the entire field (Exodus 23:10-11). In churches today, “alms” often go by the name love offering or benevolence fund.
Jesus endorsed almsgiving and considered it as a righteous act to be practiced by the citizens of His kingdom. Therefore, He outlined the procedures involved in performing such act. Let us consider Matthew 6:2-4;
“So, when you GIVE TO THE NEEDY, do not SOUND A TRUMPET before you, AS THE HYPOCRITES DO in the SYNAGOGUES (temple) and on the streets, to be HONORED BY MEN. Truly I tell you, they already have THEIR FULL 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 what is done in secret, WILL REWARD YOU…” BSB (Emphasis & Insertion mine).
The above scripture suggests we don’t make noise over our acts of giving. Rather they should be done in secret without letting our closest associates have the knowledge of what we have done. When we do the opposite, we will get our full reward from the masses, our ego will be fed but the blessing from the Lord will be forfeited. Unfortunately, most of us will trumpet every act of giving by rubbing them in the face of the recipients at the least offense, telling people of what we have done in order to make us feel good and posting pictures on social media to receive applauds from people.
On the lighter side yet a true story, there was a man who single handedly, built a church auditorium for his church. One day, there was a slight misunderstanding between him and leadership over a position he desired and was not given. He got offended and took the building from the church and drove out the congregation together with their leaders. Till date the building is sitting idle. It very obvious that this man gave to the church for self-aggrandizement.
In Luke 11:41, Jesus tells the Pharisees that though they acted right by giving alms but, they don’t “give alms” out of themselves. They may give money to the poor, but they don’t give love, respect, and kindness. Our alms giving must be done out of love or kindness and not out of pity. No wonder we don’t see the reward reflecting in our lives.
In Acts 10, the Gentile Cornelius’s faithful alms giving brought him to the attention of God. He received an angelic visitation and God also sent Peter to minister to him. His alms giving became a memorial before God.
Today, we are often reluctant to give money directly to the poor. It’s possible the money could be used for drugs, alcohol, other indulgences or even rituals especially those in Africa. They are quite understandable, but the Bible does allow that alms can be in the form of food, healing, and even justice and kindness. Those of us who feel the money or the goods we give out might be used for ritual purposes, can plead the blood of Jesus over them through prayer before handing them over.
It often better to know the needs of people and minister to them in their area of needs. For instance, how do you give out a Bentley as charity to someone who is in a dire need of food or hospital bill? Either way is great. As long as it was done out of respect and love, and comes from a heartfelt desire to worship and obey God, we can give alms as money or goods.
Beloved, let us endeavour to give alms in secrecy, out of love and respect with the desire to please God with our righteous acts of alms giving. God bless us all.
PRAY WITH ME
Lord Jesus, I thank you this day for my life. From this day forward, I have resolved in my heart to perform my righteous act of giving alms in secrecy with love and respect as I seek to please you. Holy Spirit, please guide me and help me to live this life of Kingdom righteousness. This I pray in the precious name of Jesus! Amen!
Author: REV. SOLOMON LUTTERODT