2005-11-27 Communion Dedication – Baldwin Christian Church 

Matthew 6:1-4 

1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

2 Therefore when thou doest [thine] alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. 

It’s OK to give to the poor when other people are watching, but if I give with the intention of being seen, I’m a hypocrite.  This is weird I know, but stick with me, it gets even weirder.  After all, that’s what Jesus has been teaching us in the Sermon on the Mount: how to be a peculiar people, something different that what the world expects. 

The Lord told us that what we do to the least of His servants we do to Him.

Matt 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Matt 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.

Heb 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 

Alms-giving is doing good deeds, showing mercy to those in need, donating your time, money, property, etc, and according to the Scriptures, it is a form of righteousness (Deut 24:3; Ps 112:9; Dan 4:27; 2 Cor 9:9-10).  Jesus is warning us against giving with an impure heart, and in a way, this can apply to the communion service. 

When we help those who need help, we’re passing on the mercy that God has shown us.  It is pride and arrogance that wants to be recognized for acts of mercy.  It’s pride and arrogance that enjoys receiving attention, honor, and awards from fellow philanthropists.  Pride and arrogance come before a fall (Pro 16:18; 1 Tim 3:6).  (It’s a lot easier to trip when walking about with nose up in the air.)  Pride and arrogance cannot survive in the presence of God (it is idolatry).  If you ever see a sign on the local homeless shelter that says, “The Anthony E. Bigelow Wing”, I hope you come up and tell me, “You may call Jesus ‘Lord’, but you don’t know Him”. 

You see, God has told us we’re supposed to come out of this world of pride, arrogance, and back-scratching to be a peculiar people unto Him, different from what everybody else expects (1 Peter 2:9; Exodus 19:5).  We’re to be over-comers because Jesus has over-come.  We’re to be a ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ type of people, and here’s where it gets weirder. 

Remember how verse one is worded.  It’s OK to do your alms before men, but not if you’re doing it in a way to be seen doing your alms.  This is where we get into trouble.  Let’s say I were to tell you that I know a family who needs the Thanksgiving Basket (food), and the church decides to let me take it to them.  Then later that evening when you sit down to watch the TV news, you see me on camera, handing the food basket to that family in need, and taking all the credit for myself, making no mention of the church.  What would you think?  I hope you would be upset with me, but let me change it up a little.  What if you saw me handing over the food basket, giving credit to Baldwin Christian Church?  Your first reaction would probably be a warm fuzzy feeling, right?  There’s danger in that, and that’s why I think Jesus is telling us that we shouldn’t do our alms before men at all.  In other words, if it’s at all possible, do your alms secretly.  That way, if you never see me giving, you never have to guess about what my intentions are. 

If I truly love you, I don’t want any misunderstanding to exist between us, so I should be doing my alms in secret, and keeping them a secret just between God and I.  How many good secrets do you keep with God, the things that nobody knows except you and the Father?  Usually these secrets are only the bad things; the things we did wrong that nobody else knows about, and we’ve prayed to the Father for His forgiveness (just between me and Him).  How much more precious are the secrets of righteousness, of mercy, of alms-giving?  The mercy that God shows us, He does it in a way that men can’t see.  We don’t even see a fraction of the mercy He’s shown us in our lives, and if He can humble Himself that much, why can’t we?  Our attitude should be: We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do (Luke 17:10). 

Reward: Luke 12:32-34; Matt 10:38-42; Matt 25:31-46