“Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.”
1 Cor 10:24
Who are you when no one else is looking? Are you looking for the
spot light? Are you seeking the approval of others to validate who you are? Is
your identity wrapped up with how close or distant you are to others, and how
many likes you get on your last post? How we define our self goes to the core
of our spirituality. It was the linchpin of the fall of man. “The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows
that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like
God, knowing good and evil.” Gen. 3:4-5
Wanting to be god of our own universe has been our downfall
since the beginning, and the cause of losing our identity. We lost our
identity. We were assured our position, and had dominion over all living
things. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;
and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and
over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps
on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created
him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over the fish
of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves
on the earth.” Gen. 1:26-28
The
rejection of our identity of who we were created to be goes to the core of
every problem we will face in our life. The question is, who are you? When you
are alone, really alone, just you and the Creator, are you going to be able to
be searchable, or will you be lost without definition because you don’t know
who you are in the light of His glory?
The class
is called back into session, and the Master Teacher has just told us to pray
for our enemies. He’s left us dumbfounded. We are without excuse, with no cards
to hold up, but maybe that all too familiar, “But I’m a good person,” that we
can fall back on. We can all compare ourselves to someone worse than ourselves.
We’ve been doing it since we were kids. Remember the bully who bullied you, and
your mother, or some other well-meaning adult, told you to pity him or her because
they were probably being picked on too somewhere so they were very insecure.
That never helped your own insecurities or freed you from the abuse you
suffered, but it did teach you that there is always someone weaker down the
chain, or that eventually the bully would meet a bigger bully. We prayed for our enemy; usually for
retribution to be quick in coming. Our Master knows this about us as we think
these thoughts. We comfort ourselves by thinking on all the good works we have
done, all the accolades we could claim.
“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deed before men to
be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 6:1
He just took away our brag-imonie, the testimony we give to say
how bad or good we’ve become. Now how are we supposed to get any notoriety? WE
aren’t. That’s where the identity comes in. If we read this verse carefully we
find the marks of identification in the last four words of the verse: “your
Father in heaven.” These words are
powerful words, just as they were for the audience sitting on the mount 2000
years ago.
When God the Father called out in the garden of Eden, “Adam, where
are you?” after the fall of man. It wasn’t because God the Father didn’t know.
It wasn’t some cosmic game of hide-and-go-seek for the Father. It was so Adam
would understand, and his eyes would be opened, and he would know there was a
difference, and he had positionally changed himself in relationship with God.
Adam had made a choice, and he continued to make choices, bad choices. When God
asked him the next questions, Adam continued to let sin into the mix by not
taking up his role, and blaming not just Eve, but God Himself for the fall. The man said, ”The woman whom YOU gave to be with me, she
gave me from the tree and I ate.” Gen. 3:12 (emphasis
mine).
I have often wondered what would have happened if
repentance would have occurred right then. If Adam would have run to God’s arms
and said, “I’m sorry! I did it! I ate that nasty fruit! I disobeyed You, Dad!”
If he would have wept bitter tears, and Eve, being a woman, would have joined
him in one big family hug of sorrowful crying, I wonder what would have
happened? Instead there was just the “Yep, this is what happened, so what are
you going to do about it?” The insolence of man’s heart remained. While the art
work of the Romantic period might show the downcast Adam going out of garden, I
feel it was much more sorrowful for heaven than for earth at the time.
“Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet
before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they
may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.”
Matt. 6:2
Would you give to a charity if it wasn’t a tax write off? Would
you volunteer your time to an organization if you didn’t get something back
from it at work or if it wasn’t a ‘networking’ opportunity? I recently was
honored to write the biography of an elderly woman who spent years volunteering
for many organizations, and to my knowledge she hasn’t been honored by a single
one. She has worked in their thrift stores, sorting clothing, she’s done
community gardening projects, worked on renovation projects, and many other
unsung hero type events. She’s always been the behind the scenes person, and
she has energy to burn. I was so inspired by her. She continues to give of her
time in her eighties, using her hands to do the work, as long as she is able.
What would we do without such people? We need these people.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom
shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah 6:8
I so appreciate the people who clean the church,
the ones who stay after service and lock up, the nursery workers who make sure
the toys are sanitized (I’ve done that job). All the hands that make church happen,
they make church happen on Sunday morning, regardless of whether or not they
get to Cracker Barrel afterward or if they get to sing on the worship team.
Sometimes they’re not even in the sanctuary because they’re in the nursery, or
watching your empty car in the parking lot, just so you can go in and hear the
word of God. I think of these people who are willing to sacrifice their time
and energy when I hear Christians who say they don’t go to church because they
find that people who go to church are hypocrites. I hear them say that and I
want to hand them a mirror, or I want to walk them through a church when a
service is going on, and show them the hypocrites doing those jobs. But, then I’d
have to put a mirror in my face too, for all the times the church has asked for
help in those areas, and I’ve not wanted to give it.
Men seeking the praise of others will always be
there. Who doesn’t like a “good job,” or a pat on the back when they’ve worked
for something, but the point is that shouldn’t be the reason we do for others.
We should do simply because it needs to be done, without considering ourselves first.
This is the mark of the Teacher, and this is the mark of the student as well. In
the garden, when man fell, God still clothed him, He still saw to man’s needs,
prior to setting him out of the garden. God even gave him instruction how he
was to eat so that man would not starve. God still loved, and He wants us to
love and put that love into action.
“But when
you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand
is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees
in secret will Himself reward you openly.” Matt.6:3-4
It’s
the things we do without the concern of recognition that are precious to God.
As a parent, I can think on those cute things my children did when it was just
our family, and those are the things I treasure most. The snuggling moments,
the times when my children wanted to brush my hair, or the feel of my child’s
arms going around my leg when we were in a crowd. I had a long braid that my
oldest son would hold as we walked places. It was the sign that all the younger
children were in place, he had everyone in front of him, like a train conductor
swinging a lantern to the engineer, and I can remember the feel of that pressure
on the back of my head when he took hold of it; the gentle tug that let me know
he was there and literally had my back. Those are the secret things that that
Father stores in His heart as well. He sees the things you do for His other children
without regard for yourself, because it’s just what you do because you’re part
of the family.
God
rewards us openly. He lavishes blessings on us because he knows our hearts. He
knows the ways of man. He knows that when someone is prospering, people want to
know why. I’m not talking about financial gain. I’m talking about being joyous
no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter
various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And
let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4 The reward of doing good is the joy of the
Lord within our souls, and that is a peace that surpasses all understanding.
Having
a spirit of serving is not an easy thing to develop. It requires tough
spiritual conditioning. “Do you not know that those who run in a
race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may
win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things.
They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not
beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I
have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” 1 Cor. 9:24-27
Practically
speaking we are to pour out to others, but in doing so we reap a harvest of
plenty. There is so much to be said about investing in others. Think about it.
If you spend your time doing for others, just getting things done for them, be
it getting to work and doing all you’re asked in the best way you can, or rising
above and doing not just your best but encouraging others to do their best as
well, doesn’t it make everyone feel better? If someone is having a hard time,
doesn’t it make you feel better to go up and say, “What can I help you with?”
Sometimes they need more help than we can give, but we can do what we can, even
if it’s to ask for the help they can’t ask for. There is the expression that the
Church is the hospital, it exists to cure the sick. The Church does more than
that, the Church also is where the Physician does His work. Our reward is to
send out more live patients than dead bodies. God has wired us to derive a
sense of pleasure when we have helped someone. That’s why we smile when we say,
“You’re welcome.”
Let your light shine before men in such a way that may see your good
works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matt. 5:16
