Daily Devotion

Devotional Studies on Worship

There are signs everywhere that churches are flourishing. They are growing in numbers, their attendance is increasing, they are building new buildings, new complexes in some cases. All that may be a very good sign of a growing interest in the church. But how do we measure the genuine spirituality of the churches? That is a different issue altogether; it requires that we look behind the buildings and activities to see if what is happening there is truly Christian, meaning “Christ-like,” which is what “Christian” means. And if we do this, I am afraid that we will discover how wide of the mark so many congregations are. If we are to be like Christ, then we cannot escape the fact that we are to demonstrate self-sacrificing love for other people. We read in the epistles that Christ became poor for our sakes, that he was willing to give up his rightful place in glory and take upon himself the form of a servant--for us. And so it is not surprising that throughout the Bible we find this emphasis on self-sacrificing love as the epitome of the spiritual life, and the guarantee of authentic worship. It is often recorded in terms of meeting other folk’s needs, and summed up in the emphasis on “alms.”

“ALMS?” Why that is not even in our vocabulary! It is not listed in the mission statement of our churches! After all, we are busy trying to get ahead, to maintain an upper middle class position in life, or higher. So when we read that Jesus said, “When you give alms . . . ” it does not register with us. It is something for that culture back there. In fact, when we hear that Jesus said, “the poor are always with you,” we take that to mean that we cannot do anything to end poverty so we should not worry about the poor. Or in some perverted way we convince ourselves that they must be lazy or they would not be poor, and giving them anything would only encourage them to remain poor, waiting for handouts. Isn’t it amazing how thorough Satan is when he deceives us.

Look at the trend in our country of what has been called the prosperity Gospel. It is a popular subject; it plays to packed houses because people would like to be rich and do it the “Christian” way, claiming God is in it. If you listen to it you will hear them say that God wants to bless you, meaning he wants to make you rich, give you that dream house, that yacht, that high paying job. They will say that churches that include a vow of poverty by some is anti-Christ. If you believe this, you will send them a thousand dollars as a seed, and God will give it back to you a hundredfold. Of course your gift will help them to their dream house, and enable them to tell how they are debt free. The teaching can be mild or extreme. At its worst it is a perversion of Scripture, a misuse of the text, to appeal to the baser instincts of people. The “worship” services degenerate into a pep rally where masses gather to hear the good news that they can be successful, fulfilled, powerful, rich--meaning in their thinking, blessed. At its best there is the idea that if you are blessed this way you will be in a better situation to help the poor and the needy. But that is not happening; it sounds good, but it is not often evident. And it is not exactly the way the Bible says it should happen. Where in that is sacrificial giving? It is not there--if there is giving to the poor it comes out of your wealth, not out of your necessity (as with the widow who gave her mites). Where is the idea of seeking first the kingdom of God and then seeing God add these things? We are to give first, trusting that God will take care of us too. Our Lord said that to be his disciples we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him. The modern trend of prosperity messages says that there is no reason to deny ourselves anything.

So we want to focus on the subject of “alms” for a few minutes to see what the Bible says, and therefore learn why it is at the heart of spiritual worship. You will be amazed to learn how prominent this emphasis is in the Bible--amazed perhaps because it is not a commonly heard subject in the age of “me.”

The teaching on this subject of alms is found throughout the Bible, even though it is expressed in different ways than the New Testament’s use of “giving alms.” In some places the Scripture commands it; in other places it extols it as the sign of sacrificial love and spiritual service.

The Old Testament has many passages that touch on this subject. From the outset, the Law commanded it--it was not an option. Deuteronomy 15:11 says, “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open handed toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in the land.” No doubt this verse is behind our Lord’s statement that the poor are always with us--meaning that we will always have opportunities to help them. The Law also said that when the people harvested their fields, they were not to harvest the corners, but to leave that area for the poor to come into and glean for themselves (Lev. 23:22). How big the corners were would be determined by the spirituality and generosity of the owner. Boaz was very generous.

Helping the poor and needy was held up as the act of a righteous person. Psalm 112:4, 5, 6, and 9 make this clear. Verse 9 says that “he has scattered his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever.” And Proverbs 29:7 reminds us that “the righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” This is why in the New Testament Cornelius is described as a good and just man (Acts 10:1-5)--his prayers and alms went up to heaven, and the Lord sent Peter to him.

And on the governmental level, the righteous king would be one who championed the needs of the poor and provided for them. Psalm 72:12-14 predicts that the truly righteous king “will deliver the needy who cry out, and save the poor from death; he will take pity on the weak and the needy, and save the needy from death; he will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.” A king may be a good administrator and a powerful warrior; but if he does not take care of the poor and needy--defending them from oppression, championing justice for them, providing for their well-being--he is not a righteous king. Jesus demonstrated that he was a righteous king.

Giving to the poor, defending their rights in the courts, protecting them from oppression and violence--these were the fixed duties of the people of God. To perform these righteous acts was to do the Lord’s work, for he delights in meeting the needs of people.

The Bible reminds us that in giving to the poor we are doing a spiritual service, for we are in effect giving our time and our money to the Lord. Proverbs 19:17 states this truth: “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.” And Proverbs 28:27 says, “He who gives to the poor will lack nothing; but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses”--perhaps from people who see the cold-hearted indifference. But many blessings from the Lord are promised to those who have regard for the poor and the weak (Ps. 41:1-3).

If giving to the poor is a spiritual service, in truth a giving to the Lord, then how it is done must be spiritual as well. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 6:1-3 that when we give alms we are not supposed to sound the trumpet and draw attention to ourselves as the “generous” and “spiritual” benefactors. No, Jesus said we are to do it quietly and secretly, not seeking public recognition or credit for it--and certainly not hoping to make people feel obliged to us for our generosity. If we do it so that we draw attention to ourselves, then that is all the reward that we will receive.

And Paul reminds us that if we give alms to the poor, a righteous act, but have no love, then our service is hollow (1 Cor. 13:1, 3). Giving to people in need is supposed to be an act of self-sacrificing love--not a fixed duty done with reluctance and complaint. It should be motivated by love and compassion for people in need, and not refused because we think they might not really deserve it. None of us deserved the love that was given to us by Christ. And so giving for the poor is to be done with a cheerful spirit (2 Cor. 9:7), for it is a service of love and gratitude for Christ’s gracious gift to us. By giving we are acknowledging that everything we have and everything we are was a gift from God to us, a trust, a stewardship, to be used in spiritual service. It should fill us with joy to be able to do something for the Savior.

There is a constant theme running through the Scripture that worship is ruined by refusing to show love and compassion for the needy. In Isaiah 1 the prophet declared that God hated their sacrifices and festivals, would not listen to their prayers, and hated the noise of their music. Why? The instruction in verse 17 indicates what they had failed to do: “learn to do right! seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” They had not been helping the poor, the needy, the widows and the orphans--the people who need the most help and who were--and are--the most oppressed in society. Amos also rebuked the nation for trampling on the poor, extorting grain from them, taking bribes, and depriving the poor of their justice (5:10-13). And when Zechariah was asked by the people if they should continue to hold their fasts, he replied that what they should do instead is help the poor and needy of the land, including the foreigners in their midst (Zech. 7:8-10). And in the New Testament James declares that true religion includes looking after widows and orphans (1:27); and then he spends the next 13 verses rebuking the church for discriminating against the poor and running after the rich. That is what society does; the church is not to be like society. To James, if people do not love their neighbors as themselves, they are lawbreakers. And God will not be pleased.

In one of the most convicting judgment scenes in the New Testament, Jesus declares that people will be judged on how they treated him--did they feed him when hungry, did they clothe him when naked, did they give him water when thirsty, did they visit him when sick. They will protest that they never saw him in such need. But Jesus will say that if they did these things to the least of his brethren, they will have done them to him (Matt. 25:34). Now I am well aware of the primary, contextual meaning of this passage in the Olivet Discourse; but the principle behind it still reflects the Biblical mandate on how people treat the poor and the needy. God will not be pleased with those who try to offer excuses for why they did not care for those whom the Lord loves.

The passages we have surveyed are sufficient to stress the point that helping the poor is the will of God. But other passages relate to this theme as well. We read how we are to love one another as Christ loved the church, to bear one another’s burdens, to place the needs of other people above our own, to love our neighbor--meaning anyone we find who needs help (illustrated by the story of the Good Samaritan), or to give out of our necessity (as the widow gave her only mites) and not out of our abundance. All of this adds up to what we call the mark of the Christian, self-sacrificing love for other people, so that in the final analysis when we give to meet the needs of people we are actually giving ourselves. It is as Paul said, we are to be ready to give our very lives for those who have such great needs.

And in giving of ourselves this way, we become a blessing to others as we take the part of God on their behalf, demonstrating the love of God to them again and again. Listen to the way that Thomas Traherne put it in his Commentaries of Heaven:¹

Who can withhold his very Heart and Soul from the Person whom God Almighty infinitely loveth? Can I forbear to give Pence [money] to Him to whom God doth give Eternal Glory; myself to him to whom God doth give himself; my House to him to whom God doth give the heavens! Can I refuse to shed tears for him for whom Christ did shed his blood, or to help him to whom all the Angels minister; or to relieve him in whom the Holy Ghost dwelleth! Or to comfort him whom all the holy and blessed among Angels and Men love as themselves! Why this Soul is more precious than the whole World, and this Person somewhat more precious than his Soul. God so loved him as to give his Son for him, and advance him to his throne; and I must so love him, as to make him reign in mine. God in him is himself beloved. And whatsoever is done unto him God accounteth done unto himself. He loveth me, and exhorts me by all the Greatness of his Eternal love, to love that person as myself. All obligations are laid upon me, and all rewards are set before me; to enflame, and crown my love. It is my wisdom, goodness, holiness, and glory to love, and can I exceed in these? Can I exceed in that wherein God is infinite? It is mans greatest interest to make himself a blessing. In loving this one person I make myself acceptable to God, Angels, and Men. And that love whose obligations and Rewards are infinite, ought to be so: and that which is infinite can have no bound, nor measure. By loving him I live in him, and in him enjoy God and all his goodness a second time. In loving him I express my love to God and become the likeness of God unto him.

It is duty as believers to be the means of blessing to other people, especially those with great needs. But we are all too often like Jonah, choosing to show compassion for things of intrinsic value to us, and not for people for whom the Lord has compassion. We make value judgments on sight; we may see a homeless person, a street person, a drunk, and we turn away from them as if they are already on the rubbish heap of humanity. Rather we should see that there is the image of God, not in very good shape, but there it is. There is a soul that could sing with angels in glory if the grace of God through us reached out to help. It is time that the church spent more time seeking objects of mercy and love than turning its attention within.

We started this meditation by saying that alms is at the heart of the spiritual life, the essence of spiritual service. The Scripture is clear concerning what we should be doing. But the Scripture is also clear about the pattern we are to follow. And this is why it is so Christ like to give of ourselves to meet the needs of people, the poor, the needy, the widows and the orphans, and the stranger in our midst. In writing to the Philippians Paul reminded them, and us, how Christ did not consider being equal with God something to cling to, but emptied himself, took on himself the form of a servant, and suffered and died for us (chapter 2). But Paul introduced that great doctrinal passage by telling us: “Have this same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Rather than cling to our little positions, or hoard up our possessions, we too must be willing to give it up to meet the needs of other people. And the contrast was stated so powerfully in our text for this message: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). Here it is. Here is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if we are going to be “Christian,” that is, Christ-like, then this is what it will look like. That is why almsgiving is at the heart of spirituality.

This is not a popular message. Everything in our culture, and in so many of our churches today, call for us to focus on ourselves, become successful, become rich, have our dream house and all the blessings of this life. God may give us all these things; but that should not be our focus. Rather than be concerned with all that we can get, we need to be thinking of how much we can give. And if we ask how much should we give, our pattern is the Lord Christ--we give til they have changed fortunes.

A couple of practical applications come to mind. To live such a Christ-like life has to be intentional. It is easy to hear a message like this, say “Amen,” and then go home and carry on what we were doing. But we have to be intentional about finding people with needs and meeting them. The churches must include this in their planning along with all the other things that are prioritized. It is what self-sacrificing love is all about. It begins with the church of God, but quickly extends to people we meet.

Second, it must be consistent. People do not only have needs at Thanksgiving and Christmas, when the churches do something special for them. People do not only need help when a catastrophe like Katrina hits. It is day in and day out. Many families cannot pay their utility bills or provide good food for their children. That these things happen in the richest country in the world, under the shadow of hundreds of very wealthy churches, is to our shame.

Third, our ministering to the poor and needy is the ideal way to reach them with the Gospel. The apostle reminds us that we cannot simply say to them, “God bless you,” and ignore their needs. But if we show no concern for their livelihood, our expressions of concern for their souls will fall on deaf ears. We minister to the whole person; we can do it in a way that will help them get on their feet and feel good about themselves. But most importantly, we can bring them into the kingdom of God so that their lives will become eternally rich because Jesus was willing to become poor for them.

¹ Traherne was a 17^th century Anglican priest, theologian, and poet. His meditations and theological treatises are very biblical and frequently profound. I have left some of his spellings and stylistic features, but changed others.