In our meditations together, we have been considering the words the Master gave in His Sermon on the Mount, by which He revealed the Secrets of Being. Some little time ago, I suggested to you that there was an aspect of this meditation which was of extraordinary importance in the fulfilment of our lives, and that coming to you from out of the future was the opportunity for a deeper realization of that by which you might come to know more fully, in expression on earth, the Way, the Truth and the Life. And now, we have come to that day and that hour. In our previous meditations we have sought to prepare the way, so that you might deeply realize the significance of these simple words of Truth our Master conveyed to us while He walked among men. I would read to you, beginning with the first verse of the 6th Chapter of Matthew:
“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. 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. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” There is no text more significant, more important, than this. These words have intrigued the minds of men and women through the centuries, and various efforts have been made to understand them and to apply them, but we have not seen, in the world of humanity, an adequate application of the Truths which the Master here presented. In the first verse we note His definite statement, “Take heed”—give careful attention, meditate and realize—"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them.”
The first point we need to clarify in relationship to unified understanding has to do with the significance of the word that is here translated as alms. We recognize that, in any effort to translate from one language to another, there is the difficulty of conveying exactly what the speaker meant. To illustrate the principle let me remind you that the common language of the time, when the Master was living on earth in that region, was not Hebrew, it was not Greek—the two languages in which we find the Scripture written, in their original forms—it was Aramaic, and it was in the Aramaic language that the Master spoke to the people, generally. In the synagogues there were times when He used the Hebrew language, but, generally speaking, that which He taught was presented in the Aramaic language.
As we meditate upon this subject, then, we realize that the word “alms” as it is thought of today is rather ambiguous. The word itself is, I think, properly classified as archaic. It is seldom used today. In Old English it meant very much the same as we today would mean if we properly used the word “charity”, but our use of the word “charity” has so degenerated that it simply means the giving of some money to the Red Cross or the Community Chest, or doing some little thing that is supposed to be magnanimous in our attitudes toward others, and “charity” is generally used in the sense that the person to whom it is given is a very needy person; in other words, the element of human dignity is very often completely disregarded in relationship to the principles of charity. We remember, for instance, that in Corinthians, the chapter dealing with love, the word “love” there, was translated at the time this text was translated as "alms." The word "love" was translated as “charity”. Well, now, we use the word “charity” instead of the word “alms,” and have lost much of the significance in relationship to both words. And we need to stop and consider these things, somewhat, if we are going to begin to realize the true significance of what the Master said. So, charity, in the true sense, does not disregard human dignity.
We cannot use the word “charity”, with our present meanings, in place of the word “alms”. But if we disregard the wrong meanings which are at the present time attributed to the word, we can begin to see something of the significance of what the Master sought to convey. But there is no word in the English language that adequately and properly conveys the meaning which was contained in the word which He originally used in the Aramaic language, and we need to recognize this if we are going to comprehend the deep, vibrant significance of these words.
So, while we may use “charity”, in the purified sense, as a starting point, it is not adequate. We cannot find any one word to portray it, so let us use a number of words that come closer to conveying the meaning that the Master expressed in his original wording in the Aramaic language: the things you do in your life expression to others, that which you convey to others—it must include your spirit or attitude; it must include the degree of your understanding; it must include the degree to which you are sensitive to the other person's actual situation; it must include all of the acts by which others are blessed or harmed, by our living; it must include the things, inadvertently done, thoughtlessly done—all of that which conveys something from us to others.
The word “alms,” then, especially as seen in the archaic use of this word, fails utterly to convey what the Master actually said. What do you convey in outer form to others? And in what attitude do you express to others? To be seen of them? To receive their approbation? To make others feel that you are a good fellow or a fine person? To develop an appearance only? The appearance of the form of the act is not adequate in relationship to the meaning of the word as we have outlined it, for the Spirit of the word or the deed, the attitude, the inside motivation, not what one tries to make it appear to be on the outside but the inside motivation out of which the act springs. And it is not merely in giving a material object, in the sense of money or clothing or food. It is in the giving of the words which influence others, the attitudes.
I remember a certain occasion when I was under a very vicious attack by certain ones who were seeking to disrupt the pattern of my Ministry, and there were present, individuals who were able to understand the Truth of the matter, and those who did not comprehend it, and those who did not care one way or another. And I remember, on this particular occasion, a certain man lifted his hand and just barely touched me on the point of my shoulder for just an instance, and returned his hand to himself. Just that little gesture, a tiny little thing we may say, and yet it is among the most vivid of my memories because, under those particular circumstances, he did it unobtrusively. I do not know whether anyone else in the room noticed it. I noticed it, and it was a lovely gesture, an expression of alms—not money, not things, not clothing or food, but the expression of himself, a recognition of understanding, a recognition of the vision which could detect the lies and the untruths and the viciousness in that particular circumstance. And so, there was an outstanding case of doing alms—not to be seen of men; that was not the purpose. The purpose was to give me the assurance of a strong, staunch friendship and an understanding heart. Blessed things, those are, blessed indeed! The alms!
So we begin to see that this word, translated as “alms” here, includes all the attributes of friendship, the expression of life by which we, in daily living, have the privilege of blessing the lives of others. And the Master said, “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.” Now here we come to another point beset with ambiguity, for human beings do not recognize, with any true vision, the meaning of “the reward of the Father in Heaven.” Again we have certain limitations with respect to translation, but not so severe.
The point is that, “the reward of the Father in Heaven” has to do with life here, and not merely hereafter. To emphasize this point let us note the conclusion of this particular text which I read to you this morning, “That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” Now if there is to be an open reward it certainly will not be a reward limited to heaven and a hereafter, in an invisible realm where human beings simply cannot see it. If it is to be an open reward it is to take form on earth while we live here on earth, among men. So, the Master's own words clearly emphasize this point that “the reward of the Father in Heaven” is to be given form on earth in relationship to this present span of life. And here is one of the very important points if we are to begin to grasp the great significance of the Master's word in relationship to this subject, for human beings have tended for so long to feel that the things of God could not be really experienced and known on earth. We might have a little spiritual experience, but it was mainly for a hereafter, an invisible and unknown realm, something that did not apply here and now.
It is important, if we are to comprehend the full significance of the Master's word, that we see that what He was talking about here has to do with the reward in the manifestation of life here and now on earth, the open reward, the positive expression of life in this present sphere. And so, He said, “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father in heaven.” In our meditations together, we have recognized the basic principle that, if life is to be productive in a true sense, if we are to know fulfilment, it must be the pattern of the Father's action in us and through us. As the Master put it, according to the record in John 14, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do.” But just before that, He had said, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father who dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” Then the works made manifest through Jesus were the works of the Father given outer form on earth. They were from the Father, and He said, “Follow me.” And if you truly believe on me you will let the works of the Father be given outer form through your bodies, through your minds and hearts, on earth, in this present time.
So here, “the reward of the Father which is in heaven” is the expression of the Father's Power, wisdom, understanding, through us in the doing of the Father’s Will on earth as it is in Heaven, in exactly the same manner, for the same Divine purpose. And so, we here begin to see that the Master was pointing out that we must not do our alms—that is, give expression in life, in form—primarily to be seen of men, to convince them of something, for if we act to secure a reward from men that is the reward we will receive, and He said, “otherwise ye have no reward of your Father.” Now, if you have not had adequate reward from the Father in the positive expression of life on earth, perhaps it would be well to take heed to this point and recognize the Truth, the Truth which the Master presented in these words: “Otherwise ye have no reward from your Father in Heaven.”
We can all count many blessings, and acknowledge blessings uncounted, the rewards of the Father in Heaven, and I am sure that you do take time to be grateful, that you do not take God's blessings for granted, that you take time to express thanksgiving to the Source of all that is. But is that expression of the Father through you entirely adequate, in relationship to the fulfilment of your life, to the manifestation of blessings through you to others? Is it entirely adequate, or do you have a sense that the rewards of the Father have not yet been made adequately manifest in your life?
You have many things to be thankful for, but is it possible that God could do more through you than He has yet done? Is it possible that the potential of your body and mind and heart provides a situation which would, if you function correctly, allow you to permit the Father to do more on earth than you have yet let Him do? For it must be the Father's action through you, if it is to mean anything. So, if “ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven,” or if ye have an inadequate reward, or if, in respect to some phase of your life, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, there is no reward or an inadequate reward, might it well be that we should indeed “take heed,” as the Master said? “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.”
Blessed Ones, it is not God's Will that anyone should be empty or limited. “It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom”, the abundance of the Kingdom, the Power of the Kingdom, the fruitfulness of the Kingdom, and share with you the Glory of the Kingdom. Until we begin to realize that these limitations in life are not Divinely ordained, they are not in any sense Divinely required, they are not in any sense God's Will, but rather it is God's Will that we should know the fulfilments of life on earth, here and now, that the results of the working of God's Will should appear on earth as surely as in Heaven and in exactly the same manner. And God's Will does not bring forth emptiness in Heaven; God's Will does not bring forth limitations and sorrow in Heaven; God's Will in action in Heaven does not place crosses on those who live in Heaven. Likewise His Will does not place any of these things on human beings on earth, for the Master taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” So we must accept the reality of the Master's word, that we can receive the open reward of the Father, on earth, in this life.
Once we begin to comprehend these basic principles we can be in position to grasp and realize and appreciate that which He said further: “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets.”
But, “When thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee.” I have, on occasion, heard people say, “I did this, I did that—I says to him and he says to me—and I says right back to him—I did this, I did that, I did the other thing—I did, I do, I did, I do, I don't, I did, I do”—on and on and on and on, pouring out of the mouth, “I did, I did, I do”—being sure to advertise, “I did” and “I do” to everyone who will listen, everyone who is within the sound of the voice, all day long. I have heard it until sometimes I wished for something better than cotton to put in my ears. “I did, I do, I don't, I did, I do, I don't, I did, I do, I don't”—on and on and on, endlessly. “I did, I did, I do, I don't, I did, I did, I don't, I did, I don't, I did, I don't”—and they never stop saying it until they finally, in exhaustion, drop into a troubled sleep. And they say they do not blow a trumpet before them? What do they call it?
Do you know, one of the greatest factors producing physical exhaustion is the expression of words without meaning; chatter, gossip, blowing a trumpet, on and on and on. And if someone happened to do something that had a little bit of merit in it, every person he or she meets gets fully informed: “Do you know what I did this morning? I did so and so.” And to pass by an opportunity to advertise it? Oh, no! To tell everybody “what I did; what I did last night; what I says to him and what he says to me.” Blowing a trumpet. There are so many trumpets blowing that it is an infernal din. Blowing trumpets. And I have even heard them blow on Sunrise Ranch; I surely have. But what does the Master say? “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee.” Now if you really are interested in letting the Father's open reward manifest in your life, here is an opportunity to begin to do something. Now if you just pass out that door after a little while, and forget it in an hour or two, it will not accomplish anything. But you can do something.
You can begin to watch—oh, you thought I was going to say “your neighbor; your husband; your wife; somebody else”—sure enough. But you? Do you need watching? You should be “Number One Watcher” to you. And I think you should all get a little black book—it should be black in its cover—a little black book to keep a record, and every time you catch yourself starting to blow your trumpet, stop and write it down in a little black book. After a while you might graduate to a point where you could have a white-covered book. We will start with a black one. And every time you start blowing your trumpet, even to your wife, or your husband, to anyone, just make a little check mark in your little black book. Keep track of it for a while and get amazed at yourself. You think you do not do it? You might try it and see. Some of you who think that you, well, “I just would never think about bragging about what I do.” Oh, you would not? You are not bragging—you are just blowing your trumpet, I know.
But let us stop blowing the trumpet, as well as bragging, and all the rest of it. How about the expression of your life? Remember our definition of “alms” now. How about paying attention to the Master's word, in actual fact, not just hearing it and forgetting it, not just being a hearer of the word but a doer of it? “Therefore when thou doest thine alms”—the living of your lives—"do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do”—oh, oh! Are all the people who sound their trumpets hypocrites? I wonder!—"as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.” You may think you have so grown in spiritual understanding and vision and dedication that you do not do anything to have glory of men? Perhaps you have. It would not hurt to take another look and see, to examine a little, to learn to check yourself every time you start to blow your trumpet. It might be very quiet around here for a while, very silent in Eden valley. We might give our eardrums a little rest from the din of blowing trumpets, but it would be good for us.
After all, it is written, “Be still. Be still and know that I am God.” Can you hear, can you perceive, can you comprehend, while you are busily blowing a trumpet? So many things escape you if you are busy blowing your trumpet “that ye may have glory of men.” Perhaps you do not blow your trumpet about what you did, but you think someone has misjudged you, someone has said something about you that you think they should not have, so you must blow your trumpet in self-defence. You must be sure that everybody understands you, that no one thinks that you meant something you did not mean when you said thus and thus, or when you did thus and thus. Somebody—oh my! Why blow the trumpet? There are so many ways and excuses for blowing the trumpet. “Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” And there it is, period.
“Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” All right. Shall we form a Secret Order for doing good works, so that when we go to the meeting room of our Secret Order or Lodge, or whatever it is—oh, we would not think of doing it in the streets or in the synagogues, but when we gather, and everybody there is a member of the Secret Order, then we can blow our trumpets and have a grand old time. No. Not at all.
What is the Secret Place of the Most High? Why is it secret? Because human beings have never been willing to stop blowing their trumpets long enough to find out where it is or what it is. They are too busy blowing their trumpets. The Secret Place of the Most High. Where can you begin to find the Secret Place of the Most High? In the depths of your own consciousness, in your own heart. And what is the word? “Your Father which seeth in secret.” Now, if you want to be sure that the secret thing becomes known so that human beings can see it, then you are saying, “I do not believe the Father sees in secret.” But, if the Father seeth in secret, why be concerned about publicizing your good works, your alms? Must there be the reality of alms, or works, or living? Yes indeed, but not to be seen of men.
How many things can you do in a week to unobtrusively, quietly, help someone else? Perhaps you can do something for someone else without even letting that person know that you did it, and without blowing your trumpet about it to anyone. Did you ever, for one week, devote yourself to seeing how many lovely things you could do for others without having it advertised or displayed? Keeping it quiet, doing it for others without others even knowing about it, if possible, or certainly not publicizing it to someone else? And if someone does some lovely thing to you, perhaps it would be well not to talk about it to others. Oh, you want someone else to get the credit, do you? You want to be unselfish, so you want to be sure and tell everybody how nice so-and-so was to you. Well, there may be times when it is well to speak of something like that; other times when it is far better to keep silent. If that person wishes you to keep still and not blow the trumpet for him, why should you not oblige? If you refuse to oblige; do you know what you are suggesting? “Now we will make a pact together. I won't blow my trumpet and you won't blow yours. We'll trade trumpets, and I'll blow it for you and you’ll blow it for me. We will just trade trumpets and we will get around what the Master said and have it displayed nicely just the same.” No. That is not the way, either.
“That thine alms may be in secret”—quietly done, unobtrusively, in humility, the expression of life, a positive expression of life. And what happens? “And thy Father which seeth in secret himself”—he will not even send an angel to do it, shall we say. The direct Power of God, right through you—“himself shall reward thee openly.” I wonder! Blessed Ones, would it be nice to see what the reward from the Father is, instead of being concerned about the rewards from men? I wonder!
And suppose it takes the Father a week to get it to you, will you quit on the fifth day and say, “Well, this does not work”? It might take a month for Him to get the open reward to you because He has a lot of unpredictable human beings to work with. It might take a year—just think of that!—but you could not be expected to wait for a whole year! You would have to start blowing your trumpet again, to have some reward from men. God has so many unpredictable creatures to work with. They are so undependable you cannot ever tell what they are going to do. Maybe they will be obedient to the impulse of the Spirit and maybe they will not. So it may take a little while. But would the Father's open reward he worth waiting for if it took ten years?
Blessed Ones, when you start to function correctly, you forget about getting even the Father's reward. If you are trying to do it to get the Father's reward it will not work. Just to forget about it and live, doing thine alms in secret, not to get, but to fill the lives of others with as much blessedness, as much happiness, as much pleasure as possible. Not trying to get. And if you do it long enough, perhaps someone, somewhere, will someday have a share in filling your life with blessedness and happiness and pleasure. And when that day comes, you will receive it graciously, considerately, and thank God for it because, when the Father gives you the open reward, some of it may come through yourself but some of it will come through others to you, and you do not know who is coming to give you that reward.
Do you know, I have seen so many people reject the very ones through whom the Father was sending them a reward, and then they never got it. I have seen the Lord's Blessing start to take form because certain ones had fulfilled their responsibilities in this regard, and the blessings started to come, and people started judging and condemning and wondering about it and talking. Oh, how their trumpets blew! Maybe they could do this, maybe they could do that, maybe they could get the other thing. Maybe they could make everyone see what important people they were or something. And lo, and behold! It was all dissipated and the open reward never appeared. What about doing our alms in secret?
“Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.” What does this mean? It signifies the principles of the One Law, the positive and the negative. Do not let your patterns of response to God be governed, or controlled, or influenced, by the results of the positive expression through you into life. Your left hand signifies your response to God; your right hand, the positive expression of your life. And if the result that you get, or do not get, by reason of your action in life, has control of your response to God, you will do something here, and if so-and-so does not appreciate it or if it does not get such and such a result, “I'll stop responding to God!” Just like that! But, “Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.” Respond to God, stay centered, regardless of what the results are, for you should be enjoying right action for right action's sake, not to get even the Father's reward but to share the Father's joy in giving, “that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” But if the Father does it Himself, how is He going to do it? Through the instrumentality of His Own Body, not sending an angel to do it for Him but sending angels as the expression of Himself. Not to do it for Him but to be the expression of that which is. And it is written, “Take heed lest ye entertain angels unawares.”
Blessed Ones, until we begin to function correctly in the giving, we cannot be in position to share the receiving. Let us live, and let us do our alms, express our alms, in secret, in relationship to our oneness with God in the depths of our beings, that the open reward of Divine action may appear on earth. Do you think that that reward must be something just to you, for you and you alone? Oh no! It will be some blessing appearing through you to others, the increase of your giving, that you may share in the things of God; not to get, but to more effectively give, in a larger sense, into the world, revealing the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory of our KING on earth. So let us live. And this is the first half of one of the greatest secrets of Being. Tonight, let us meditate upon the other half.
1 comment:
May we gently touch the shoulder of the Spirit of these words by affirming that we are here in strong love agreement.
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