"In Secret"
We have been getting a lot of rain! Lots of rain means one thing to the typical suburbanite; growing grass. It then means lots of lawn mowing as much as every 3- 4 days. I have to admit that the grass is a rich color of green but I wish it wouldn't grow quite so fast. So, needless to say that I have been cutting grass at unconventional times and on unconventional days in order to keep up. I have been so pleased with the dark, green, thick grass that I had been missing something. On Sunday afternoon; Mother's day no less, I lowered the blade on my mower to give the yard a nice "high and tight" hair cut. This would have been a rather simple experience except for the surprises I found as the blade cut closer to the ground. Tunnels! My blade kept hitting the dirt on the top side of a new community that had been growing in secret right under my nose, my sidewalk, my fence, and my flowers. This community was the newly founded home of the Mole Family. AHhhhhhhh! I have never seen so many tunnels and I swear they were not there the day before. How cleverly secret.
Now there are some things of the faith that we are NOT to keep secret such as God's love, Christ's forgiveness, unending grace, and the fact that we are Christians. But there is at least one element that Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 that we are to do secretly... giving to the needy. It is what I would call a "motive check." In other words, Jesus does not want us to help others so that we receive praise and glory. It is quite the opposite. We are to help others in such a way to insure that our motive is to truly help another, not lift up ourselves for helping. "...do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."(verse 3) Each time we share the story of our good deed with others, we rob ourselves of the real blessing that comes from the experience of only God knowing. This makes it personal and intimate and motivationally correct.
I don't like moles, but I can't help but admire their secret work ethic. Miles of tunnels all over my yard and they don't so much as pop up their head to say, "look what I did!" Those ornery critters may just be teaching me something yet.
Help someone today and don't tell anybody. God knows, and that's enough.
Sharing in Faith,
Rev. Craig W. Duke
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