The following is a continuation of post #259
Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
Is alms-giving a "dead work" in the NT? Here's Paul in Acts 24:17 - "After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings."
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Matthew 6:2-4 When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
I know that giving alms was ignored in the local churches and actively suppressed in the FTTA. But it does fit a pattern of both teaching and practice in the NT, starting in the gospels, as seen above.
The idea is that you give to someone who cannot pay you back, "pay it forward" by faith, and you'll be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous. "Store up for yourselves treasure in heaven." ~Matthew 6:19-21.
This preserves the giver from being weighted down by earthly cares. "Will not your Father in heaven also clothe you, of so little faith?" And see Zachaeus, who gave half his wealth to the poor -"Salvation has come to this house".
And it also saves the receiver: not just from want, but from thinking that God doesn't care for them. This is the good news: God loves you. God hasn't forgotten you. God's outstretched arm can reach you and save you. If we give a cup of cold water to a thirsty one, in the name of Jesus, it will be remembered.
And it makes the word in Didache timely: "Let your alms sweat in the palms of your hands before you know who to give them to." In the Book of Acts it was easy: lay your gift at the apostles' feet. They were a sort of clearing-house for alms (I blame the
RecV repeatedly using the word 'dispensing' in Acts for putting me on this path
).
But today it's not so straightforward regarding how to participate in "God's economy" in this manner, which is why the Didache's advice is so useful.