Dorothea Lotze-Kola - Sermon 12-06-2020

Sermon 12-06-2020 Matthaeus 6: 1-4 Dear friends, imagine that the Good Samaritan had been besieged by a crowd of reporters who had been given wind by his efforts to help the man who had been beaten by robbers.

Imagine the reporters harassing him with questions: "What did you think when you were so fearless to help the man that was robbed?

Did you think: you have to address the prejudices between you and this man and overcome them?"

"Or did you think: you have to bring some love into this loveless world?"

"Or did you think you had to raise a sign, give an example and be that man, without regard to the person, and finally become brothers to each other?"

Imagine the faces of the reporters, if the Good Samaritan would then have answered, "I do not know, I just thought: Hopefully he won't slip off and fall off the Donkey!"

I imagine the reporters laughing and shaking their heads The go off. There is no headline to be picked up. Stupid actually by

the Good Samaritan. After all, his story would have easily make something happen. If only he had done a little better in the scene, then the next day everyone would have known his face and name. He would have been congratulated, patted on the shoulder, perhaps even invited to lectures and talks. It could have been so easy to use his truly unprecedented deed to profit from while becoming known by the public. According to the motto: ÂťDo good and talk about it!"

But our Good Samaritan apparently had another Maxime.

Perhaps, dear friends, he was among the crowd, who had gathered at the foot of the mountain to see and listen to Jesus of Nazareth. Perhaps the words of the Sermon on the Mount were in his memory and in his heart - which we heard as the sermon text for today.

I read from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 1 to 4: 1.Be careful not to do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the

needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you practice your righteousness, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

This is a well-known text. Individual sentences from this are being used in our daily language like "Don't let your left know what your right does" or "to announce something with trumpets".

And also when I hear these words, another biblical scene comes up for me that Jesus told elsewhere, namely the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector. When I was in Sunday school growing up this scene was always being drastically painted: There was the Pharisee, who shows his piety before all people in the temple. He was apparently the "epitomy of a Jew at that time": hypocritical and anything but Godfearing, who shows himself in prayer before all people.

However, let’s pause for a moment. Well-known texts and stories always carry a great danger. They carry the risk that

we read more into them than out of them. Our previous experiences with the texts might block our eyes for new insights. Therefore let's look at the well-known text more precisely!

“Pay attention to your piety as charitable deeds!” This reminder stands like a heading above the text. "Charity" sounds like a habitus and its visible signs: They are deeds and works that presumably give information about our inner attitude. But the word that Martin Luther has translated as "charity", is [dikaiosüna] and is the Greek word for "righteousness".

“Pay attention to your righteousness!” So the headline gets a slightly different sound.

"Righteousness" – in the Bible it is the hallmark of our Relationship with God. To be fair and to act righteously means above all, to be “right within our communion with God”.

This communion with God that we do not deserve and cannot create ourselves. It is this communion that God has established without our help, which he offers us as a gift.

The communion that God protects through his commandment by building healthy boundaries and

training our hearts, so that we do not destroy this community.

For although we cannot create or earn our communion with God, we can destroy it by not remaining faithful to God's commandments and by God’s gift to us.

Pay attention to your righteousness! – That is, in Christianity as in Judaism: Pay attention to your faithfulness to God and to your faithfulness to the communion that God has given you with him.

Make sure you do justice to this and stay within it!

The way to do this, as we have heard in today’s Scriptures, is how we are dealing with our neighbors who need our help. As Bishop Jacques Gaillot put it: "Whoever is in God that person appears next to the poor." I think the opposite is true as well: whoever appears next to the poor thus immerses himself in God. Jesus himself expressed this truth by saying, "What you have done to one of these least brothers, you have done to me (Mt 25:40). " That's what "righteousness" is all about!

But what does Jesus' warning mean: Be careful that you do not practice your righteousness before the people to be seen by them!

And what about the example of charity giving?

Here, too, it is worth taking a closer look! First of all, there is again a word that has a certain meaning in our place today and is still charged for each individual with their own experiences: "Charity" According to the dictionary, this word stands for a "low, and meagre fee" with which someone is being fed.

In what is written in the Greek text, on the other hand, the word charity and mercy resonate with each other. As it is said in our saying of the week: "Blessed are the merciful; for they shall receive mercy". "Charity" therefore has to do with mercy. And so, in our sermon text, it is a completely positive term and does not mean just “a low and meagre hand out�

Charity is an expression of righteousness, mercy and fidelity to our communion with God, through which we make every effort to ensure that all human beings have what is necessary for life.

That everyone has a life of dignity which can be inalienable to every human being as a creature of God is the basis for this purpose of charity giving, of mercy. And “mercy”, “compassion” is in the truest sense of the word the turning of human lack and need back to dignity and back to life.

But more than that: according to the Judeo-Christian view, "Give charity" does not mean that we give up of what belongs to us, but we give of what belongs to God. Because our lives, our work, our money and our possessions are ultimately not only our own merit, but gifts. Gifts that God makes to the creatures in His creation.

And from this we give alms, charity, mercy and thus ensure that God's good gifts are distributed fairly.

But the "giving of charity" can be abused and can be alienated from its meaning and purpose: So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

The almost proverbial "Do good and talk about it" is sharply attacked by Jesus here. Because this creates a risk that

"Giving alms" in this way could be done outside of the context of being faithful to the righteousness in communion with God. Jesus chooses as a negative example a "hypocrite" according to the translation of Luther. Here, too, it's worth taking a closer look: the Greek word must actually be translated with "actor".

In his efforts, an actor has primarily the audience in mind.

His reward is his recognition and applause after the performance. He needs the applause and seeks it every evening and in every performance again and again new.

His reward is fleeting and does not last long.

Similar to such an actor is someone who gives alms so that others can see. The alms are given so that the giver can gain recognition from the people around him. Like an actor, his attention then is only to the audience. His actions and his gifts are no longer based on the plight of the needy, but rather on the effect they have on the spectators. Applause and recognition become the foundation and driving force of mercy. And because the applause does not last long, hunger for recognition grows faster than it can be satisfied. Verily I say to you,

Jesus says to such a person, you have already had your reward. And yet you gain nothing through this.

Herein lies the danger of such kind of giving to which Jesus unequivocally points, that if the addiction to recognition is the guiding force, then the actually good thing of alms giving will actually make us triple alienated: (First) of ourselves, because we only play roles to please others.

(Then second) of our distressed neighbors, because they are only extras, in our performance; And (and thirdly) of our communion with God, which is the cause and goal of true mercy.

And so, if our addiction to recognition drives us, then our alms are only like goods in a trade of. We give them to get something for it. The basic structure of the problem of poverty and wealth are not affected by this, let alone creatively overcome.

To truly make a difference, this requires an "economy of generosity," as Peter Sloterdijk says. This economy of generosity is borne

of the rich of the "second-type" as he calls them. These are people who spend of themselves and of their money generously. People who creatively break through the cycle of “pay off” and “pay back” and who see their wealth not exclusively from the point of view of exchange value.

There are many examples of this: the quiet commitment of foundations, the spontaneous willingness to donate in solidarity with the needy of war and disasters, civil courage and, not to mention, the countless hours of voluntary service by people of all ages. – All this happens without a large audience and without any calculation of the expected pay off or pay back.

This is the alms, the mercy that Jesus recommends to us, because it serves justice. And this justice or righteousness is based in the faithfulness to the communion with God, which insists: “Give of yours what the other needs right now! Give of your money, your strength, or your time! Anyway - give and be completely with the other and thus entirely with God.”

Just like the Good Samaritan who helps and gives from the heart, and simply worries that the wounded man does not slip and falls off the donkey.

Amen.