No Props

July 2

Read: Judges 3:31

Shamgar; “No Props”

“After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.” (v.31)

Have you ever done something and NOT received the praise you thought you should? Do you find yourself not wanting to do things for others unless they are going to “pat you on the back” and acknowledge it the way you want them to? It can be shocking to realize how much we “perform” for the praise of others. I wonder if Shamgar ever felt that way?

Shamgar was a judge who “also saved Israel”. He fought 600 men with a farm implement and stacked bodies like a champ! Yet, we get only one sentence about him. There is no backstory. There is no detail. Just a simple sentence telling us that “he also saved Israel”. We don’t know too much about him other than his name is not a normal Israelite name and that there is a good chance he was an outsider. (If this is true, then it does highlight that salvation comes from outside of us… not something we can do for ourselves.) The point is that Shamgar gets very little recognition for his bravery and work… and I think that is actually a good thing.

Jesus touches on this concept in Matthew 6:1- “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” The greatest reward for us is found when our acts of righteousness and kindness are done in secret… when we are working for the so called “audience of one” (which is the Lord). It is actually vert difficult to carry out acts of kindness covertly. It is very hard to forego the praise and adoration that comes with generosity and sacrifice for others. If you don’t believe me - try it sometime. In a day and age where people are broadcasting EVERYTHING for the praise / acknowledgement of others, this idea is particularly “foreign”.

Now there is a flip side to this as well. This DOES NOT mean we should be ungrateful for the kindness of others. As the people of God, we should be sensitive to the service, generosity, sacrifice, and kindness of other - and be GRATEFUL. It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord and to those people around you. We are called to give thanks while seeking to serve without receiving it. This is a paradox of the Christian faith.

So have you ever felt “Shamgar’ed”? If so, take heart because this is what Jesus says three times in a row: “your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matt 6:4,6,18) There is great reward for serving covertly… for doing what is “thankless”. Nothing gets by God. He sees what is done … all those things that receive no human praise… and his response is to REWARD. Seek out some opportunities to do the “thankless” today. Look for ways to be “covertly kind”. Likewise, ask the Lord to show you someone who deserves thanks from you - and then let them know how thankful you are for them. I can’t wait to meet Shamgar someday - on the new earth or in Heaven - and ask him to tell me more about his story! I bet it was epic. Love you guys. - JDP