WELCOME
IKE, THE PANHANDLING DOG
Many people are preparing for their summer vacations and traveling to see sights they may have seen before and loved or to go and see things they have never been to. Disneyland, Branson, Hawaii, Camping in the forest, Yosemite, Yellowstone, or maybe Mount Rushmore. But anyone traveling to Ironton, Missouri will find a famous attraction. A best kept secret, that’s what the town calls its community celebrity. It’s not an attraction, business or person, instead it’s furry with four legs.
Along Highway 21 in Ironton, at the three-way intersection, the talk of the town may come as a surprise. “He’s the biggest attraction here in Ironton.” said Sherry Miller. His name is Ike and he’s the town beggar. To the people who know him, he’s more than just a dog.
“I’ve heard him called the hitchhiker, cheeseburger, three-way dog, a little bit of everything.” So, what’s his story?
Back at Highway 21 and Highway N, where Ike sits, lays and begs day after day. “It’s family tradition I guess,” said Miller, the owner of the pooch. A tradition that Miller said started years ago. “Ike’s dad, John was the first one that hung out in the road,” she said. That legacy continues and the reason makes sense!
“Treats, treats and he gets them.” said Miller. Some say he eats better than most, and it’s worth risking his own fur. "Chicken breast from town and country. He’ll get biscuits and gravy, cheeseburgers from McDonalds. He don’t care for hot dogs because I seen hot dogs lay out there for days. So don’t give him hot dogs,” said Miller.
Ike has made a name or two for himself here in Ironton.
“The sheriff, the mayor, the Ironton welcoming committee, the highway hound, ghost dog,” Julia Dill, Facebook page creator. Now, people all over the country now know about him. “So Ike is now known in Texas, Georgia, New York, Colorado and then of course all throughout Missouri,” said Dill.
Thanks to Dill and her created Facebook page, Ike is getting likes, attention and more love than ever.
“We decided to collect those funny stories that people were telling about seeing him in the road, howling when an ambulance would pass by,” said Dill.
And now, his fame is going above and beyond to help the community. With the money from ‘Ike for mayor t-shirts’ and Ike road sign they are able to give back.
“We decided let’s support Backpack Impact. It’s a local organization, their funds send meals home with kids on the weekend from school,” said Dill. So, if you see Ike, the three-way dog, just know, he’s doing what he does best.
“He does what dogs do, but he does it out in the road and he doesn’t care,” said Miller.
Now, Ike does have a loving home just near the highway. If you happen to see him, give him a treat or two, but just let Ike do what Ike wants to do.
Many in Ironton are now mourning the loss of the pooch. Ike, “the famous panhandling hound” dog was known for lying at the intersection of 72 and Highway N. Ike’s owner, Sherry Miller, said he was hit by a car on Monday, November 15, 2021.
“Cry. That’s all I could do,” said Miller. Miller said Ike was a staple to Ironton. Community members quickly built a memorial in front of the road he would often rest. Ironton Mayor Bob Lourwood he said it’s going to take the city time to adjust to him being gone.
“Now that he’s gone, it’s taken away a subtle landmark, something we’re used too. It was always fun to see him there. It was always so fun to see people who weren’t used to the area stopping and trying to pick him up and get him to come to them with hamburgers and pizza,” said Lourwood.
Julia Dill runs the ‘Fans of Crossroads Dog’ Facebook page, an account created before his passing and created the GoFundMe account to raise money for a memorial for Ike.
“We’ll never forget Ike. He was a bright spot in our days, brought us together and uplifted us during hard times. His presence was always a welcome surprise. He meant a lot to people,” said Dill.
Miller said it warms her heart to see so many people cared about Ike. Although he’s gone, she wants his memory to be a happy one, a lot like him.
“People tell me all the time, ‘oh, I come back and he made me smile,’ and ‘he did something silly and I laughed.’ That’s what I want people to think when I think of him,” said Miller.
Not all panhandlers are created equal. Many are looked at with disdain and anger. In our passage today, Jesus says that when you do give to the needy, to not make a show of it. Let’s read our passage from the Sermon on the Mount.
MATTHEW 6:1-4
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. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
As we move into chapter six of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus continues to bring new thoughts about life and how those who follow Jesus should live. In this passage this morning, Jesus is talking about how we should do our good deeds. In reality, Jesus pivots just slightly as he takes on 3 pillars of devout Judaism. Three things that the Jewish people would hold sacred in practicing their religious living.
Those 3 pillars of Judaism are giving (6:1-4), prayer (6:5-15), and fasting (6:16-18). We are going to deal with just the first today and then the other two will come in subsequent lessons.
Jesus is calling the people here in his Sermon to giving, prayer, and fasting. And Jesus is telling them that it should be done sincerely before God, who gives the eternal reward, instead of hypocritically before men, whose reward may come immediately but fades very quickly.
HYPOCRITES
I grew up in a good church. They worked hard to reach lost people, especially in the youth ministry. As I got older, many of my friends abandoned this church and some of them said it was because the people were hypocrites. I didn’t understand. These were people who loved and cared for them in good and bad times. But for one reason or another, the church stood for truth and when sinfulness wasn’t embraced, the person would get angry and stop attending. I know that the church loved them. I saw it. But they couldn’t reconcile that their behavior was actually destructive.
I think of the character from the Princess Bride, Inigo Montoya when I say this next line which isn’t from the movie but it is harkening to a line he uses in it: “Hypocrites. I do not think that word means what you think it means.” Jesus knew. He knew what that meant and when he used it, he meant it.
Jesus’ concern for the people was their motives in why they followed these 3 pillars of their faith. Was it to honor God or were they concerned with the way others would look at them: favorably or unfavorably? I want to ask this of us this morning as well. As we go through this passage, I want us to think about why we do what we do. What moves us to act and behave as we do, especially in matters of faith and spiritual activity? Desire for praise of men is an ever-present danger.
Dallas Willard in his book Divine Conspiracy addresses this: “Desire for religious respect or reputation will immediately drag us into the rightness of scribes and Pharisees because that desire always focuses entirely upon the visible action, not on the source of action in the heart.” (Divine Conspiracy, pg. 188)
WHEN NOT IF
First, hear what Jesus says about these 3 pillars beginning with giving. Jesus says, “…when you give to the needy…” in verse 2. The assumption is that we give to the needy. He says when not if. In Jesus’ teaching, he is telling us that we are called to give to those who need help. It’s not a question of if we do it because being a follower of Jesus assumes you give. It is assumed we are helping people in need.
Jesus tells us to “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Now he addresses three of those good works here in chapter 6: giving, prayer, and fasting. However, when it comes to these good works, Jesus introduces an important and surprising twist concerning how we shine that light. We are to do them without fanfare or show.
He says, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. (verse 1)” and “sound no trumpet before you. (verse 2)”
This makes me think of the current trend I see online in videos posted to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok (these are all social media platforms). But the trend is someone (usually you don’t see their face, but I have seen one particular person who does post his face)…someone who finds and unsuspecting passerby in a store or outside and asks for a dollar for bus fare or to help buy some little insignificant trinket for a child’s birthday. When that person gives them the dollar, the video poster says, “I don’t really need the dollar. I just wanted to see the first person willing to give me the dollar. Why did you help me?” And the person usually says, “Hey, I have been in need before and wanted help so I do that now.” And the video poster says, “I have a gift for you…” and proceeds to hand them $500 or $1000 and then even takes them to a big sports game or concert.
I find these videos uplifting to see the joy on the face of the recipient, but my mind also goes to this passage about not being seen. Why is he posting this? To gain likes. To be praised. To gain clicks. I don’t know if they are Christians, but Jesus says give without fanfare. Seek to NOT be seen.
In fact, Jesus says it is best to do these things in secret and privacy. For the first-century Jew, this would be shocking! They celebrated public and visible displays of religious expression. Think of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18. The Pharisee stood in the temple to pray and loudly extol himself and all he does for God and laughs at the thought of the tax collector standing nearby. The tax collector knew his sinful state and begged for mercy. Be humble like this tax collector.
I want us to see a couple of points about giving this morning as I conclude this message.
DON’T GIVE SEEKING THE PRAISE OF OTHERS
In Matthew 5:20, Jesus says, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Now he provides a follow up statement to this. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. (6:1)” Those last five words “to be seen by them” are critically important because they help us see how this verse does not contradict Jesus’ command to “let your light shine before men” in 5:16. The issue is one of motive.
His command in chapter 6:1 is to watch yourself. Be careful. He is calling for constant watchfulness in our motives. Is my desire for giving to honor and glorify God? Or am I trying to gain glory and praise for myself through the applause and recognition of men? If it’s the latter, you can be certain that “You have no reward from your Father in heaven” (6:1). Men may praise you, but your heavenly Father will not.
I think back to an anonymous evaluation I was given in ministry at a particularly dark church. First, the evaluation was anonymous. I had no idea who was saying these things about me. That alone was wrong and sinful. Second, I was chided for them not knowing (and I quote) “if I was growing in faith or in my zeal for ministry or if I was spiritually developing my faith.” Well, I don’t share what I do with the world. On the one hand I was accused of sharing everything I thought online bashing people and then in the same breath I was accused of not helping others because I didn’t post it?
I didn’t tell them about the money I give to people. About the meals I buy for the needy. I don’t broadcast my helping others who have no home have a temporary place to live. I don’t talk about the people we support in their ministry and how we give financially to help them every month. I don’t talk about the poor people I help and don’t seek to trumpet them out. I often have said that I will never be given awards for ministry from my brotherhood schools or events because I am not known for what I do. We have a problem of rewarding people for doing these things and then those who are silent slogging and grinding away are ignored. We reward flash and ignore substance.
Before I move on to our second statement on giving, I want to address the word hypocrite. The word hupocrites originally referred to a play-actor who performed on stage of the Greek or Roman theaters. The verbal form of the word was frequently used in Jewish writings in the time between the Old and New Testaments to speak of the act of “pretending.” Many ancient play-actors aspired to be celebrities adored by the masses. They lived for the thrill of standing ovations and the prizes and awards.
When Jesus uses this word, it is intentional. He is calling these people who showed off their good works “play-actors.” They were playing spiritual pretend. Showing a piety that they did not actually have in order to be seen as philanthropists.
Don’t wear a mask when it comes to your faith. Give because you have a heart for God and for the poor. Give because you truly want to help people in need. Give for their sake. There is a better reward to gain.
GIVE SEEKING THE PLEASURE OF GOD
Both verse 1 and 4 refer to our Father in heaven. They bracket Jesus’s instructions on giving, and they place the focus on where our attention needs to be when we give. We seek God’s approval and no other. We seek God’s pleasure and His alone. The reward we desire is with our Father in heaven and it is a secret reward.
Not that we don’t tell people of the reward or hold it as a secret only to tell certain people we like and them alone. But the reward we receive is given in secret as our deed is done in secret.
We can know that when we give, “your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (verse 4). That gift is more than enough. Amen church?
INVITATION
I pray we take this into account this morning. Do give. Give generously. But do it because you want to do what is right and to help others. Do it for God.
MATTHEW 25:35-40
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Maybe you struggle with giving. Maybe you think everyone is a scammer or lazy who begs. Maybe you have given simply to be seen. Today you can ask for forgiveness about this and move into a life of humble service.
Whatever your need is this morning…
