(Growing Strong in the Season of Lent, #1)

A story appeared on Facebook recently about a person who went to a concert. At the end of the concert, this person noticed two ushers standing near his seat who were applauding harder than anybody else in the whole place.

The man said he was thrilled with this particular concert because of the talent and virtuosity of the musicians. It also impressed him greatly to see these two ushers standing there applauding more vigorously than all of the concert goers. His experience was somewhat diminished, however, when he heard one usher say to the other, “Keep clapping. If we can get them to do another encore, we get overtime!” (1)

I thought about these ushers when I read our lesson for today from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says, “Be careful not to…