Jesus Christ instructed us never to sound the trumpet of self-praise when doing acts of charity.
But what happens when the trumpet belongs to the recipient of said charity? What if the recipient had used the instrument to spread joy on Christmas Eve? And what should we think when the one bestowing the charity expressed sincere-sounding reluctance to receive any sort of praise? Finally, what are we to make of it when, notwithstanding the giver’s reluctance, the act went viral on social media?
When all of those things occur at once, perhaps we should conclude that Jesus had His hand on everyone involved.
According to WLKY in Louisville, Kentucky, 18-year-old Sincere Ellison and his 15-year-old brother, Carson Bowman, spent Christmas Eve spreading cheer and hoping to raise a little money for themselves by playing Christmas songs on their trumpets outside the Oxmoor Center shopping mall in Louisville.
At one point, a stranger came by and gave the boys $100. Then, the same stranger did something even more remarkable.
“And then he was like, wait right here. Don’t move, 30 minutes and I was just playing everything. I heard footsteps in the leaves and stuff, and I turned around, and he had the PS5,” Bowman told WLKY.
Dom Lucre, a prominent independent journalist on the social media platform X who regularly posts content in support of President-elect Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, shared a 31-second clip of the moment the stranger gifted the PlayStation 5 video game console.
As of Friday morning, Lucre’s clip had generated more than 1.9 million views.
The stranger, Dorian Washington, approached the teenagers while carrying the PS5.
Have you ever surprised a total stranger with a gift?
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Meanwhile, his wife, Ella Washington, filmed the exchange.
“Merry Christmas!” Ella yelled as the couple approached the teenage boys.
Ellison put his trumpet to his side and raised his fist to his mouth in stunned surprise.
“Bro, you can go home and enjoy your day,” Dorian said.
“You can go home, sweetheart. Merry Christmas,” Ella added.
Ellison could not believe that they were serious, but they were.
“Keep the hundred, too,” Dorian said. “You can go home and enjoy your day. I brought you another controller so your brother can have one.” [:24]
🔥🚨DEVELOPING: This man purchased a PS5 for a young boy in Georgia who was playing the trumpet all day outside in the cold because he was trying to earn enough money for one. pic.twitter.com/xY2JQvQx6N
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) December 25, 2024
Meanwhile the filming of the act brings us back to Jesus.
“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. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you,” the Savior commanded us. (Matthew 6:2-4)
Dorian Washington acknowledged as much when he insisted that he did not film the act in order to receive praise.
“I usually don’t film myself doing good deeds, but when I spotted a kid out here on Christmas Eve, I couldn’t help but ask him what he was up to. He told me he was trying to raise money for a PS5. My wife and I felt inspired, so we decided to surprise him by getting one for him,” Dorian wrote on Facebook.
The post also featured a 37-second video of the generous act. As of Friday morning, that post had received more than 32,000 views.
On X, Lucre misidentified the location as Georgia rather than Kentucky. But his amplification of the video ensured that it would go viral.
Still, Dorian Washington again made sure that readers and viewers knew of his reluctance to post the video. He did not want to come across as seeking praise.
“Even before I posted the video, I called a lot of my friends and said, ‘Hey man, I don’t want to post this video. That ain’t what I do. I don’t want to do that.’ They were like, ‘No, you need to motivate other people to go do this.’ And honestly, as we were giving him the PS5, other people saw what we were doing and another person stopped and gave him some money. So, I saw what one good deed does,” he told WLKY.
In short, those who do good deeds must not seek praise for them. By his own account, Dorian did not.
Instead, whether he believes in Christianity or not, and whether he knows it or not, he allowed Jesus to work through him and spread the spirit of charity.
After all, considering the trumpet’s ironic presence, who could doubt the Lord’s hand in this heartwarming act?
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