[Jesus speaking]
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 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. 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. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Why is this caution given in the Bible about how we are to give? I think it is important to remember that the Pharisees liked to put on a big show about how they gave to the poor. They made a spectacle about how they measured out a 10th of their spices. And they liked to pray the loud prayers in the synagogues with big words and a lot of ceremonialism around it.
After spending a whole chapter talking about the beatitudes, and how to live and avoid a lot of the sins these Jews would commit in their minds, thoughts, and hearts, Jesus now brings everything down to a simple point. Even good things, done for a show so that we can get credit on this earth, are not good to God. We are not supposed to live a life to gain the approval of man. Our approval comes from God.
This flies in the face of many arguments today where people say, “How can a good God be upset when I do good things for other people?” Or, “I’m just gonna focus on doing more good than I do bad and I’m sure God will make it balance out in the end.”
Jesus turned religion on its head, and helped people focus on how to serve the Almighty God in a personal way.
Maybe this analogy helps us understand in a clearer way the comparison Jesus is putting out there. My youngest son likes to collect hot wheels. He has racetracks he runs them on. They’re pretty fun, and as he looks at these cars, he could say he races them. But that’s only a matter of speaking, because they are toy cars and his racetracks are not real.
In the same way, many people give with the wrong motives from the wrong heart. They give for the credit, they give for the attention, they give for a good feeling in their hearts. However, Jesus says here that this is not good enough. It is a kind of fake giving. Giving with a heart that honors God recognizes that everything we have God is given to us anyways.
Giving as God desires comes from the heart. It’s not about feelings or looking good in public or getting positive PR. Christlike giving comes from a heart that cares about people and wants to honor God. Any worldly credit or accolades should not be the focus of our giving.
We are sinners saved by grace. And our tendency is to try to impress others around us with the things we do. Jesus knew this and that is why he said not to let our right hand know what our left hand is doing. Giving in secret is a way to protect the motives in our hearts from being contaminated by the ways of this world. The only one that matters, the only one that needs to know what we do, is God. (This doesn’t mean that no one should ever know about our giving. Sometimes it is important, as a model, for us to share how we give and how God rewards us for it).
It is interesting to contemplate the amazing gift that Jesus gave us, without him getting any credit for it. He gave us his life. Many wanted him to conquer the Romans and help usher in a new Jewish powerhouse authority. Ultimately, many of the people that followed him turned on him and cheered for him to be crucified. The gift he gave was ridiculed. But it was beautiful and fragrant as an offering to God.
Lord, continue to work in my heart to make me more humble and allow me to serve you free from worries about what the world thinks. What I do to give and serve, I do for you and you alone. I do it in honor of what you’ve given me. Thank you for all you do for me every day. You are the Ultimate Giver, and I look forward to becoming more and more like you in my giving.
