Teaching of Giving
“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.”
Matthew 6:2-4
In this section of Matthew, we find the Lord addressing three aspects of the Christian life. He says in verse 2, “When you give…,” then in verse 5, “When you pray…,” then in verse 16, “When you fast…” Notice in all of these he does not say, “IF you give,” “IF you pray,” or “IF you fast.” Jesus teaches that if you are his follower you will give, you will pray, and you will fast. These are not optional additions to the Christian life, but God given expectations in response to his grace through the power of the Holy Spirit. We will see this more clearly as we unpack what he says here.
The Bible teaches that as Christians we should have hearts of radical generosity. It is easy to set upper limits for ourselves and think that once we have crossed that goal the rest is ours to do whatever we please with it without thinking of others. But that was not the heart of the New Testament. In Acts 4 and 5 we see this radical generosity in action. People were not manipulated by guilt or shamed into giving, out of hearts singularly committed to the Lord and in response to the love they have received in Christ, they were giving all that they had to meet one another’s needs. Similarly, in 2 Corinthians we read about the churches of Macedonia that gave “beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor (or grace) of taking part in the relief of the saints. (2 Cor 8:4)” He adds, “…this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. (v. 5)” Likewise in the Old Testament, when they were constructing the items for the tabernacle Moses took a collection and people freely gave so much Moses had to ask them to stop giving! (Ex. 35-36, esp. Ex. 36:6)
The Bible teaches that we should give joyfully and sacrificially. As Christians our hearts should be marked with generosity. Jesus adds here that our giving should be done secretly. Now this does not mean that if someone happens to see you give or if people find out about something you have given, you have automatically lost your reward in heaven or that God is no longer pleased with your gift. The problem with the religious people of Jesus’ day was that they intentionally made a great show of giving so that no one could miss it even if he wanted to. With great pomp and circumstance, they made sure everyone knew what they were giving!
Again, this goes back to our heart attitude. If our desire is to give it to the Lord to honor him and see his purpose advance in the world, he is pleased. Whether it is to support the ministries of the local church, the needs of those God has brought to your attention, or missionary needs around the world you give with a desire to glorify God and be seen by him. If no one ever finds out, you rejoice in the fact that your Heavenly Father “who sees in secret will reward you. (Matt 6:4)” To the best of your ability you try not to “let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” As we talked about last week, we live “Coram Deo,” before the face of God. All good works are done before the “Audience of One.”