Jesus said, “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, 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 men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”
Scholars tell us that in Christ’s day people did not blow trumpets to announce their giving. But the metaphorical image of tooting your own horn was already in use, and it is more than likely that Jesus was employing satire. Truly, it does seem ridiculous to us that someone would sound a trumpet when they give to the poor. Yet while it may have been satire on His part in that day, in our world today this actually happens all the time. Only instead of a trumpet, a news conference is called. A newspaper headline is written. A name is carved in stone, a sign erected or a plaque etched. Perhaps we should not judge the proverbial trumpet blower so harshly, for we as a society do exactly that, albeit with different media. Not, mind you, without cause either. We do these things because we want to acknowledge and remember those who, by their own means and exercise, have made life better for others. It is a fitting and proper thing to do for the generous when they have done something for us.
The key is “for us,” because if what they’ve done is for God, then such recognition is wildly out of place. To do something for a fellow saint (or any made in God’s image) and then expect God to honour you is to not unlike writing a thank you card to your brother, and then expecting your Dad to take you out for ice cream for writing it. It is a blessing to bless others in the first place. After all, to do so one must first be blessed of God. You can only give what has first been given to you, or out of the fruit of the skills and talents you were already blessed with. What is it of yours then – to expect public applause – if God first blesses you in private?
In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that the reason we are blessed is to bless others. So to be blessed (in receiving from God) and then be blessed twice more (in assisting your fellow human beings – which is a blessing of itself, and again in being thanked for it) and then expect God to bless again for having done so, is to expect a quadruple blessing for something that was never really ours to start with, while at the same time acknowledging the other’s lack. A more definitive example of hypocrisy is hard to find.
No, let it be said of us that we are generous without hypocrisy. That we are thankful for the opportunity to bless others, because we recognize God’s already abundant blessing on us to begin with. Let us share in God’s character of being generous to all without fanfare of any kind. Let us give when asked, and also give when not asked. Let us never draw attention to what we are doing whenever we give, no matter the amount or frequency. In this way we better reflect Him.
After all, that is how He treats us. Amen.
So subtle is the sinfulness of the heart that it is possible to take deliberate steps to keep our giving secret from men while simultaneously dwelling on it in our own minds in a spirit of self-congratulation.
John Stott
APPLICATION: Intentionality
God is gracious. If we ask Him in prayer, He will take our sinful pride and silent boasting away. Ask Him to replace it with a greater appreciation of all He has done and is doing for you.