Reward

Matthew 6:1-4

“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" (Matthew 6:1,2).

It's the last line of this selection that gets me. "They have received their reward in full." It looks like you get what you want: if you want man's approval, you can get it. If you want God's approval, you can also get it. But it seems like it's pretty hard to get both. You can get fanfare trumpets applause or the quiet approval of God. Which do you want?

"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" (Matthew 6:3,4).

I've always liked the way Jesus encourages us to give to the needy: "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" (Matthew 6:3). In this case, there's so little self-congratulation and focus on your own goodness in giving that you barely even realize what you are doing. Wow. It's really easy to stop communicating with yourself about certain behaviors like eating and spending, but to forget about a kindness or a moment of charity--that's a little tougher.

Self-forgetfulness is in its fullest sense an act of grace. If you can't remember how much money you've given to charity, it's because you no longer need to count it.