Thursday, March 12th

Generosity reveals the intention of our heart. Generosity reveals who we are.

Notice 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. 2 “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. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

First thing I want to draw your attention to, Jesus is doing a comparison. Comparing what a disciple looks like and what a hypocrite looks like. Hypocrite looks to boast about what they are doing, drawing attention to the audience, motives and intentions are for self.

But here’s a challenge within that, because it would be easy to push away and not recognize how you and I can be hypocrites. Hypocrites aren’t simply people who say one thing and do the other. It is deeper than that. When we see that word, hypocrite, we should think of an actor, for them it was a stage actor. Actors are pretenders. They are a character in one way and then off stage are something completely different. That’s why even if it is the right thing, we can be a hypocrite if it is with wrong motives.

You are a hypocrite, you are an actor, if you try to do a “generous” thing, but your heart isn’t generous. It’s stingy, it’s transactional, it’s more about what I will get out of this. It’s saying I am generous, but living with a closed fist, not an open hand.

Because notice the other part of this passage, that is repetitive throughout the other sections. 3 But when you give to the needy 4 … giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Matthew 6:6- 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:17-18- 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

It isn’t an “if you do”, but when you. How should it be done? In secret. Like shhhh, don’t say?

Not entirely. What’s the secret place? Back to where is your image? Your heart. Jesus is saying “giving, prayer, fasting should come from the secret place you meet with God, your heart.” He’s saying, what is in your heart? What are the intentions and motivations of your
heart. He affirms this with Matthew 6:21- 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What is in your heart, you treasure. And what you treasure is in your heart.

Generosity reveals who you are, or who you aren’t. Generosity isn’t about action, it’s about intention. You can have “action” of giving, of “being” generous, but God is saying if it doesn’t come from the secret place, the heart, if it doesn’t come from a generous intention, you are a hypocrite, you are an actor, you are showing one thing, but it’s not who you are.
NT Wright puts in simply, “What is clear is that he is inviting his followers to a life in which inside and outside match perfectly, because both are focused on the God who sees in secret.”

Wrestle with God around your intentions when you are generous. Is it genuine or is it something else? Guess what, it’s okay to acknowledge it is something else, that’s where God can meet us and allow his transformative power to work in our heart.