“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 6:2
“They receive their pay then and there, and they receive it in full…God owes them nothing. They were not giving but buying. They wanted the praise of men, they paid for it, and they have got it. The transaction is ended and they can claim nothing more.”
Alfred Plummer in An Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St. Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956) 91.
I am thinking about the posture of our hearts as we approach the giving of alms. Plummer’s notion that some are giving while others are buying is a profound one. With our giving of money, with our giving of service, with our giving of ourselves, let’s avoid any getting attention for it.
Remember, God sees everything, including our almsgiving. Think of alms as sharing your “more than enough” with someone else’s “less than enough” and consider how you can do this so that God receives all honor. Approach almsgiving with such strategic thinking and sacrifice and see what happens.