1 "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 "So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.
3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-4 (NRSV)

Even people who give most generously of their time and money respond to a show of appreciation, even a simple thank you. A local company gives out small wooden blocks with symbols of each volunteer project to those who participate and these simple souvenirs are prized by those who earn them. Jesus doesn't see the need for reward as a flaw -- in his promise of God's reward, he may even be saying that the desire for reward is something instilled by God. However, we must carefully examine our hearts for what reward we expect.

True charitable giving is done not to draw praise from others. Praise is a nice feeling, but a shallow passing thing. It's also a great temptation. Generous people can become so bitter when they don't get the appreciation they expected that it can ruin any joy they might have gotten from giving and can even destroy the gift itself if they show their resentment to the recipient.

What then is the reward we should look for? It isn't necessarily eternal riches in a far off heaven. When acts of charity are done for praise, then praise is the reward, but when they are done for love, love is the reward.

Also, we consider the fact that we may have already received the reward in advance, in the many blessings we have. We give out of a sense of gratitude to God that we've already been taken care of so well.

Should all giving be anonymous then? What about the good that come by drawing attention to it by giving? Jesus himself tells us in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

There's a difference between being a show off and a good model. In a recent interview, Brad Pitt said that since he and Angelina Jolie knew that photographers were going to be following them everywhere anyway, they decided to take them places to publicize those who needed help. There is no way that these celebrities can do anything anonymously, so they chose to put as much of their spotlight on a cause.

But Jesus' warning may be about more than just the dangers of public praise. Thoreau pointed out that some of the greatest philanthropists he knew were following a way of life that helped create the need they were contributing money to help. We find ourselves reflected in this mirror -- for example, how much do we give to help alleviate problems caused by violence in the Middle East while continuing to use large amounts of energy that contributed to that violence? We are asked to weigh our charitable acts not just with why we give, but also how we live.

-- Larry Herndon, Rachel MacNair, Terry Matz