Without Recognition

"Jesus said to his disciples: 'Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.' " - Matthew 6:1*

When I asked my 4 year old daughter about preschool today, she told me they learned about the word "Generous". She asked me if I knew what it meant, and when I told her I did, she said she did too - that "generous" is the person that comes before the dentist to clean your teeth before the dentist comes to checks you over.

I think she meant "hygienist"...

While Jesus knows the meaning of the word, he's trying to convey to us that being generous is important, but that to truly do it from the heart means you don't expect anything in return - whether that be recognition from others, blessings from God, or otherwise a boost in your everyday life.

What a stark contrast to the season we finished a little over a month ago - where giving (and being recognized for that giving) is all part of the Christmas season. To see the joy on friends' faces when you give them something they want. But I don't think that's the kind of giving Jesus is referring to when talking about being generous. Instead of giving to please others and ourselves, he's giving us something else to think about - giving of ourselves in a way only known to ourselves and to God. It's a much different type of giving - one that Jesus will be all too familiar with at the end of his life. And it's a giving we too should aspire to perform... perhaps not of giving our physical lives up, but certainly to give up some of the comforts therein to help others.

And to do it without recognition, without reward, and in a way that only us and the Heavenly Father know about.

Hard right? But it's something to strive for. And Jesus knows we're only human - that, despite our best efforts, we're going to mess this one up. We're going to let it slip to a friend, a colleague, a sibling. And we're no less in God's eyes because of it, but as Jesus says, we'll have no recompense either. In other words, we're no better, because we've already taken our reward, down here.

Maybe it's time to start cleaning up a bit before the real "check over"...




* The reading from this week (Mark 1:12-15) was covered, in part, in a separate Lectio Divina published January 23rd. This comes from the Ash Wednesday reading, as the remainder of the uncovered reading from this week is too small for three days.