Do we give quietly or loudly? For that matter, does anyone know how much we give? Benevolence can draw attention to us, if we let it.
In ancient Israel, the offering plate was something like a metal cornucopia. Coins placed at the top made a loud clang all the way down to the container at the bottom. More coins made more noise. This created some competition as the wealthy gave loudly.
Can you believe Jesus looked around at church during the offering? Jesus listened to the clatter and clang of the big givers. Then a widow took her turn. “Plink, plink,” went the tiny coins. “She gave the most,” Jesus explained to his disciples. “How?” they wondered. While the wealthy gave some small portion of their wealth, she gave all she had to live on.
Jesus still watches his people as we give. He seems to measure our gifts by what we have left instead of by how much we give. Jesus loves the quiet gift from the heart. So he said in the Sermon on the Amount, I mean the Sermon on the Mount, “Do not announce your charity with trumpets as the hypocrites do to be honored by others.” Instead, he advocated, “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Who knows how much we give? Jesus. He loves a cheerful, quiet giver. Paul told the church at Corinth, “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” What good work does God want to do through us? Let’s give regularly, proportionately, cheerfully, and sacrificially. Quietly.
