what is my reward?

Matthew 6:2-4

The key phrases in this passage are: "they have received their reward in full" and "Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." These two phrases will be repeated through out this section. The key word in this passage is "hypocrite" which will also be repeated, always in terms of "don't be like the hypocrites."
Jesus is giving an example of how not to do acts of righteousness to be seen by others. Again, the point is not that we should never be seen to be giving to the needy but our motivation must not be to receive praise from people. Jesus lays it out as a choice: either you can give to the needy to be rewarded by humans or you can give to the needy to be rewarded by the Father. It is a rhetorical choice because the reward that the Father gives is going to be much greater than the praise of other humans. I believe that Jesus is using hyperbole here when he says to not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. This is consistent with his hyperbole in the previous section when it comes to cutting of a hand or plucking out an eye. He seems to use it to emphasize his point. He is probably using hyperbole as well to describe the giving of the hypocrites. I would have to study the history and practice of that time to know for sure if they actually formed a brass band to precede them as they were on their way to give to the needy.
Here is what I can apply from this passage: First, giving is expected. Jesus does not say to stop giving to the needy but assumes that we will be giving to the needy (v. 2 "when you give..."). I think some people need to hear this message and I know that I need to be reminded constantly. Jesus expects that one of his disciples will make it part of his normal life to give to the needy. Second, this is more about motivation than about secrecy. If my goal is to bring pleasure to my Father then it is not ruined if someone sees me giving and points it out. I've heard of a pastor in the middle of building campaign announcing to his congregation what his pledge was, not to be seen as righteous but to challenge his congregation to be sacrificial in their giving as well. At our church, we made it a bit more anonymous and announced what the leaders had pledged as a total. Thirdly, it is not wrong to be motivated by reward. Jesus clearly teaches that we will be rewarded but we must choose whom we wish to be rewarded by. I can earn the praise of humans, have my name on wings of hospitals or universities (assuming I had enough money to buy the right to have my name there) or I can earn the pleasure of God and have my name written in his book. This teaching does cause me some problems because I believe that we can't earn God's favour but we are given his favour and pleasure by his grace through faith in Christ. So Jesus is not teaching that if you give in secret you are somehow more righteous or that you can earn salvation. But he is teaching that we will be rewarded. The main point is that we must choose whom we want to reward us.

I know a secret...

Ephesians 3:1-6

Paul is famous for interupting himself (ok, I can only think of one other place off the top of my head but just go with it!). This is a two paragraph interruption - if I was doing my devotions at my normal consistency, I wouldn't have a clue what Paul was talking about in v. 14 because I would have forgotten that he started the thought in verse one.
Anyway... here's what I see (besides the interruption): Paul is in jail because he was obedient to Christ in taking the gospel to the Gentiles. If he hadn't responded to Christ on the road to Damascus, he'd probably still be free and if he hadn't agreed to take the gospel to the Gentiles, he'd probably be free in Israel. Sometimes we use adversity as an excuse to stop heading in a certain direction but we need greater discernment to know when it is opposition from Satan and when it is God attempting to direct our paths. Can you imagine if Paul had decided that he was outside of God's will in being an apostle to the Gentiles because he was in jail?
The main point of this section of Scripture is the great mystery or secret that has been revealed to Paul and that Paul now reveals to us: that the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members of one body and sharers (is that even a word?!) together in the promise in Christ. I can't get over this! It probably doesn't seem like that big a deal to most believers today because we are so ethnocentric - we (generally) think that we've always been included but the truth is that we haven't. We (generally) have adopted the same arrogant attitude of the Jews in Paul's time: to be truly chosen by God you must be one of us (Jew then, North American today). We, as the church of North America, should get down on our knees every day and thank God that, in his mercy and grace and through the work of Jesus Christ, he saw fit to bring near those of us who were once far away, to make us heirs who were once enemies and to allow us to share in the covenant promises who were once strangers to the promise. The extent of God's work - not just to cleanse me from sin but to make it possible for me, a Gentile, to share in the inheritance of Israel - causes my heart to skip a beat (to borrow a phrase from Graham!).

The secret of piety

1 Timothy 3

What I observe:
The deacons had to pass some kind of test before they could become deacons (v. 10). Judging from v. 9, it would seem that the test probably checked on their knowledge of the deep truths of the faith and that they were living with a clean conscience.
Paul's purpose for this letter was to be an instruction manual on church conduct when the church is in crisis or chaos (v. 14-15). I know I'm reading into it a little bit but it is obvious from chapter 1 that this is a church in crisis.
The church plays a very important role - it is the pillar and foundation of truth (v. 15). I think this means that the community of disciples plays a large role in determining truth. I know that truth is ultimately found in the Scriptures but the community plays an important role in the interpretation of those Scriptures.

What I learn:
After all the instructions about deacons and elders, Paul gets down to the secret of the pious or godly life: Jesus and his incarnation. This reminds me that everything I believe is based on a person, not a creed. It all comes down to Jesus - he is the secret and the mystery. I love that Paul bursts into song here - almost as if the secret has to come bursting out of him. The point of conducting ourselves well in the household of God, the church of the living God and the pillar and foundation of the truth is the glory of Jesus. Conversely, and mysteriously, it is Jesus that allows us to conduct ourselves well.