At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.
Proverbs 25:14
There are those who want the credit of having given without the burden of having actually done so. Notice in this proverb that the point of it is to enable or equip the boast.
This is the sin that caused Ananias and Sapphira to be struck down. They did in fact give a gift, but they wanted to have the credit for having given a much larger one. This is why Peter rebuked them for lying to God. They were like clouds and winds without rain.
When people give ostentatiously (Mark 12:41), the point is to be seen. And that is just a small step away from being willing to be seen as giving, when you didn’t really give. You get the reputation for generosity, and you don’t have to pay the price of generosity. David had the opposite impulse. He refused to sacrifice that which cost him nothing (2 Sam. 24:24). But hypocrites, when they come to give alms, want to announce that fact with trumpets (Matt. 6:2). The point is to be seen as generous, and in the world of the hypocrite, the ideal solution is to be seen as generous without actually having to be generous. Ordinary people look for the rain; the hypocrites are content with the clouds and the wind.
One time I was speaking at a conference being held at a church in a distant state, and before one of the events I was wandering around in a narthex section of the church, and I stopped to read a bronze plaque on one of the pillars. The plaque said something like “this wing of the church was made possible through the generosity of Mr. & Mrs. VanderHoot.” As I was reading this plaque, saying nothing about it to anybody, the pastor of the church came up behind me and said, “Yeah, I know Jesus said not to do that.”
But some need their reward now.
