Rewards
By Anthony Casperson
7-8-23

“Which option will give me the best reward?”

It’s a question that I often find myself asking when it comes to choices in RPG video games. And I know that it’s a bit of a cheat, but I will usually look up what the exact compensation will be for each choice.

After all, if I’m playing a dexterous character and one choice’s reward is a piece of magical heavy armor, but the other option will give me a special shortsword, I’m gonna take the weapon that’ll be useful for my character. Or if I’m sitting with my companions maxed out on morale and one choice gives me a +5 to morale, while the alternative awards my efforts with an item that gives my character a +5 to hp, that second option is obviously the way to go.

One of the more annoying things to happen in a playthrough is for your character to receive something that is worth nothing more than it’s value in the game’s currency. Or worse, get an item that literally doesn’t help you at all. It’s like, “Gee, thanks…for nothing.” You roll your eyes at the NPC and move on to (hopefully) better rewards with the next one.

And so, if you know what the payment is for each of the choices, you’ll likely weigh them out and decide which is more beneficial to you.

This is true of real life situations as well. Although, exact understanding of compensation isn’t always a foregone conclusion. Yet, we still weigh out the options depending on our comprehension of the end results.

In the places where we have a broad idea of the reward, it should be easy for us to make the best choice. However, it’s not as easy as we think it should be. Often, we choose the option that gives us the best short-term reward, even though the long-term reward would actually be better.

And it’s to this idea of knowing what the rewards are, specifically in the options regarding our spiritual lives, that Jesus lays out in Matthew 6:1-18—our passage for this blog in our “Summer on the Mount” series.

We spent the past few weeks looking at the kingdom ethic of righteousness which must exceed that of the Pharisees and scribes. The way of life that doesn’t try to loosen the bonds of the law in order to find the loophole that gives us the most comfort. But rather, for us to understand what the Law teaches about the God whom we seek to be more like, and thus act like more like him in the process.

But as we move to this new chapter in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains what the rewards are for righteousness in our spiritual practices. And continues to use the Pharisees as negative examples.

Jesus lists 3 spiritual disciplines to explain the same principle—hence the reason why we’re combining them in the blog. These are: giving, praying, and fasting.

The principle in question is directly stated in verse 1. Pay close attention to how you enact your righteousness. Think about your motivations for your godly acts. Keep in mind why you do them. Because the same action can acquire different outcomes based off of our motivations.

If we do good things because we want people to think well about us, to give us praise, or to use us as positive examples of allies to their cause, then those temporary and fleeting adulations will be the entirety of our reward. We get paid for what we work toward.

However, if we do good things because we want to give the glory to God, or to grow spiritually, or to help others in their own growth, then there is a greater reward awaiting us. In some cases, there will be positive consequences in the near future. But in many more, there’s an eternal reward that awaits us. One that comes directly from the glorious God to his good and faithful servants.

There is the possibility for both a godly reward and people thinking well of us. But Jesus makes it clear that such things will never happen if our motivations are for the selfish demand for self-praise. It’s only when we seek the glory of God and the betterment of others that we might possibly also gain the alternate reward. (Although, if we look at many other passages of the bible, we’ll see that persecution and hatred are more often the responses of the world to the godliness of followers of Jesus than positive regard.)

So, this consideration of our motivation of righteousness is central to each of the three spiritual disciplines listed—as well as others not mentioned in this passage. If our motivation is for a godly reward, good. If not, we’re more inclined to be like the Pharisees in our righteousness. And receive the only reward we’ll get from the people around us right there and then.

Verses 2-4 speak of giving. Jesus commands us to give to those in need without blowing a trumpet. Without all the pomp and circumstance of the hypocritical Pharisees who loved to hear the sound of each coin ringing in the metallic alms box. Probably even making it sound like a greater amount by using the smallest denomination of coinage that they could. Some would also give directly to the needy in the street; but they would suddenly get really loud about how benevolent they are to be giving to someone so needy.

I know many of you are rolling your eyes right now at the extreme example of what hypocrites do. But when was the last time that you gave to some charity mostly because someone else you wanted to impress, or didn’t want to disappoint, was watching? How many of you think about the tax deduction for giving to charity even before the interaction is finalized? Not so extreme of an example anymore, huh?

Motivation makes the difference. Jesus tells us to give in such a way that our left hand doesn’t know what our right hand is doing. That’s a bit of an exaggeration for dramatic effect, but the point remains. If even parts of yourself shouldn’t be privy to the amount you give to those in need, then how much should other people hear about it?

God will know, because he knows all things. And in that secretive giving, he’ll give a spiritual reward.

In verses 5-15, Jesus speaks about prayer. Two negative examples rise in this discussion of spiritual discipline. The first is again the Pharisees. Prayers in the time of Jesus tended to be spoken out loud. The idea of silent prayers was highly irregular. And the hypocritical Pharisees would speak even louder than normal when giving their lip service to God. They’d specifically choose locations with high traffic levels and dense populations, like street corners and the synagogue.

The second negative example is the “spiritual” people of other religions. Particularly, the Greco-Roman culture that moved among the Jewish circles of Jesus’ day. Such people believed that if they annoyed their gods with the same prayer over and over again, then they might get what they wanted just to be shut up. Others used exact formulas of words as if they were magical incantations to get what they wanted. It would be like, “If I say it with these words, then this god has to perform my request.” Or, “If I butter up this god with all sorts of praises, then they’ll definitely give me what I want.”

Jesus tells us that we should be like neither of these types of people. Our prayers are best between only God and us. Shut away in a private corner of the house. God is there with us. He’ll give us what we need. And our prayers don’t have to convince God of what we need, he already knows that before we ask. He’s not waiting for us to input the correct code before he gives us the things we require. And he’s certainly not some sort of slot machine that’ll eventually pay out big if we just keep at it long enough.

Moving to a positive example, Jesus gives a possible prayer in verses 9-13. One which many have turned into something like a magical incantation that they wrongfully feel needs to be repeated verbatim. That goes totally against Jesus’ point. So, we’re not going to go line by line through the prayer. But we will look at the general posture and attitude of godly prayer.

Notice the three overarching aspects of the prayer. It begins with God. His glory and praise. His work in this world, which we join him in doing. Second, after we see the greatness of the holy God, we perceive our own sinfulness and reliance on him. We need the help of the holy God. And third, we’re not alone in that need. There are others who need just as much help from him as we do. People who could use just as much of a hand as we ourselves do.

The glory of God. Our spiritual growth. And the betterment of others.

It’s almost like we’re supposed to pray for the very rewards that God will give us. Or like, when we have a heart that beats in line with God’s desires, he’ll be more than happy to reward us with his goodness. (Gee…imagine that connection.)

The final spiritual discipline Jesus gives is fasting, in verses 16-18. This is the discipline that we’re least likely to do nowadays. So, let me explain the purpose of it first. It’s not just about keeping ourselves from food. The idea of fasting is to put the meditation and contemplation of God ahead of even our physical needs. It’s about showing that our physical appetites don’t rule over us. And so we spend time with God nourishing our spiritual selves at the cost of our physical nourishment.

However, the hypocritical Pharisees figured that if they were going to suffer hunger then everybody should know about it. After even the tiniest mention of food, They’d be like, “Oh, I couldn’t possibly eat a thing because I’m fasting. You know, that really spiritual thing people like me do.”

And the person they were talking to looked at their ash-covered heads and askew clothing and said, “Uh-huh. I can see that.” Because hypocrites want the recognition of their supposed godliness to be obvious to anyone who looks at them. They want the praise and adoration that they should be giving to God.

So, as we consider how we live out the righteousness of the kingdom, let’s also keep in mind our motivations for it. Are we interested in being noticed? Being thought of as super spiritual? Then we’re just putting on a spiritual mask. Playing the part of a spiritual person while not actually being one. Taking on a role of holiness while there’s nothing underneath besides death and the rot of sin.

However, if we keep our eyes on the glory of God, our own spiritual growth, and the betterment of others to be more like God as well, then we will receive the best reward we ever could. The Creator of the universe himself will bestow upon us his own glory, not because we earned it, but because that is the type of God whom we emulate when we are truly spiritual people.

The options before us are obvious. Short-term adulation with a title-du-jour of “ally,” or long-term glory because we have grown to be holy like our Father in heaven.

And we don’t even have to cheat to find them out. Why would we not choose the one with the best reward?