“In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven” Matthew 5:16.
This verse shows us that we are to let our light shines so people can see our good deeds and praise the Father. In another verse, Matthew 6:3-4 it says, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
These two verses seem to be conflicting verses. One is to let your light shine so people see your good deeds. In another, you give in secret so the Father rewards you in secret. Are the two in contradiction? They must mean two different kinds of things. What could it mean to “let your light shine so they may see your good deeds?” That must be different from giving to the needy.
The light we have is Jesus Christ. He is the one that shines in the darkness. He brings light where darkness has ruled. When he comes, darkness or evil has to flee. When the light is turned on in a dark room, the darkness doesn’t have to be chased out, it is completely gone. In light, darkness can’t even be present. Letting our light shine is to take the kingdom of heaven, Jesus, into the places where darkness, sin, and evil, reign. It means to share him with those who feel hopeless and rejected—the down and out in our society. These are the good deeds I think this verse is talking about. When we show love and kindness to the people that everyone else has given up on, we shine our light over them. Think about someone who the neighbors are complaining about. Maybe it’s a co-worker who everyone is whispering about. Maybe it is the gay or lesbian couple down the street that everyone keeps their children from being around them. Maybe it is the person who is addicted to drugs and keeps asking you for money to feed their addiction. Whoever it is, we are called to let our light shine. That means we treat them as Jesus did. He ate meals with the sinners and tax collectors of the day—the prostitutes, the thieves, the poor of his day. He wasn’t afraid of his reputation. He wanted them to find freedom. He had compassion on them.
The other verse is talking about giving to the needy. That would probably mean money. It would probably not be something you do for someone but something you give to them. This kind of thing is to be done in secret. We aren’t to flaunt the idea that we give lots of money to those in need. We can give without everyone knowing about it. Only then will we receive the reward our Heavenly Father wants to give us.
I don’t know about you but I have learned something by writing this. I began not sure how this was going to turn out. Now, I think I know the difference between the two. I don’t believe they are in conflict. They are two different kinds of giving; one is with our very lives and one is with our finances. Both are to be done but they are to be done in different ways. Let’s shine our light into the darkness for all to see (the kinds of things that might get the neighbors talking but may not be nice things they say about us) and let us give to the needy around us without letting anyone else know. I love giving without others knowing about it. We’ve been the recipient of this kind of giving and we’ve done this kind of giving. It’s kind of fun to give without someone knowing it was you.
Lord, bring us to the place where we take your kingdom into the darkness and shine our lights there for all to see what you are like and praise you for it. Help us to give financially to those in need, too. Show us when and where, Lord, you want us to spend our money and our lives. Bring about your light in the darkness around us so people can find hope where they have none. In Jesus name, amen.
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