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Begin by reading Mark 12:41-44
Every year around Christmas, we hear the bells ringing outside the grocery stores and the occasional clang of coins dropping into the red can. It’s the campaign that the Salvation Army does every year to raise money for their cause. Have you ever been in a situation where there’s an opportunity to give, and you look in your wallet only to find you have one bill left, and so you choose not to give?
What is it about that last bill? Why not give it away? Is it really about the money, or is it about something else? Is it about security – the safety of knowing that at least there’s some cash in your wallet if you get into a bind?
Today’s reading was about the widow who gave her last two coins. There’s debate about how much those coins were worth, and some argue that it could have been worth as much as $1.20. Amazingly, she gave it all. While we don’t know the exact worth, we know that they could have at least provided her with the security of knowing that she had something for herself. There are three lessons that we should take away from this story.
The first lesson here is not about how much money you should put in the offering plate, the lesson is about trust. Whenever we give to the Lord, we are trusting Him. God required an offering, not just to maintain the Temple, but to teach His people about trusting Him. It’s as Malachi 3:10 says, “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’”
The second lesson is about giving without holding back. We don’t pass an offering plate often in our church, but I have to admit that when we do, I have at times felt the temptation to hold back. I dig through my wallet and see what I’ve got. If I only have one large bill, I feel the temptation to hold on to it. I have plenty of money in the bank, so it’s not like I’m dirt poor and that’s all I have to live on. It’s a security issue. Something about that $20 bill brings me security for whatever reason. However, when I give that money; I don’t miss it. I don’t get to the end of the month and say, “Man, I shouldn’t have given that $20! It’s more like, “Man, I didn’t really need to stop at Starbucks 10 times this month.”
The third lesson is about priorities. Jesus says in Matthew 6:21, “where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.” In 1 Corinthians 16, Paul instructed the Church at Corinth to set apart their offerings on the first day of the week. Why? Because then, it would be their priority and they wouldn’t spend it on other things. I think we as Christians often fall into the temptation of giving leftovers – our leftover time, energy, and finances, instead of giving our firstfruit and best to the Lord. Sometimes our possessions become our security, and we essentially say, “Let me make sure I have what I need first, and the rest is the Lord’s.” In fact, I wonder if this widow had money at the beginning of the week and had chosen to set apart these two coins. If such was the case, she came through on her promise and gave to the Lord what she had set apart, even though it was all that she had left.
In our quest to be living sacrifices, ask God what He wants you to give of yourself. Then set that thing apart – whether it’s time, energy, money, talent or something else. When it comes time to give. Do not hold that thing back. Bring forth your offering joyfully, focused on how Jesus poured all of Himself out for you.
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