“Real giving”
44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she
out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.
This has to be one of my favorite passages of Scripture in
all the gospels & yet one of the most convicting at the same time. Jesus,
with his disciples, is watching people give at the temple offering. Many people
are giving large amounts & in the midst of them comes a woman who gives the
equivalent to about $1.50. She gave 1/64 of a denarius. A denarius was a day’s
wage during that time and if a day’s wage here for an average worker is $100
then we get to around $1.50. It’s imperfect math but we get the picture.
If we saw a grown woman giving $1.50 in church in cash, while
everyone else gives by writing checks, we may wonder why she even bothers. What
good can come from a $1.50? What kingdom impact can be had? What ministry can
be supported? What missions endeavor can be extended?
But this is human thinking.
Jesus measures giving a different way.
He measures everything differently.
Jesus measures with the heart, not with the outward
appearance. Although many gave significantly more quantities of money, Jesus
says that she by far out gave them all. But how can this be?
Jesus measures our giving not by how much we give, but
what we have left over after we give.
For this woman, she gave all she had to live on. She was
throwing herself completely on the Lord in dependence of him to meet her needs.
She literally did not know where her next meal was coming from. She did not
have a way to provide for herself. But she reveals what Jesus is teaching here.
Giving is not a money issue, it’s a heart issue.
And if Jesus has us, he has our stuff too. If we love Jesus,
he really owns it all. When we give we don’t say, “Everything is mine, now this
is your part, God.” But rather, “Everything I have is yours, here, I’ll prove
it.” We need to let the difference resonate in our hearts.
One reason this passage is so convicting for me is because I
have a savings account, retirement account, & money in my wallet. I have
more than enough and I may give regularly but I definitely have a lot left over
after I give. Now, I’m not sure that it’s wrong to save. It may depend on what
we are saving for but I’m not sure God doesn’t want us to save. Surely
retirement is important. But what I think we often do is trust in our money to
give us security. “I’ll be ok if something happens because I have savings,
insurance, or retirement.” This takes our dependence off the Lord and places it
on us. We start living life based on our resources instead of his. This is
dangerous for sure. Not only is it dangerous, but it’s ungodly. It’s
anti-Christ.
God cannot bless a person with a closed fisted grip on their
resources. We close our fist to God thinking our stuff is ours but we don’t
realize that he can’t place anything in a closed hand. Instead, we should hold
loosely to our things. We should desire for God to take & give as he
pleases. We should follow the Spirit’s guiding in this. What’s more, we should
plan strategically to give sacrificially to kingdom things. We should save for
mission’s giving, orphan care, & other kingdom minded outlets. We save for
cars, go into debt for houses, & plan out budgets. Should we not also be
just as strategic when it comes to the kingdom of God? We should give our money
in such a way that eternity is impacted. We should give in such a way that we
are thrust upon the Lord in dependence. Does our giving reflect a trust in us or
in Jesus?
Does this sound too risky? It is radical in the eyes of this
world’s wisdom but we are not of this world. We are citizens of another
country. God clothes the flowers & feeds the birds. If he takes such good
care of them, would he not also provide for us? It’s a hard issue for me. I’m
praying I let go of stuff & place my trust in him. How can we most emulate
this woman & more importantly our Savior who laid aside his riches,
emptying himself so that we could be made rich in him?
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