Why is money such a sensitive topic, even for Christians? Jesus said quite a bit about how we use our money. The apostles addressed this many times in their letters. Yet most people still aren’t comfortable when this is brought up. Perhaps we know we could use what God has blessed us with better than we do and don’t like to be reminded about it. Notice this incident from Jesus’ life.
“As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ‘Truly I tell you,’ he said, ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on’” (Luke 21:1-4 NIV).
Imagine you were one of the disciples who were with Jesus at this time. You were in the temple in the week leading up to Passover. As a result, there would be a lot of people there. You are in the area where there are chests where people made donations to the temple treasury. You are impressed by the large amounts that many people are giving.
Then Jesus points out one poor widow. She wasn’t elaborate about her giving – she didn’t make a big show. She simply put in two very small copper coins – it really wasn’t very much. You might wonder why she even put that in.
The Greek text tells us that the coins were ‘leptas’. They were the smallest and least valuable coins in circulation in Judea at that time. Each was only worth 1/128th of a denarius, a day’s wage. By today’s living wage standards two leptas would be barely worth a £1.00 in the UK or around $1.50 in the USA.
Then you heard Jesus comment on what the widow gave: “this poor widow has put in more than all the others”. You wonder if he saw what you saw – how could these two small coins be more than the vast sums the other people were giving?
Then Jesus explained: she had given everything she had while the others were giving from their surplus – they still had plenty to live on. You might wonder what the poor widow did that evening to feed herself.
This incident teaches us about giving and especially giving that is sacrificial. Although people get concerned about the amount, Jesus wasn’t impressed by big numbers. It wasn’t the amount that was important. What impressed Jesus was the willingness to give all that she had because she wanted to serve the Lord.
How does our giving compare to the poor widow? Do we give out of our abundant surplus? Or do we give all that we have? Jesus doesn’t ask us to give what we don’t have. But he does expect us to give from what we do have.
We see another example of this in the Christians in Macedonia.
“And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: they gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us” (2 Corinthians 8:1-5).
And that is the key, isn’t it? To be willing to give of what we have, we need to first give ourselves to the Lord. Think about it.