The Widow’s Mite

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

It is Holy Week, just a few days before Jesus’ death and Resurrection.

Jesus is sitting in the temple courts teaching the people, and as he does, he notices the rich putting their gifts into the offering boxes. Each deposited a small portion relative to what they had, but then a widow came along and dropped in an even smaller amount. That is, much smaller, comparatively, to the gifts of the others. However, it was larger in terms of the percentage of her wealth, for her two coins were all she had to live on.

As theologian N.T. Wright put it, when you let a small amount of air out of a large balloon, know one notices the difference. But when you let an even smaller amount of air out of a balloon that is almost empty already, it goes flat.

The account of the Widow’s Mite creates many questions for us.

Is Jesus telling us to give away everything we have? Sure, it’s sacrificial, but is it good stewardship?

While debated by many, the best explanation comes down to this:

God measures the gifts of people not on the basis of their size, but on the basis of how much remains.

Jesus commends the widow not for the amount of money she gave, but for what her gift said of her heart for Him. As one author put it,

“In that moment, the Savior fully knew the widow, for her gift showed Him her heart.”

- Brynne Wise, teacher assistant

As I have studied this passage, I have concluded two things:

1. Jesus is not asking us to give away all that we have.

He is, however, asking us if our heart is in the right place such that we would be willing to give away all that we have if that is what He requested of us.

2. Jesus cares about our generosity.

Greediness is sin, and sacrifice is blessing. Are we generous?

I love the way one commentary put it:

“Christ’s standard of commendable offering is not our superfluity, but our deficiency - not what will never be missed, but what costs us some real sacrifice.”

- Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible

God is amazingly generous.

But, as Pastor Jared often says, “We are blessed to be a blessing.” If we are not sacrificially giving from the blessing we have received, we not only fall short of the duty God has set before us, we are missing out on the fullness of God’s blessing for us.

God has offered us so much that giving our whole heart, all that we have, to Him, including our time, our talents, and our treasures, is a privilege, not a burden.

Missionary Jim Elliot literally gave his life for the cause of Christ. Before his death, he wrote,

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

- Jim Elliot

Friends, as we reflect on the events of Holy Week, may we have the heart of the widow, giving generously and sacrificially, that the Good News is shared, the next generation of Go First leaders are raised up, the hungry are fed, the poor are ministered to, and the Kingdom of God is advanced here on earth.

Pastor Ken

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