Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Then, with the crowds listening, he turned to his disciples and said, “Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the head table at banquets. Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be severely punished.” While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” Luke 20:45 – 21:3
Every time we get near Jesus
in teaching mode He utters something that turns our thinking upside down. When he pointed at the widow’s gift and said
she gave more than everybody that day, even though she had given the smallest
amount, He was showing us the key to opening true generosity in our lives; it’s
never how much you put in the offering plate, or the size of the check you put
in the envelope to a charity, it’s how much you keep that determines the size
of your gift.
It’s amazing how children get
this, while adults seem to struggle with it.
Our youngest child is having a birthday today (one with a zero attached…prayer
please…happy birthday, sweetheart 😊 ). When Carrie was little, perhaps only about 4,
she overheard her mother and me talking about the income and outgo problem; there
was a little too much month left over at the end of the money. She went to her room, then came back to join
us at the table. We looked at that sweet,
innocent face as she held up her pudgy little hand and opened it to reveal four
pennies. It is impossible to forget
those words, here, Daddy, you can use my money. Like the widow who kept nothing back, our
little one had emptied her savings to help.
The condemnation of the preachers
at the beginning of the story is for pride and the misuse of money. Well, it seems there’s nothing new after all! These proud, greedy leaders would have
scoffed at the widow’s donation, or perhaps used it to guilt others into giving
more to fatten the treasury, but one thing they were never going to do is
follow the widow’s example.
For You Today
The Gaither Vocal Band has a
song that keeps running through my head, Give It Away. Think of the widow that day:
If you want more happy than your heart can hold;
If you wanna stand taller, if the truth were told,
Take whatever you have and give it away!
If you want less lonely and a lot more fun
And deep satisfaction when the day is done,
Throw your heart wide open and give it away![2]
If you wanna stand taller, if the truth were told,
Take whatever you have and give it away!
If you want less lonely and a lot more fun
And deep satisfaction when the day is done,
Throw your heart wide open and give it away![2]
Gloria Gaither tells about
writing that song. Let’s give her the
last word today:
Bill’s grandfather used to
say, “There are basically two kinds of people in this world – givers and takers
– so decide which one you want to be.”[3]
