41 And he sat
down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the
offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small
copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And
he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this
poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering
box. 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.”
Mark 12:41-44
Jesus’ visit to the temple this time was marked by His zealous heart for the house of God. In Mark 11 we see Jesus cleansing the temple. There were so many corruptions done in the temple in the name of the Lord. Religious corruption is the worst kind of corruption. The religious leaders of the day: the Priests, the Scribes, the Pharisees, and the others, were all corrupt, even to the point of robbing what belonged to God. After warning His disciples about how the religious leaders exploit the common people using the authority God gave to them, Jesus sat down in front of the treasury and observed something remarkable: the widow who gave the smallest amount of offering possible was praised by Jesus, but those who gave so much were not. Surely the disciples were puzzled.
In this fallen world, even the
disciples’ minds were greatly influenced by the worldly value of materialism
(cf. Mark 13 – for the disciples were still considering the glory of the temple
by its appearance). We too would be
puzzled by Jesus’ teaching here. How
come a tiny offering of a penny outclass those that amount to even talent. It would be like comparing a one cent
offering versus a million dollar offering.
The disciples were in the same mode as other people that the value of
the offering was measured by the material value. Especially when all believed that the measure
of God’s blessings were manifested when one was wealthy, healthy, and
successful in life. In the eyes of the
world, the greater the material value of the offering, the more valuable the
offering is, and thus the giver is considered to be more devoted to the
Lord. This was the norm then and it
still is today. And this is the heart of
the problem of offering ever since the fall.
However, we all know that Jesus could
not be wrong. So there must be a better
explanation to His teaching than just focusing on numbers. In the eyes of God, offering is not about the
amount or the material value of the offering, it is about the heart of the
person giving the offering. John Calvin
commented on this passage and said:
our Lord applauds this sincerity,
because, forgetting herself, she wished to testify that she and all that she
possessed belonged to God. In like manner, the chief sacrifice which God
requires from us is self-denial.[1]
Jesus
tied offering closely with the human motive.
Appearance can be deceiving. It’s
so true. In this case, the sound of the
silver and gold coins dropping inside the treasury metal box gave the giver
pride as their offering was exposed to the world to hear. When a rich person gave offering at the
temple, the people applauded such person because he gave so much. With head held so high, he then entered the
temple acting as if God owed him honor for the gift he gave. But Jesus did not praise such person. Because He saw the heart.
With this, I now want to turn to our
life and our offering today. What do you
think God will find in your hearts as you give the offering? Is it pride?
Do you wish to loan God some money from your pocket because you think
that the church is so poor? Do you think
that offering to God is some kind of investment that eventually God will give you
a high return? Do you think that the
wealth you have is solely yours? Are you
keeping score with God through your offering?
Are you going to say to God, God I have given a lot to you, now it is
the time for you to give me what I ask for?
If you have such things in your heart, remember this passage. I am yet to explain to you further why the
widow’s offering was much more valuable than the offerings of all the wealthy
people.
Today we hear of an offering to God
being treated as an investment. A
certain teaching from the prosperity gospel has penetrated the church and blind
a lot of Churchgoers. The prosperity
gospel preachers entice many gullible churchgoers with motivational words of
the positive thinking philosophy. They
claim that God is rich and He will give them 10 times more than what they give
to the Lord. Thus tithing becomes big in
the prosperity gospel circle. Not with
the right motive and proper understanding, but for the sake to gain tenfold of
what is given in the offering plate.
This motivational speech is the greatest of all business speech. Because no business model can ever help any
business owners to gain profit 1000% of the investment. A logical and common ROI would be around 20%,
and that’s a lot already. 1000% is
insane! These prosperity gospel
preachers exploit the word of God and paddle it for their own profit. So they promise an ROI of 1000% of their
investment, through the spiritual offering.
Who would not want an ROI of 1000%?
If you invest $100, then you will have $1000 in return. If you invest $1000, you will have $10,000 in
return. If you invest $10,000, you will
have $100,000 in return. This is the
best business plan ever, isn’t it? So
people “generously” give offering to the church of the prosperity gospel. Let me tell you: “That is not an offering in
any sense of the word!” What the
prosperity gospel preacher is proclaiming here is a business proposal by way of
misusing the name of God. Their proposal
is unauthorized! They will be judged by
God very severely. If you are into this
kind of offering model, I should call you to repent right now.
Our passage today teaches us what
true offering is all about. The poor
widow gave out of her poverty everything she had. She gave out two small copper coins. She could have given one coin and kept the
other. I believe if she did she would
still be a very good example of sincere offering to God. But no, she offered all two coins. Those two coins were all she had. Jesus knew the widow gave all. Two small copper coins or a penny was worth a
very poor and simple meal for a one time lunch.
By offering them, she would suffer the day without eating. Why would she do it? This was most bizarre. Very counter-intuitive. Besides, Jesus had taught earlier that the
scribes devoured widows’ houses (12:40).
It was very likely that this poor widow was one of the scribes’
victims. She just lost her house and
fell poor. Yet surprisingly she still
loved the Lord and gave to the Lord all she had. Who in their right mind would do such a
thing?
If we become poor, we would have the
best excuse not to give any offering to the Lord. And we would exploit such excuse over and
over again, wouldn’t we? We do not even
have to become poor to make such an excuse.
It would be enough for us to excuse ourselves from giving offering to
the Lord if our business is not as smooth as it was before. It would be enough for us to excuse ourselves
from giving offering to the Lord if we get less income than what we got
before. We do this because deep in our
heart of hearts we do not love the Lord.
We love His gifts, that’s for sure.
But we do not really care about Him, do we? This attitude is even more true as we would
be comfortable if we may go to heaven without God.
Do we love the Lord? This poor widow did. She loved the Lord more than she loved
herself. A widow was despised at that
time. A poor widow was even more. Poor widows were like garbage in the eyes of
the society then. No wonder God gave the
command to care for widows. We won’t
understand such culture because we don’t really have such attitude toward
widows in our modern world today. When
she approached the treasury box at the temple, I wonder how the people would
perceive it. Mockery? Insult?
Interestingly, our Lord’s eyes were fixed on her. He acknowledged her sincere heart. He saw in her the love of the Lord.
This same disposition of the heart
as this poor widow had, ought to be in ours as we give our offering to
God. This teaching of Christ is hard to
swallow but yet very important for our spiritual growth. Calvin pointed out:
This reply
of Christ contains a highly useful doctrine, that whatever men offer to God
ought to be estimated not by its apparent value, but only by the feeling of the
heart, and that the holy affection of him who, according to his small means,
offers to God the little that he has, is more worthy of esteem than that of him
who offers a hundred times more out of
his abundance.[2]
Not
the visible offering that God sees, but what is invisible in our hearts. His logic is deeper than our materialistic
logic that is faulty from the start.
People often unjustly compare the amount of the offering without
measuring how much they actually keep.
If someone has $10 million and then he gives $1 million while keeping
the $9 million, he is still a rich man.
Giving $1 million is not putting a dent into his wealth. The poor widow, on the other hand, she only
has $1, and she gives $1 while keeping nothing for herself. In the eyes of God, the poor widow is giving
more than the one who gives $1 million.
This is the logic of heaven. Then
Calvin taught wonderfully through this unique passage:
In two ways
this doctrine is useful, for the poor, who appear not to have the power of
doing good, are encouraged by our Lord not to hesitate to express their
affection cheerfully out of their slender means; for if they consecrate
themselves, their offering, which appears to be mean and worthless, will not be
less valuable than if they had presented all the treasures of Crœsus. On the
other hand, those who possess greater abundance, and who have received from God
larger communications, are reminded that it is not enough if in the amount of
their beneficence they greatly surpass the poor and common people; because it
is of less value in the sight of God that a rich man, out of a vast heap,
should bestow a moderate sum, than that a poor man, by giving very little,
should exhaust his store.[3]
The
poor should not be discouraged in giving to the Lord. Your small amount of offering is very
valuable to the Lord as you express your love to Him through it. Do not excuse yourselves from giving
offering. If you do, you are robbing
yourselves of a chance to express your love to Him. For the wealthy, do not be haughty if you can
give more. But you must search your
heart when you give. Pray you will not
think that God owes you anything because you give much. Pray you will not treat offering to God as an
investment to enrich yourselves. Pray
you humble yourselves when you give offering.
In everything, be generous in your giving, for God is abundantly
generous to you all.
Brothers and sisters, there is no greater
story of offering than the story of Jesus Christ. He gave His life as the perfect and
unblemished offering to God. When He
offered Himself, He offered it on our behalf.
With His perfect offering of His life, Jesus has redeemed us. Jesus saved us from sin and eternal
death. He did not have to do it. He did not have to offer Himself. He could have walked away from the whole
crucifixion thing. He could even have
walked away from the entire incarnation plan.
But He chose to come. He chose to
be nailed to that wretched cross. All
for our sakes. Because He loves us. Because He obeys the Father. His perfect life has been given to you and
me, what then will you offer Him in return?
The poor widow offered God her entire life saving, for a chance to
express her love to Him, even though facing a prospect of dying of
starvation. I pray that all of us may
give our entire life to the Lord progressively, and we can start by giving a
generous offering to the Lord. Amen!
[1]
John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark,
and Luke, vol. 3 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible
Software, 2010), 114.
[2]
John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark,
and Luke, vol. 3 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible
Software, 2010), 113.
[3]
John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark,
and Luke, vol. 3 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible
Software, 2010), 113–114.
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