Sermon from November 9, 1997

Sermon "The Measure of a Gift"
Rev. Lonnie Richardson
Sunday November 9, 1997

The Measure of a Gift

As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachersof the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and begreeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats inthe synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devourwidows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men willbe punished most severely." Jesus sat down opposite theplace where the offerings were put and watched the crowd puttingtheir money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw inlarge amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very smallcopper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling hisdisciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, thispoor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty,put in everything --all she had to live on."

Mark 12:38-44

I was browsing through the public library recently when I cameacross a shelf of books with the titles, "Who's Who."Perhaps you have heard of such books or seen them. They are listsof prominent persons in all kinds of areas, the cream of the cropin college students, medicine, writers, sports...

I couldn't help but think as I picked up one of the books andlooked through it, "Wonder if Jesus published his own 'Who'sWho', who would make the list?"

It would probably be made up of the names of persons most ofus would never notice, persons overlooked most of the time. Thesmall, insignificant, "little people," those of littleaccount in the world's scheme of things. People like...

The gentile centurion who had such great faith in Jesus thathe could just speak the word and his sick servant would be healed(Luke 7)..."Not in all Israel have I seen such faith,"Jesus said of him...

Or the woman of questionable moral character who washed Jesus'feet with her tears and dried them with her hair (Luke 7:36ff)...

Or the sick woman who reached out to touch the hem of hisgarment...

Or the little children, so small, who make no financialcontributions, have no position, no authority, so they tend to beinvisible, they tend to be ignored, but whom he blessed and usedas examples of the citizens of the kingdom of God...

Or maybe the widow in today's text...Persons nobody sees butJesus...

The setting for this story is the court of women in the templein Jerusalem. The temple had designated areas for differentpersons. The outer most area and the largest was the court ofGentiles. There was a wall or barrier with a strict warning toany Gentile who ventured further inside - that he did so at riskof being put to death. The next area was the court of women.Further inside was the court of Israel or men. Beyond it was thecourt of priests and, of course, the innermost part was the holyof holies in which only the high priest could enter once a year.

The time is Passover - the last week of Jesus' life, what wecall "Holy Week." This whole week Jesus has usedvarious parts of the temple as his classroom to teach hisdisciples. Jesus is increasingly coming into more conflict withthe powers-that-be, something that will result in his beingarrested and turned over to the Romans at the end of the week forthe death penalty.

This story about the widow and her offering is the last act orteachings of Jesus inside the temple itself. As we just completedCommitment Sunday and our stewardship campaign it is appropriatefor us to consider the teaching of Jesus in this situation.

Jesus is sitting in the court of the women, close to thecollection containers for offerings. We know that there were 13trumpet-shaped offering containers there. They were made ofmetal, and the larger end was on the floor and the smaller at thetop through which you would put your offerings (mainly coins).Each container was designated for a different use - to buy woodfor burnt offerings, to purchase incense, to purchase goods forthe needy, and so on.

Since it was Passover week, Jerusalem was crowded. What asight it must have been there in the temple. Pilgrims from allover the known world parading by to make their offerings. Youcould hear the coins as they rolled round and round until theyclanged to the bottom of the metal collectors. Those who gave themost made the most noise. (My experience has been that those whogive the least, tend to make the most noise.)

Some scholars suggest that the persons had to call out theamount they were giving as they placed it in one or more of thecontainers. Wonder if we should try that?

I remember reading about a minister who walked down the aislewhile the collection was being taken, looking at what each personput into the offering plates. After it was taken, he ascended thepulpit and said, "I know that some of you are upset with mefor what I have just done. But I wanted you to know that assurely as I know what you gave, God knows."

I'm not sure that minister stayed there very long...

But in the midst of all the pomp and circumstances, andclanging coins in the temple that day - the ears and eyes ofJesus hear and see something unnoticed by the crowd. He sees apoor widow, with ragged clothes and lean from hunger, making herway through the crowd to give her offering. So he calls hisdisciples over to him, saying, "Hush! Listen! Watch!"And together they see her put her tiny two copper coins in andperhaps in a whisper say, "Two lepta," as her two tinycopper coins, less than half-a-cent, are dropped into thecontainer, hardly making a sound at all compared to the heavycoins others are giving. No one heard them - no one but Jesus.

"There you see," Jesus tells them, "a realexample of giving. The others give out of their abundance, butthat poor widow has given more than all of them put together, forshe has put in everything she had. Peter, go find out her nameand write it down in my list of who's who in God's kingdom."

For Jesus, the gift which counts is the gift which costs. Hedoes not criticize those putting in much more than the widow, hesimply points out to his disciples that their giving didn'treally cost them anything. They'd never miss it. It did notrequire a sacrifice on their part. But the widow gives the moneyfor her next meal! She could have given only one coin but givesboth! She gives all she has. Her gift is costly, but it bringsthe greater honor to God, you see. Because she came with faithand trust that her well being did not depend upon mere materialthings but on God. Her offering was an act of faith, knowing Godwould take care of her.

I know what you're thinking and feeling. And I'm right therewith you. This is one of those stories I'd just as soon skipover. It's a difficult passage to read and still feel good aboutyourself. Or at least not to be challenged with some toughself-examination.

When is the last time that we gave to Christ and his church somuch that it hurt?

When have our tithes and offerings required us to sacrifice,to give up some part of our lifestyle, some pleasure, some hobbywe love?

A friend told me about how the finance chair in his churchchallenged the membership to give an extra 100 dollars for thecoming year in order to meet the needs of the church. He visiteda widow later in the week who brought up the request. She toldhim, "Well, you know I'm on a very fixed budget. But Ithought about that request and prayed about it. You know what? Ifigured out that if I gave the money that I use for subscriptionsto the newspaper and for the National Geographic, I'd have abouta hundred dollars. So that's what I'm going to do."

On that day somewhere in heavenly places Jesus must have saidto Peter again, "Make sure you write down her name for mywho's who list."

You see, it's not really the amount we give that impressesJesus, it's what it costs us to give it. What Jesus looks for isnot what is given but what's left over once we've given.

The gift which counts is the gift which costs, which meansmaking a sacrifice, which leaves us relying wholly upon God toprovide for our needs.

This is what the widow did. This is also what Jesus did.

I can't help but think that one of the reasons Jesus noticedthis widow and was touched by her was that she really did giveher all. She put her whole trust in God. He must have beenthinking, as he left the temple that day, that this was what hewas going out to give to God - to give his all. Paul says it thisway in 2 Corinthians 8:9: "You know the grace of the LordJesus Christ; rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake,in order to make you rich by means of his poverty"

David Livingstone, the man who gave his life in missionarywork in Africa, once wrote:

"I never made a sacrifice. We ought not to talk of `sacrifice' when we remember the great sacrifice which Christ made to leave his Father's throne on high to give himself for us."

He did not even own a bed, he had no place to lay his head;a cattle stall, his crib at birth; he had no bank account onearth. He laid the wealth of heaven down for earthly rags, andthorny crown. He passed the praise of angels by, and came wheremen cried, "Crucify!" He left a throne for you and meand bore our sins upon a tree. So strong his claim, so clear hiscall, how dare I give him less than all?"

-- Barbara C. Ryberg

The measure of a gift ... Is in it's costs!

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