Verse for the week of November 8th:
For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. (Mark 12:44)
The setting for this verse is the story of the widow’s mite—the encounter of Jesus with people putting in money to the coffers at the temple. Many were coming and putting in large sums, but then a widow comes and puts in two mites (or small copper coins). Jesus commends this woman for her contribution.
Whenever I read this story the idea that always strikes me as odd is the fact that Jesus and his disciples were watching people putting money in the treasury. Some commentators even suggest that the proper reading is that Jesus was watching HOW people put money into the treasury. Think about it, would you like it if the person in the pew would watch you when you put money in the offering plate? My guess is that many of us would rather the people around us NOT watch us when we put money in the offering plate.
And not only is Jesus watching them, but because the money was all coins one could tell how much people put into the treasury. For the most part, the larger the coin the more it was worth. Thus, the louder the noise that was made when people put money into the treasury—the more money they put into the coffer.
What Jesus is attempting to teach the disciples and those around him is that it is not simply how much one gives, but why they give.
The widow is commended not because she put in a certain amount, but that she gave out of her poverty. She gave all that she had. This goes against the notion that people are to give a tithe or 10% of your income. Jesus is teaching that everything belongs to God and that we give not what we want, but what God calls us to give out of what he has blessed or bestowed upon us.
This text challenges us in our own stewardship. How does this woman become a role model for us in our giving? How does this text challenge us in our giving and the reasons that we give? Do we give sacrificially or not?
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