GENEROUS OBSERVATIONS
November 14, 2024
While reading in Luke’s gospel this week, something that caught Jesus’ eye caught my eye.
On the last week of His life, the Lord made a surprising observation after He had cleansed the temple precincts of the buyers and sellers so that it could, again, be a house of prayer (Luke 19:45-46) AND after He had just scolded the religious rulers for “DEVOURING WIDOWS’ HOUSES.” (Luke 20:45-47)
He was in the temple, watching people toss coins into the temple treasury. Luke tells us that He saw “THE WEALTHY” contributing. He kept watching and saw a “POOR WIDOW” approach to make her own offering. Evidently, He was close enough to get a look at what she offered to help with the running of the temple’s ministry.
She tossed in two “lepta.” (A lepton was the smallest Jewish coin. It was nothing more than a thin disc of metal embossed with a simple pattern. One lepton was worth about six minutes of a day laborer’s wage. Next to nothing.)
Of course, that offering wouldn’t make a measurable dent in the temple’s operating budget. Knowing that, Jesus’ comment about her giving was striking. [LUKE 21:3] “TRULY I SAY TO YOU, THIS POOR WIDOW PUT IN MORE THAN ALL OF THEM.
By that comment, Jesus gave voice to a new way of measuring the value of an offering. According to His math, she gave “MORE” than the wealthy did. Not more, proportionally. More, absolutely.
Bystanders might have laughed at her gift of two lepta. Not Jesus.
If I read this right, Jesus didn’t value the gifts He saw being dropped into the temple treasury that day based on how much good the gift did in helping the temple meet budget or run its ministries. He valued the gifts people gave based on personal investment.
The Apostle Paul understood and embraced Jesus’ “new math.”
In the passage where he provides us with his most extensive teaching on generosity (2 Corinthians 8 and 9), Paul said nothing about how much money or what percentage of money a Christian might give. Nor do we find either amount or percentage mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament as an obligation for the believer in Jesus.
God leaves it up to each of us to give as we have purposed in our hearts: (1) to support Christian ministries, (2) to provide for the spread of the Gospel, and (3) to serve those in need.
But, in the spirit of Jesus’ comment about the poor widow, the Apostle Paul praised those who were personally INVESTED in meeting needs in Jesus’ Name.
Paul commended the churches of Macedonia because, [2 CORINTHIANS 8:2] IN A GREAT ORDEAL OF AFFLICTION THEIR ABUNDANCE OF JOY AND THEIR DEEP POVERTY OVERFLOWED IN THE WEALTH OF THEIR LIBERALITY (that is, in their giving).
He praised them for giving “BEYOND THEIR ABILITY” and “VOLUNTARILY” (8:3), “GENEROUSLY” (9:6), and “CHEERFULLY.” (9:7)
God credited the Macedonian’s generosity with doing lots of good because of the personal investment they made in their giving, NOT because of the amount of their giving.
When we give of our resources to meet needs in Jesus’ Name and to push forward Jesus’ purposes, we are using resources that would have otherwise gone to either meeting our own basic needs (giving like the poor widow did), supplying our own legitimate expenses, or even buying things we might have enjoyed.
By this personal, sacrificial investment, we are proving our love for the recipient AND we are giving evidence of our passion for Jesus’ mission. (And this applies to the gifts we might give of time and energy as well as to giving financial resources.)
It turns out that the more we are personally “vested” in giving, the better. Personal investment is a force multiplier when it comes to generosity. God multiplies impact when we give in this manner, whatever the amount, even a lepton.
What a gracious God we serve! He takes what we give (whether money, time, or energy) and then uses THAT gift to meet pressing needs, to strengthen bonds between giver and recipient, to express love, and to model what God has done for us in Jesus.
[ CORINTHIANS 8:9] FOR YOU KNOW THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THAT THOUGH HE WAS RICH, YET FOR YOUR SAKE HE BECAME POOR, SO THAT YOU THROUGH HIS POVERTY MIGHT BECOME RICH.
Yours…His,
Dave