Word Live: Giving That Hurts
Thank the Lord for the many ways in which he has blessed you. Try to be specific!
Bible passage
Mark 12:41–44
The widow’s offering
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few pence.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
This story is challenging for those of us who live in the prosperous West. Most of us have never known what it is to give in a way that hurts. We often give to our churches directly from our bank accounts, which is good in its own way, but distances us from the act of giving. We debate the intricacies of tithing, but rarely give enough to affect our diet, let alone leave us hungry.
Living in Romania for many years, I met Christians who said they were too poor to give. But I also met many who had experienced first-hand the faithfulness and loving care of God as they chose to give despite their circumstances. Giving more than we think we can afford is saying that we trust God more than we trust money.
Sometimes we feel as if our contribution is insignificant – be it money or in other areas of life. But God’s economics don’t work like ours: Jesus said the widow had given the most (v 43). When we give out of our love for him, he will take our meagre gift and turn it into something amazing! Remember the boy who gave his packed lunch to Jesus? He probably thought he was risking going hungry that day, but instead he shared a feast with at least 4,999 others (John 6:9)!
Author
Alison Allen
Respond
Ask the Lord what and to whom you should give. Perhaps it’s time to re-assess before him your regular giving?
Deeper Bible study
‘Jesus paid it all, / all to him I owe; / sin had left a crimson stain, / he washed it white as snow.’1
A few Sundays ago, at the worship service held on the estate where I live, I happened to notice a man who put two copper coins into the offering. Last week, a woman from our estate invited some people from church round to her flat for breakfast. Having only a few chairs, our host stood up throughout the meal. Before we began to eat our breakfast, one lady who is just learning to pray aloud offered up a faltering prayer of thanks. Two copper coins, a shortage of chairs and a faltering prayer. I wonder, though, how sweet were these offerings of worship, hospitality and thanks to Jesus?
The story recounting the widow’s offering teaches us much about God’s economics. To be clear, the story is not there to teach us to dishonour the generous gifts made by those who have plenty (v 41). It is there to encourage us to honour the seemingly small offerings made by those who have comparatively little; to teach us that gifts we may judge as being low in value may actually have come at high cost (vs 42–44). Moreover, the story reminds us that what matters most to God is the heart attitude behind our offerings to him.2
Uncomfortable reading though it may be, the widow’s offering challenges us to recognise that there is a call in the Christian life to sacrificial giving and sacrificial living,3 for such was the offering that Christ made for us upon the cross. In stark contrast to the dishonourable way that the teachers of the Law treated widows (v 40), is it not part of the beauty of Christ that he should greatly honour them by using a meagre offering from a poor widow to teach us rich and challenging truths?
What has challenged you most from this passage of Scripture? Turn it into a prayer. Ask God to help you ‘excel in this grace of giving’.4
1 Elvina M Hall, 1865, ‘I hear the Saviour say’ 2 Isa 29:13; 2 Cor 9:7 3Matt 26:6–13; 19:27–30 42 Cor 8:7
Author
Fiona Silley
