Pentecost 26

Mark 12:41–44 (NIV84)

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 fraction of a penny. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, 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.”

Giving money to church is a biblical practice that has been going on . . . well, even before there were churches. It began with the offerings that Cain and Abel gave to the Lord already in the book of Genesis. We are not told what happened to the produce and animal sacrifices that were presented to the Lord but we are told that they both gave offerings and that the Lord was pleased with Abel’s but not with Cain’s.

The practice of giving offerings would continue until the temple was destroyed in 70 AD (An event which Jesus predicts in the verses right after our text.) It would be an instructive study to discover the practice and then the rules and regulations concerning tithes and offerings throughout biblical history. Most are familiar with the 10% rule.

Nehemiah 10:35–39 NIV

35 “We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree. 36 “As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there. 37 “Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work. 38 A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. 39 The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and olive oil to the storerooms, where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the musicians are also kept. “We will not neglect the house of our God.”

In the beginning the tithe (10%) of produce etc was brought as produce etc. In time it was converted to something easier to transport (silver and later money made from precious metals) and given in that way. These offerings were used to support the Levites and priests who worked in the temple, the upkeep of the temple, and to provide help for the poor and other concerns.

Mark tells us about this practice. He refers to a place where the offerings were put and how people would put their money into the temple treasury.

Werner Franzman in his popular Bible History Commentary which serves as a resource for our Sunday school teachers writes about this event:

Bible History Commentary: New Testament (Jesus’ Taking Note of People’s Offerings)

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury” (v. 41). It was not by accident that Jesus became a witness to the people’s offerings. He deliberately took a sitting position from which he had a good view of the temple treasury. This consisted of seven trumpetshaped receptacles. We have seen from the story of the temple cleansing that every Jew who was 20 years old or over was required to pay a temple tax of one half shekel in the month preceding the Passover. (See Matthew 21:12, page 616.) Especially the pilgrims would take the opportunity to pay the tax at this time. Others would bring offerings for the support of the temple.

Our practice of how we give money to church is similar in some ways but can also have variations.

No longer do we bring produce and animals.

We may give using cash, but also checks, EFTs, and other electronic means.

We place our offerings into an offering plate during the worship service or before after.

Mark tells us that on this occasion, Jesus intentionally paid attention to what was happening. I think it was because he wanted to make an important application and knew he would see examples of what he was going to teach.

Franzmann continues . . .

For some time Jesus sat watching as the people placed their gifts into the designated receptacles. The Greek indicates that he was not a mere casual observer. The conclusion is obvious that even today Jesus closely observes the gifts his believers make for his work of preaching and teaching the gospel at home and abroad. This should be obvious. But is it actually so to those who give mechanically, without a devout upward look to him who gave his all for them? Is it taken into account by those professing Christians who do not prayerfully weigh the amount they are giving to the Lord, but give as the whim of the moment strikes them? What of those who indulge themselves in every kind of pleasure and luxury and then offer their Lord the left-overs, in other words, those who lack a glad conscientiousness in bringing offerings to the giver and owner of all material possessions and to the Savior who made them rich in the eyes of God?

How does it make you feel that Jesus is watching you? Watching what you are doing with your (his) money? Many people are very private about openly revealing their income and expenses. Sometimes even to their own spouse.

The amount of money we give and the frequency of our offerings to church is now considered to be a closely guarded secret. In the “old days” the annual report of the congregation would list every member and their financial giving for the year and even warn those who didn’t “Pay their dues”. People debate whether or not the pastor should be privy to their giving. Our policy is that very few people know who gives what and the main purpose is for those who may be able to deduct it from their taxes.

(Of course, we are to be transparent when it comes to reporting such things to the IRS but even then tax payers are less than open.)

Unreported income is huge deal to the IRS. The agency recently estimated that the U.S. loses hundreds of billions per year in taxes due to unreported income. Considering the amount of lost revenue, it's not surprising that the IRS has a process for determining unreported income.

When it suspects a taxpayer is failing to report a significant amount of income, it typically conducts a face-to-face examination, also called a field audit. IRS agents look at a taxpayer's specific situation to determine whether all income is being reported.

The article then goes on the show how the IRS digs into your financial situation. Jesus needs no such “paper trail”. He knows.

Tranistion

Not only does Jesus still watch as his own bring their gifts. He puts his estimate on each gift and each giver. And that estimate is as eternally true as it was on the occasion (three days before his death!) when he gave his verdict regarding the gifts which worshipers in the temple deposited in the treasury. His verdict came after he had observed these actions: “Many rich threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny” (vv. 41, 42). The large amounts the rich gave were such only comparatively. The meaning is not that they were rich, generous gifts in the sight of God.

But they serve as a contrast to the gift the widow made. Her offering was a very small one as far as the money-value of it went: “two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.” In this translation the coins are not identifed by name. This is perfectly satisfactory. Let the teacher follow the example. He will not be helpful to his pupils by loading their minds with the mention of “two lepta” (small copper coins) or the “quadrans” (penny).

Bible History Commentary: New Testament (Jesus’ Evaluation of People’s Offerings)

“Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others’” (v. 43). The disciples (the 12 apostles) must have been dispersed here and there among the crowd. Now Jesus wanted them nearby. He wanted to make sure they heard an important truth which needed to be spoken regarding the gifts of the many rich people and the offering of the poor widow. He marked his statement as important by beginning with “I tell you the truth,” literally, “Amen, I say to you.” As always, “Amen” attests what he will say as true and certain in the sight of God. The “I say to you” points to himself as one who has divine authority to make such an eternally true judgment.

We may take it that Jesus wanted his pronouncement to do more than benefit the disciples personally. Remember the role the Twelve were to play in the establishment and growth of the New Testament church. Accordingly, Jesus was here laying down a basic principle regarding giving which they, the leaders, were to teach the members of the church and foster in them. When we observe the early apostolic church as it is portrayed in Acts and when we note the spirit of glad, generous giving which prevailed there, we become certain that they faithfully transmitted the basic principle Jesus enunciated on this occasion.

“This poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.” It is obvious at once that Jesus was speaking of something other than the monetary value of the gifts he was comparing. Rather, it was the quality of the widow’s offering that made it rank higher in Jesus’ estimation and, therefore, in God’s than the gifts of all the others.

Jesus then proceeded to explain: “They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on” (v. 44). Here we must proceed carefully if we are not to draw all kinds of unwarranted conclusions. First of all, were the gifts of those who “gave of their wealth,” literally, “of their surplus” or “what they had left over”—were all those gifts unacceptable to God? Or to put it in modern terms: Are gifts of $100 or $1000 or $10,000 not pleasing to God because the giver in each case could readily afford such a gift? Jesus does not say that. The whole thrust of Jesus’ words clearly is this: Before God it is not merely the quantity, but also the quality of the gift that counts.

Suppose that one of the “many rich people” our text mentions gave the equivalent of $1000. If he gave it in the spirit of the widow, his gift would be acceptable to the Savior. So would gifts of $100 or $10 or $1 or 10¢ given in the same spirit. Therefore we ought to ask: “Just what was the spirit of the widow’s gift?” Or: “What was the particular quality of her seemingly small gift which made it great and precious in the eyes of Jesus?” She gave “out of her poverty.” But we dare not let that be the whole answer. If we did, we would be taking this position: The rich or the comparatively wealthy or those “fairly comfortable” financially never could bring gifts acceptable to God, and only the poor would be able to present offerings pleasing to God.

We need to consider the complete statement Jesus made about the widow’s gift: “She, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Her case is so extraordinary—and so unheard of today!—that we are astounded. This widow actually put into the “collection plate” every cent she had! She held nothing in reserve, not even enough to keep her from starving. What, then, is Jesus holding up for us to admire and imitate? A shining example of faith in God. The widow put all care for the future aside and simply trusted that her God, the God of her salvation, would keep his promise to provide for her bodily needs.

Here Jesus is calling to us in a loud voice: “Copy the faith of this widow! Then your gifts will be pleasing to God, too.” Jesus directs our attention to the basic principle we find in Hebrews 11:6: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” To put it another way, Jesus here says of the widow’s offering what Paul later said of the gifts brought by the Macedonian Christians: “Their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” And: “Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints [the collection for needy fellow Christians in Jerusalem]. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord” (2 Corinthians 8:2, 3–5).

And what does it mean to give oneself to the Lord? Simply, to raise one’s heart up to the God of grace in faith and love toward him. Such an act of giving one’s heart to God the Father and his Son, the Savior, is an act of worship. The widow’s offering was such an act. By the same token, all our gifts that flow from faith in our Redeemer are personal acts of worship pleasing to God. Accordingly, how can any one of us regard the bringing of offerings in our public worship services as something “extraneous,” as a foreign element in those services?

We repeat: here Jesus is not teaching that we ought to give amounts that correspond exactly to the widow’s gift. For instance, he is not saying here: “Everyone who has only $10 to his name must give $10; the person whose total financial worth is $125 must give $125.” We cannot imitate the widow’s giving in that mechanical way. If we took Jesus to mean that the only gift acceptable to God is one that consists of all that the giver possesses at the moment, we should make him contradict what he says elsewhere.

It is the motivation of the widow that Jesus commends.

And only the giver and Jesus can truly know this. And this doesn’t apply just to how much money someone gives to church. It really applies to everything we do.

Principles:

You cannot hide anything from God.

Hebrews 4:13 NIV84

13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Your stewardship (how you use the TTTT God has given to you is accountable.

1 Peter 4:1–6 NIV84

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 2 As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

Lest you think this only applies to those who are condemned, recall Jesus’ words:

Matthew 12:33–37 NIV84

33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

God is concerned about our actions. But he is also very much concerned about our attitude and our motivation.

Is this not what Jesus teaches in this example of the poor widow? Is it not what Genesis teaches regarding the first recorded offerings to the Lord? Abel and Cain both gave offerings to the Lord. One was flocks and one was produce but that was because that is what Abel and Cain had? The quality of one over the other was not better than the other. It was their attitude. Hebrews comments on this many years later:

Hebrews 11:4 NIV84

4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

Jesus intentionally used the example of the giving of offerings to reinforce a timeless truth. Our stewardship that is pleasing to God is using what he has given to us motivated by faith and a demonstration of our love for him and subsequently shown to our fellow man. No longer do we do things because we “have to” or it is required or because we want praise for ourselves. We do it in loving response to God and having faith that he cares for us.