Sacrificial Living
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Introduction
Introduction
I am glad everyone could make it here today let me start off by a word of Prayer:
Prayer: Father, I thank you for today and for everyone who is here to hear Your Word and Your truth. I pray that our hearts will be open to what you have to say today and that you could speak through me using Your words and not mine.
Story: In the mens group at my church there is a man named John. John owned a construction business for about 10 years. In early 2024 he lost his business. Fast forward to October 17th he texted our group chat saying that during his quiet time, he felt that the Lord was calling him to help a church in West Jefferson, North Carolina after hurricane Helene.
Since John’s company closed earlier that year he did not have much to spend on this trip and he needed equipment. He went to home depot and had $1,000 to spend on said equipment and y'all know how much tools and equipment is these days.
So after getting everything that he needed it ended up being a total of $998. Exactly what God told him to spend and it was also everything that he had to spend.
Before John went on the trip the guys in our group laid hands on him and prayed for him.
John ended up going to North Carolina for a week, serving the church he partnered with and he was also able to bring along someone who owns a tree company by the help of our mens group.
He sacrificed not only his finances, but also his time, energy, and skills that God gave him.
This leads me to the Scripture for the day: The Widow’s offering in
And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Right before this passage, Jesus was teaching His Disciples about the Scribes in Mark 12:38-40
And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
The Scribes in this context are people who are seeking out human approval
This is important because it contrasts to the poor widow giving her offering in the next passage.
See a widow in this time period was someone who had lost their husband and has no one to take care of her
This is a big deal because the husband was the sole provider for his wife and when the husband dies, it puts the wife in a state of economic distress and she no longer has security.
When she makes her offering, Jesus offers another teaching moment to his Disciples in verse 43. The widows offering of the 2 small coins was worth so much more than the rich peoples contributions.
See many people make offerings but she made a sacrifice to God. No one knew how much of a sacrifice it was and she did not flaunt about how she had no money, she just gave it to God.
Digging a little deeper into the text, the Temples Treasury consisted of 13 wooden boxes with metal trumpet shaped mouths on top. These were in the court of the women and all of these boxes are offerings of free will.
When the rich dropped their offerings into this box it would make a loud sound because their coins are very big.
While the widows small coins would make little to no sounds because they are about a quarter of the size.
It is not known what kind of coins the rich put in, but they were probably made of gold, silver, and copper.
The widows coins are called lepta which are the smallest bronze Jewish coin
Two of these were worth 1/64 of a Roman denarius which was a days wage for labor.
Basically it is a fraction of a penny in today’s currency
This tells us how much a sacrifice it was to give all that she had. She could have easily kept one extra coin for herself.
According to the oxford dictionary, sacrifice “means giving up something important or valuable to you in order to get or do something that seems more important; something that you give up”
Sacrifices are not forced but are given glad fully and willingly. A sacrifice is an act of love and great heart posture.
This offering points to 3 things:
The greatest commandment back in Mark 12:30
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
Jesus’ explanation of what belongs to God in Mark 12:17
Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.
And finally life of sacrifice Jesus modeled for us. In the book of John, Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd and says in John 10:18
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Jesus offered himself willingly. He spared nothing, and it cost him everything.
In 2 Corinthians 8:9 Paul says
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 by his poverty might become rich.
By telling us about the widows offering Jesus remind us that what is most important to God is not the quantity of the gift or sacrifice, but the generosity of the one doing the giving.
In my own life giving sacrificially looks like mowing my elderly neighbors yard, serving at church and doing things that God has given me the gift to do.
Conclusion:
Ending Story:
See the story with John and the widows offering is not all about money, it’s about giving sacrificially to God because He has given sacrificially to us. After the trip John said that it was the best experience he has had. The Lord has blessed him with the act of sacrificial giving.
Application:
So how do I apply this all to my life?
Attitude is more important than the action, the widows total giving demonstrates an attitude of absolute trust in God.
God wants us to trust Him with our life and a good way to do that is to sacrifice and trust that he will provide for you at all times.
He wants us to not look at what we have in our own hands, but what He has given us
This passage convicted me to look into my own life and ask what are my priorities?
Ending Prayer:
