Give It Your All
Notes
Transcript
1 Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
Think about the difference between these two:
The rich people put large gifts into the offering box
The widow gave an impossibly small amount (2 lepta, which are worth about 1/128 of a denarius each — a denarius was about 1 days’ wages)
He knew she was a widow because he is God, but everyone else could tell by the way she was dressed. He also knew how much each person was giving, how much they had, etc. because he is God — that’s why he was able to say “she…put in all she had to live on.”
The gifts of the rich would have been very impressive, while the gift of the widow is basically worthless in the grand scheme of things. You might wonder, “why would she even bother?” Jesus said that her gift is the greatest, because she showed that she was willing to give all of the very little she had in order to be a disciple and follow Jesus.
What does this look like in our lives?
It is really easy to give out of abundance. It is not the size of the gift that matters, but what it costs us. Jesus doesn’t call us to give impressive gifts, he calls us to give sacrificial ones. Whether we give from our financial resources, our talents and abilities, or our time, God sees our gift and knows what it costs us.
It can be so tempting to give and serve for the approval of people, but when we trust the Lord and walk in obedience to his command to let go of our perceived control and give sacrificially, we earn the approval of God.
Finally, we must always keep in mind 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 — everything we do must be done in love, or it is worthless. It is in self-sacrificing love that Jesus died for us, and also how people will know we belong to Jesus.
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Discussion Questions:
Why was the widow’s seemingly worthless gift so much more valuable than the rich people’s larger gifts?
What are some kinds of things you could give to the Lord as a gift?
How does Jesus model sacrificial giving in his life and ministry?
How does the act of sacrificial giving make us more like Christ?
What does it mean if we are not willing to give sacrificially? Can we truly call ourselves “Christ followers” if we are not willing to give until it hurts?
