Come to Jesus with What You Have
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
A man broke into a house one night, his goal was to take something small and valuable.
While he was searching through the stuff he heard a small voice "Jesus is watching you."
He stopped for a moment and said to himself "This must be a voice from my old sunday school."
So he continued searching, about 5 minutes later he heard the voice again "Jesus is watching you."
He turned his flashlight to the direction and he saw a parrot.
He said to the parrot "What is your name?"
The parrot replied "Moses"
The robber then said "What kind of silly people would name there parrot Moses?"
The parrot looked up and said "The same people who named the pitbull Jesus!
Our passage today is not
Do you do things because Jesus is watching you or because of your love for Jesus?
When we come to Jesus, it is important to come to Him with all we have!
This is evident throughout scripture and especially in the text for today.
Luke 21:1-
As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
In the Court of the Women in the Temple. there where thirteen collecting boxes known as the Trumpets. These boxes were shaped like a trumpet with the narrow part at the top and the wider part at the bottom. Each one was assigned for offerings for a different purpose. So Jesus was near this area and He looked up and saw people giving their respective offerings. His eye catches a certain lady as she gives the smallest offering possible.
Your translation of this text might call these copper coins two lepta. A lepton was the smallest of all coins in both size and in value. The name actually means “the thin one.” Mark’s Gospel calls these coins a fraction of a penny. A small gift and perhaps immaterial to you and me. yet Jesus, was moved by this gift.
Described as a poor widow,
Today I want to invite you to look at three ways that you and I can come to Jesus and give Him what we have.
First, notice the attitude.
Attitude
Attitude
When you come to Jesus, what is your frame of mind? Are you coming with the attitude of what you can get or the attitude of what you can give?
In the chapter preceding our text, Jesus speaks about the way widows were treated:
While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.”
for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”
Luke 23:45-
Luke 20:45-
Widows had to be disheartened in the way they were treated by the teachers of the law, the representatives of the temple. Yet, this widow came with all she had. She was totally devoted to her Lord.
Somewhere, it was instilled in her to give in a way that she knew that she could depend on the Lord to provide her needs. I think this giving was more than an offering of money. She trusted the Lord with all heart. She, just like , leaned not on her own understanding.
She gave her all. She exhibited total devotion. Does your relationship exhibit total devotion?
Notice not only her attitude, but notice her aptitude.
Aptitude
Aptitude
The widow’s gift showed her ability, her capacity and her capability. Jesus notices that this widow’s gift exceeds all the other gifts because she gave all that she had. It was not a matter of here are two coins, it was a matter of giving in such a way that her survival depended on it!
It begs the question, “Are you committed or just involved?”
The business fable of The Chicken and the Pig is about commitment to a project or cause. When producing a dish made of ham and eggs, the pig provides the ham which requires his sacrifice and the chicken provides the eggs which are not difficult to produce. Thus the pig is really committed in that dish while the chicken is only involved, yet both are needed to produce the dish.
Are you sold out completely to the Lordship of Christ?
Jesus recognized that by giving her all, the widow exceeded all the rest!
She is willing to give her all to glorify God. It was not done for show, it was not done to say “Hey look at me!” This widow knew that her God was Jehovah Jereh which means “the Lord will provide.” Do you know the Lord well enough to understand that He will meet your needs?
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
We are not just talking finances here, we are saying that our God is capable of providing everything we have!
You have noticed the Attitude and the Aptitude, next notice the Altitude.
Altitude
Altitude
The apex and loftiness in this lady’s actions are revealed here. Her action was not for show as we have mentioned, but the ultimate trust that God is worthy of her all!
Man sees what is given, but God sees what is left. Winston Churchhill said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Maybe he learned this from growing up and hearing a passage like :
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
The measure of a gift is not how much was given, but how much there was to give. Are you giving your all to God?
The peak of your giving of your finances, your heart, your actions, your all… stems from the fact that the only real gift is that which is the inevitable overflow of a loving heart, that which is given because the giver cannot help it!
Your Attitude shows the frame of mind in which you make your offering.
Your Aptitude shows the capacity and how willing you are to make your offering.
But your Altitude shows that you are willing to give all to the One that gave you His all!
It is interesting to see that this passage chronologically falls in between the triumphal entry and the arrest and mock trial of Jesus. It falls in between a high point in Jesus’ life and the lowest point. It shows us that in our low points we can trust our Lord. It shows in our high points we can trust our Lord. And guess what? We can trust our Lord all the time.
Are you able to do that? Are you able to say yes Lord, I trust you with this area of my life. Yes Lord I trust you with this area of my life! Yes Lord, I trust you with everything I am, everything I was, and everything I will be!
Giving one’s all is the way God intended. The world is in the mess it is in now because we have too many people that only give half of who they are to the One that created us to give Him our all. Imagine that you and I came to church and sang
Were the whole realm of Nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Yet while we sang that, we were worried about our status, or how little we could get by with, or what others think of us?
Don’t you think it is time to the we said, “Yes Lord! Yes to everything I have. Yes to all I am. I am YOURS completely, wholeheartedly. I trust you enough to say yes to all You ask of me!
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Come to Jesus. Give Him what you have. Watch what happens next!