Not Holding Back

Not Holding Back Michael Morse / General CrossFit / Generosity; Giving; Sacrifice; Widow with Two Coins / Luke 21:1-4 Introduction CrossFitness is not easy, and those who say it is accept mediocrity. As hard as it is to hear CrossFitness requires sacrifice and it is also the main reason many it is so hard to achieve. Simply put they are not willing to sacrifice to achieve that level of fitness. The less you are willing to sacrifice the more you are holding back. Sacrificing for fitness requires us to let go of other things • Comfort food or comfort eating - also boredom snacking • Leisure and lazy time • Not being sore not being tired • etc While working out we also sacrifice in order to achieve new levels of fitness we perhaps never thought we could attain. Everyone wants to do what their favorite athlete does - the athlete makes it look easy. Most usually are not aware of the sacrifices the athlete put in to be at the level they are at. Stephen Curry - Arguably the most accurate shooter in the NBA and perhaps the greatest to have ever played. Now everyone wants to be a 3 pointer star - without putting in the work he has. The sacrifices that he has paid to get where he is. There is a cost he paid. The more you hold back - the less likely you are to progress in fitness and in fact you are more likely to stay stagnant or regress in your fitness levels. Those who achieve fitness go all out because they are not holding back anything they are giving it their all to get to that level. This morning in Luke we come to the account where Luke records when Jesus was watching people give their gift, their offering and He uses it to help his disciples understand something about giving and offering as a disciple. Those who desire to be crossfit need to understand sacrifice properly and work towards the goal of crossfitness where we are holding nothing back. For it is only in this level of sacrifice that crossfitness comes - when we truly have given our all to Jesus. So lets see some principles Jesus has for us and learn how to get where we are not holding back. Luke 12:1-2 CSB 1 Meanwhile, a crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling on one another. He began to say to his disciples first, "Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing covered that won't be uncovered, nothing hidden that won't be made known. Luke 12:3-4 CSB 3 Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. 4 "I say to you, my friends, don't fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. Your Sacrifice Matters Luke 21:1-2 CSB 1 He looked up and saw the rich dropping their offerings into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow dropping in two tiny coins. Jesus as He is in the Court of the Women where there is thirteen collecting boxes known as the trumpets setup. They were shaped like trumpets with narrow opening at the top and the wider part at the foot. Each assigned to offerings for a different purpose - wood to burn the sacrifices, incense that would be burned on the altar, etc. It was near or across from the treasury according to Mark 12:41 Mark 12:41 CSB 41 Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. where Jesus was sitting, and sitting there He looked up and noticed the offerings being made. Jesus saw the offering of the rich being made and also the offering of a poor widow - He saw them both. An offering to the Lord is never unseen or unnoticed. Jesus was looking with interest and purpose carefully observing the details Tradition has it that the rich made a spectacle of their giving and their offerings. They would give in such a way not a single coin would enter without announcing its presence. How could Jesus help but see it right - everyone saw it and they wanted everyone to see it. The poor widow - the word poor is not like poor in America - the word translates roughly to be beggary and on top of that a widow which really meant destitute without hope of earning money. Without a husband there was no money and no one to take care of her. She was here to put in her offering - I imagine she dropped her two coins the sound echoing loudly in her ears and she almost bothered and annoyed that they made any sound at all because by it everyone knew her gift was small and insignificant to her - she didnt want anyone to know it - let alone see it or her. Two lepta or two mites as it is commonly translated and known. This is the smallest offering allowed, and its an offering perhaps as one pulls it out they say why bother. Two lepta is about 1% of a days wage back then - essentially 1/8 of a cent each. The offering of this widow was as small as it could possibly be. Jesus sees both offerings. Your sacrifice matters to Jesus - Jesus saw both offerings - He isnt only looking or only noticing when grand large offerings are made. We try not to notice when people give or what they give - Jesus is always watching as we come to give our offerings. The offerings were designed to be voluntary offerings and were not required. They were free will offerings. The New Testament has this also as the way in which people give their offerings to the Lord. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says "God loves a cheerful giver" Both gave willingly - the rich and the widow - neither one begrudging giving a gift unto the Lord and His temple. Jesus never once denounced the rich for not giving cheerfully. Rich or poor your sacrifice matters and is seen by the Lord. The Value of Your Sacrifice is Determined By the Cost Luke 21:3-4 CSB 3 "Truly I tell you," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on." Jesus brought it to His disciples attention seeing this as a discipling moment. Truly I tell you - this poor woman has put in more than all of them. The widow who perhaps was ashamed of her two coins because it was not much is declared to have given more than the rich. Jesus said she gave more than all of them combined not just any of them individually - but more than all together! In the economy of heaven and in the eyes of Christ the value of your sacrifice is determined by more than just what is given. It is possible for a poor widow to out give even the richest in the eyes of Christ. Christ values sacrifices and offerings differently than men, and because of this it is even possible for a poor person to serve and please God just as much if not more than the rich. How is this possible the disciples must have been wondering. They all see and can hear the coins clanging also. In fact each different coin value has its own musical note it played, what could Jesus possibly mean by this what could this woman possibly have given of value. Jesus said however that hers has the greatest value - because of the cost! To see the cost of the gift look at verse 4 and notice what they put in. Men saw what they each put in and Jesus saw what they each put in and both agree that the values werent equal - or even close! 1. They put in GIFTS and she put in ALL 2. They from their SURPLUS and she from her POVERTY 3. They were still rich and she was now penniless When looking at our offering God sees more than the amount He sees the proportion too. They gave from their surplus or out of their extra - meaning without sacrifice or without personal cost. The widow has given out of her poverty all she had to live on - she gave out of her own extreme need, meaning she gave at great sacrifice at a great personal cost. Men see what is given but God sees what is left - what are we holding back? They gave some but she gave all. Your Sacrifice Reveals Your Heart Luke 21:4 CSB 4 For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on." The truth of this widow that Jesus shares - how- she gave all she had TO LIVE on reveals much about her heart towards money and towards God. She was not giving out of pride or out of duty (it was free-will offering) but she was giving out of worship and out of a love for God. Our sacrifices and offerings to God is part of our worship before God. Her gift to God was such that she displayed a great love and trust of God. Her gift required that she could not rely on herself to continue on but had to rely and trust in God to provide and keep her. Our gift to God reveals our faith and trust in God. Luke 12:34 CSB 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Our giving to God is reveals our heart for God also 2 Samuel 24:24 CSB 24 The king answered Araunah, "No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for twenty ounces of silver. 1 Chronicles 21:24 CSB 24 King David answered Ornan, "No, I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the LORD what belongs to you or offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing." Understand Jesus didnt teach this and show the disciples this because God needs our money but because God wants to know He has our hearts. We have to check our heart and money is the quickest way to reveal our hearts. Sometimes we hold back money because we desire to have enough money or we believe with money we have security - in money we trust. Luke 16:13 CSB 13 No servant can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Matthew 6:25-26 CSB 25 "Therefore I tell you: Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky: They don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? Matthew 6:27-29 CSB 27 Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don't labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. Matthew 6:30-32 CSB 30 If that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won't he do much more for you-you of little faith? 31 So don't worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Matthew 6:33 CSB 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. What are you willing to give to God and what is it you are holding back? Are you trusting God or worrying about your future? He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose Conclusion The difference was they gave some but held back more and she held back nothing but gave all she had. The example here is monetary I think it applies also when it comes to your life, your fears, your health, your plans, your future, your comfort - all of it we need to surrender to Jesus as our offering - to be crossfit we must get to the place where we are not holding back. God doesnt need your money he isnt going broke. He doesnt need your works or any other sacrifice you can give Him. God doesnt need anything - but we need God and we need to practice sacrificing in order to keep our heart right before God and devoted to God. God wants our hearts completely. Are we willing to give everything to God - not holding back? The value of our sacrifice is determined by the cost to the one giving. Like the widow we should give at great cost to us - reckless cost even. There is no amount that satisfies this call - there is not even a percentage the question is what are you willing to give to the Lord? Are you giving until it hurts and you have to trust and exercise faith in the Lord? Giving isnt giving until it costs something One day, while sitting with her parents in church, she listened as the pastor spoke of how much Jesus loves us-how He left His beautiful home in heaven and came down here to die for our sins. All week long the little girl thought about how much Jesus loved her and she wished she could do something to show Him that she loved Him, too. But she only had one penny. The next Sunday her father and mother couldn't believe it when they saw her take her treasured doll and put it in the offering plate. Some stared and some chuckled as they saw the doll in the offering plate, not realizing the costly sacrifice it represented. Every day the little girl missed her doll, but especially at bedtime. She would get tears in her eyes, but then she would think about Jesus and it would be all right again. One evening the pastor dropped by, just for a social call, he said, with the doll tucked under his arm. He smiled warmly and said, "I brought your doll back to you." The little girl seemed transfixed at the sight of that doll. She didn't move. "Go ahead, take her," the pastor said. "I'm giving her back to you." Only the look in her eyes betrayed how much she wanted to take that doll back in her arms. But, brushing away a tear, she said, "I can't ... I can't take her." "But, why?" asked the startled pastor. "B-b-b-because ... I didn't give her to you." She had given her doll to the Lord. One my favorite hymns - When I survey the Wonderous Cross Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. 2 Corinthians 8:9 CSB 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. Jesus took our sins on Himself at great cost and sacrifice to himself so that God could be both loving and just in forgiving us and offering a complete pardon. The first sacrifice you can do is to receive His gift of salvation - lay down your pride or thoughts of how good a person you are and believe upon Jesus your forgiveness and give Him your heart not holding back anything. Page . Exported from Logos Bible Software, 6:02 PM April 17, 2021.