“A poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus said, ‘this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. . . she, as poor as she is, has given everything she has.’” Luke 21:2-4 (NLT)
This passage is an instant challenge and bothers me for one reason: I don’t know if I could drop everything I have in God’s collection box and walk away.
Yet, that is exactly what this widow did. She took her entire net worth, two of the smallest of Jewish coins, walked into the presence of God, and without considering anyone was watching, especially God as Messiah, dropped them in the collection box and walked away. She didn’t get a receipt, couldn’t write it off on her taxes as a charitable donation and didn’t tell the pastor she no longer had food money or bus fare to return home. She simply gave her all to God and walked away because that was what her heart wanted to do.
Not me. My ego always struggles with acknowledgment. I want the leaders of the church and denominational officials (and truth be told, God, to a lesser extent) to know exactly what I’m sacrificing. I not only want my left hand to know what my right hand is doing (Matt. 6:3), I want them to get together and start and avalanche of applause because I’ve done it. Who really wants to give in secret when a bunch of our friends can get together and give us a big party for all our generosity?
Actually, many people give just like this unnamed widow woman: generously, anonymously, and almost fearful somebody will find out. They live to give and look for ways to invest in the Kingdom. I know they’re out there because I’ve met them. I’ve even went to church with a few of them. One millionaire I met said all he wants to do is make God famous with his money. Looking back on it, I wonder if he meant he wanted to make God famous with his own personal money or with the money he knows is already God’s. Either way, the result was the same – a complete investment in the Kingdom of God.
I can’t help but wonder what that would look like – completely investing every thing I have in God’s Kingdom. How would it feel to walk into the Temple of God, take everything I own, drop it at His feet and walk away? I know I was supposed to have done that when I accepted Jesus as my Savior and claimed Him as my Lord. But in reality, I’m grateful Jesus is my Savior but I’ve retained lordship, possession and control of most everything else. It’s my name on Friday’s paycheck, my name on the registration of the truck, my name on the gas bill and my name on the church sign, right after the name of the church – the church name that doesn’t mention God. I claim Him as Savior but live as my own Lord. And now, a poor widow woman is challenging my professed, but not yet possessed, spirituality.
Maybe if I had nothing but a couple of coins in my pocket it would be easier to give it up. But then, maybe not. If I don’t have a generous spirit with everything I have now, what’s to say I’d be more generous if I had less?
I wish I had a good answer to these questions. I do know I need to spend more time talking with God about my attitude toward His stuff, remembering that everything from the paycheck to the cell phone and everything in between is actually His. Maybe when that truly becomes a reality, the story or a poor woman’s rich offering will stop being a challenge because I’ll finally be as generous as she was. But until then, I hope this story never stops bothering me.
Thinking Out Loud 
Don’t let it get to you too much, Jim. Otherwise that other saying of Jesus, the one where he tells the disciples that “no one can be his disciple unless they divest themselves of all they own”, will drive you further to despair.
Take it the way you take the rest of God’s law, as a mirror that exposes your sinfulness, and be glad that you have a Savior who loves and died for real sinners…like us.
Jim my best response to you is this. what is your devotion to god. If you treat god like I treat my wife, then you would give your last cent to know that she is happy.
I do believe if you looked at it that way you would be like the old lady. Like the stories in the bible say. The richer you are the farther you can become from god. If the millionaire was very devoted, just imagine how much effort and devotion he was giving to god. He literally must have believed with every fiber of his being, because he could very easily live a secular life full of sin.
I believe the less you have the easier you can have a relationship with god. Mainly because you have no distractions, nothing to get in the way, or nothing to pride yourself on. You are humble and thankful for even the smallest things you get. unlike the rich.
Could I do it, I don’t know, on one hand I hear “why not, its not like you have anything to lose.” and on the other “NO WAY! we have to hunt and save every little thing we can to better our self.”
Robert,
I understand completely. One one hand I do say, “I have nothing to lose if I give it all to God.” On the other hand, I’m thinking, “Yeah, but I still have to pay the rent.” God understands our need to pay the bills, but He also knows we need to make Him first in our lives. And making Him first isn’t for His benefit, but for ours. It was how we were created to live. By making anything in our lives — our spouse, career, children, money, hobbies, etc. — more important than God actually means we’re living below our created standard. If I can afford to buy a Ferrari, but for the rest of my life only drive it within the city limits of my town, I’m using that car below its intended purpose and created standard. When we give our first and best to anything but God, then everything else in our life gets second best. However, when our first devotion is to God, then God helps us see that the rest of our lives — our spouse, career, children, money, hobbies, etc. — receive the best they were created for.
You also said you believe the less we have the easier we can have a relationship with God. This true on many levels, and one of the main reasons I left California in 1988 to join a monastery in Eureka Springs, AR. (Have you read my book on that, yet? I can get you a signed copy at a discount. I know the author very well….). With less to worry about I had more time to devote myself to God. However, I must tell you it did not eliminate all my selfishness. We’re still sinful people, and those sins rear their ugly head even in a monastic community. But, it was easier to concentrate on God.
Thanks for your comment. I always enjoy them.
Blessings.
‘Ol Adam,
I don’t take it too hard. I just see how much I SAY God has everything and how far I have to go before He does. However, that doesn’t make me despair. At least I’m aware of the fact, and that is good. It is better to know you’ve got a ways to go and keep traveling, than believe you’ve arrived when, in fact, you’re still in the desert.
Jim