Series on Luke
V The Imminence of the Kingdom
K Treasury
Text: 21:1-4
Introduction
The story of the poor widow is poignant and has captured the fascination of millions. Unfortunately, in many cases that is where it ends. Many, while admiring her devotion, still sing, “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small, love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all,” and yet still feel the coins in our pocket to make sure we don’t put the wrong one in the offering. Others have used this story as an excuse, claiming to give the widow’s mite, when in fact their circumstances did not warrant the claim. What does it really teach us? We cannot understand this little story without the preceding words of Jesus. In the unfolding of Luke’s gospel there is a deliberate contrast between the scribes Jesus has just described and the poor widow. I want us to look at that contrast today, a contrast of circumstances, a contrast of character, and a contrast of commitment.
I A Contrast of Circumstances
That the widow is poor is obvious from our text, 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.” Jesus deliberately contrasts with her the religious leaders of Israel who lived an opulent lifestyle. Their banquets, their rich robes, the way in which they profited from their positions was a disgrace. They taught that respect for them as teachers should exceed respect for fathers and that translated into another principle, “Whoever puts part of his income into the purse of the wise is counted worthy of a seat in the heavenly academy.” Jesus who was watching their giving was unimpressed. They were rich people. they had more than they needed and, as he later says. they gave out of their abundance which means literally their superfluity, what we might call discretionary money. They even had a rule which said that when placing your gifts in the temple treasury it was not permissible to cast in less than two gifts. An interesting dilemma for the widow who only had two coins. What did they care? They were like the rich evangelists wringing and squeezing the last dime out of the poor people watching them on TV or attending their meetings. The world is filled with rich and poor. We are not exempt in this congregation. Some people are out of work. Others work hard for half or even a third of what their fellow Christians make. This is not to suggest there is any virtue or any guilt implied in any way, simply that there is a huge gap. In the world at large the gap is even greater. The natural progression of sinful society is to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. God sees this as Jesus saw that day and he is looking for what we do with our circumstances. So let us consider the contrast in character.
II A Contrast in Character
Notice that Jesus was watching how they gave. This involves the amount, but it was more than the amount, it was also attitude. The collecting boxes in the court of the women as it was called were 13 trumpet shaped containers into which money was thrown and it would run around as it went down calling attention to the gift. It was humorously called sounding the trumpet and Jesus refers to it in Matthew 6:2, So when you give to the needy do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do. The whole description of the scribes in the previous passage suggests that everything they did they did for show. They made long prayers for a pretense. Perhaps you recall Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Publican in Luke 18. The publican with his eyes cast down and head bowed prayed God be merciful to me a sinner. The pharisee making his prayer in full sight of everyone says, I thank you lord that I give tithes of all I possess. I am not like other men. Regarding their meticulous tithing which filled them with pride Jesus said in Matthew 23, Woe to you scribes and pharisees you hypocrites! you give a tenth of your spices, mint, dill and cummin, but you have neglected the more important matters of the law, justice, mercy and faithfulness. you should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. There is nothing wrong with meticulous tithing unless you do it for the wrong reason. Many people give to curry God’s favor, to impress others, to build up their self-esteem and some out of fear. If we had all the money given to God for the wrong reason we would be as rich as Sam Walton or Ross Perot. I say this sadly because the greatest blessing in the world is to give because you have received God’s mercy. Nothing makes a Christian feel better than giving. The poor widow gave out of love. She must have for she knew her little gift in itself meant nothing. It was absurd. A very small gift, for the word means tiny or thin, about a quarter of a cent. She saw the magnificence of the temple, and there were millions of dollars in its coffers. Humanly speaking she knew her gift would make no difference,so why did she give her all ? She gave out of love for the Lord. This was her commitment. Here again we have a contrast in commitment.
III A Contrast in Commitment
Jesus describes the giving of the rich. They were not all equally rich, but many came from a distance and saved up for a long time so they had much to sound the trumpet. Compared to the widow they were all rich. Compared to her gift theirs cost practically nothing. It was given out of what they could “afford.” It constituted no sacrifice. This is contrasted with her poverty, literally her deficiency, her need. she absolutely could not afford this gift. They calculated how much they could afford to give. She didn’t. We blithely describe it by saying what counts is not how much you give but how much you have left. That’s a calculation we’re still using. We’ve missed the point unless we see she wasn’t counting. She had nothing left. She gave all she had. Compared to most of our calculated giving this seems dumb. What was she going to live on? She didn’t care because she loved God and God loved her and would take care of her. She didn’t have an anxious bone in her body, but all the rich people were loaded down with anxiety. Jesus computes the value of her gift. He watched the huge offerings, then it is as if he counted them all up and he said she put in more than all of them. Not more than each of them, Not more than the biggest donor, but more than all of them together, because she sacrificed and none of them did. I even hesitate to use the word sacrifice because I’m not sure it translates into the same idea for all of us. Let’s substitute the word suffering. Love suffers long.
Conclusion
No message on this would be complete without answering the big question, why? She did it out of love, she had to, for there was no other good reason. If her gift made no real difference why not keep it? Many times we would. When the apostle Paul talks about giving in II Corinthians 8 and 9, he reminds the Corinthians of the generosity of the Macedonian churches, and he says, For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability out of severe trial and extreme poverty came overflowing joy and rich generosity. How can you give more than you are able? They did, and so did the widow. It means they gave when no reasonable person would approve of their giving. Every sensible man would have said, “Its foolish they can’t do it.” But Paul goes on to describe why they did it in 8:9, they knew the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. That’s it and nothing more, and nothing less. The widow knew the grace of God and she who was poor became poorer, but we know that God became poor to make you rich. He gave up everything to save you. We say she became poorer, but actually she became richer in heaven.
Dr. John P. Clark's Sermons & Writings 