1 Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.

3 “Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Lauren Sing

As a young child, I would read this passage and be confused at how Jesus was dissatisfied with the large gifts from the rich people, but made an example out of the widow’s tiny donation. I only looked at the monetary difference between what the rich would have presumably donated, compared to the seemingly small amount from the poor widow. But why wasn’t Jesus happy with what the rich were giving?

Jesus focuses not on the amounts, but on the widow’s generosity. When you compare their generosity, her giving of two very small copper coins is more than the gifts which are so visibly carried into the temple treasury by those who are wealthier. The rich are able to give out of their abundance and will still have plenty left over, but the woman in her poverty gave all that she had. What was important here was the woman’s heart and dependence on God by donating her entire life’s savings. 

I don’t think this passage is telling us that Jesus wants us to donate so much that we become destitute (see 2 Corinthians 8:13-15).  But it truly makes us reflect on why and how we give.

God has provided and blessed us with all that we have. We give back to God as a demonstration of our gratitude for what he has provided us with, to help support our church’s staff and ministry costs, and to help support our local community and missionaries. In the way that we donate to church and other Christian organisations, we are called to be generous. We cannot take these earthly possessions with us to heaven, and what we do with them is a direct reflection of the true priority of our hearts (Matthew 6:19-21).

Giving goes beyond financial gifts too. We can serve generously, by making the effort to arrive early to the service, sitting next to the new person even though it may be easier to sit next to our friends, by checking in on and praying for someone going through a hardship, or by not rushing off immediately after the service so that we can make meaningful conversations with other churchgoers. Sometimes the most generous way to serve might be serving in a role at church we may not necessarily have the “gift” for but we know it would make a difference if we could help out in that way.

What are some things that hinder us from being able to give and serve generously? Pray that God will help re-shift our priorities and help us to be able to give back out of gratitude for how He has provided so generously to us.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lauren is a member of our Fairfield Morning congregation.