A True Gift
Mark
12: 41-44
October 29, 2006
41-44
He sat
down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the
treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in
two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his
disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you,
this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the
treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she
out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Some of you have
heard me tell some of my stories about Miss Hattie. She was a little lady
who lived in the farmhouse that her grandfather had built in the 1800’s.
The little farmhouse probably was in the middle of a field when it was
first built. Over the years, the land was not tended and trees and scrub
bushes started to grow on the property. When I first met Miss Hattie, I
had to drive on an old wagon path back in the woods about a half of a mile
before I came to a clearing near her home. I would then get out and walk
the rest of the way to her home. The house had not had any paint put on it
for at least fifty or more years. The bare wood siding was worn by the
weather over the years. The cracks of the weathered wood were wide enough
for one to see in or out of her home. The cellar that had been used many
years earlier for storing canned goods now had water standing in it. In
the summer time, it was hot in her home and humid in her home. In the
wintertime, well it was warmer outside than inside because one could get
in the sun for some warmth. She did have electricity to the home and it
fed two light bulbs. She did not have running water. She walked about a
quarter of a mile to retrieve her water from the stream on her property.
Her existence was very basic to say the least. When I first met Miss
Hattie, she was in her early eighties.
As I was about to
leave her home that first time, she said: “wait a minute Johnny.” She then
went to an old dusty trunk and opened it up and started going through it.
She continued to dig deep into that trunk until she found what she had set
aside. She then took it out of the trunk and gave it to me. She had saved
up twenty-five dollars and she wanted her church to have if for its
mission and ministry. As I left her home, I walked back to my car thinking
of a way that I could return her gift back to her instead of giving it to
the Church treasurer. It was obvious to me that she needed that
twenty-five dollars more than the church. I could not figure out a way to
go back and return the money to her so I took it to the church treasurer.
It was probably
the latter part of our second year at that parish that I finally developed
enough courage to say to Miss Hattie: “Miss Hattie you keep this money and
use it for yourself.” She stretched her four foot plus body to its fullest
length and she took her finger and pointed it at me and said: “You listen
Johnny, I made a promise to God as a small
child that I would support His ministry when I joined the Church. I can’t
do a whole lot today but I can give of my income. Now you take this money
the to the Church treasurer.” I dutifully said: “Yes ma’am” and I
continued to do as she instructed me to do as long as we served that
parish.
The evangelist
Mark informs us that Jesus sat down opposite
of the treasury and watched the people as they came and gave their
financial contributions to God. It is fun to
watch people. One can learn so many things by just sitting and watching
people as they pass one by. Jesus did more
than that that day. He watched them carry out a specific mission. He
watched those who had an abundance come to the treasury and put some of
that abundance into the treasury. I can imagine that he watched some with
great interest as they had a hard time letting go of what they were
supposed to have put into that treasury. I wonder what type of facial
expression Jesus saw that day as people came
and put their money into the treasury. Were there smiles on the faces or
were their frowns on them? We will never know but I cannot help but wonder
how the folks approached the treasury as Jesus
observed them.
Finally, Mark
informs the reader that a lady came to the treasury and put in two small
copper coins that were worth about a penny. Jesus
then began to teach those who would listen. He said:
“Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more
than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have
contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in
everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Now, that is a true gift. Out of her poverty she gave
all that she had to the mission of our creator God.
She held nothing back for herself. She surrendered a coin about this size.
It is not a very large coin and its worth was not a great deal in the
secular society. Yet, it was worth more than what all the others had
placed into that treasury that day because the lady gave her all to
God. She held nothing back from
God.
There is a story
about a man who was well known for his work among the homeless. He was
called on one day to help a homeless family living in a crude shelter.
Two children in the family had already died and a third was seriously ill.
The man recalled the experience when he wrote, "It was then that I
realized some terrible things. I realized that as long as I was incapable
of saying to that poor woman, 'Come on, get your things, pick up your
child and come along with me and your husband and sleep in my room. I'll
take your place in the tent and tomorrow we'll find some way of solving
this.' Until then, well, fundamentally I was simply an impostor."
There were many
impostors that day that approached the treasury. Yes, they gave and that
was good but they gave for the wrong reason thus they missed the point.
They had been called by God to surrender a
portion of their wealth or income to the treasury so that
God’s work could be accomplished everyday.
They gave out of their abundance and they never once made a sacrifice so
that God could bless another person. They had
not allowed themselves to feel the compassion and the love that
God had and has toward all persons thus they
never walked the second mile to help someone.
John Wesley,
when he was eighty-seven years of age, with all the wealth of a vast
Christian experience behind him, and standing on the threshold of another
world, said: "One great reason of the comparative failure of Christianity
has been the neglect of the solemn words, 'Lay not up for yourselves
treasures upon earth'" (Matt. 6:19). "In the last days men shall be lovers
of money" (2 Tim. 3:2). The Holy Spirit has expressed the command thus:
"Charge them that are rich in this present age, that they be... ready to
distribute, willing to communicate their wealth; laying up in store" --
for that is how treasure is sent ahead -- "a good foundation" -- a
substantial sum in the heavenly funds -- "against the time to come" -- the
coming season or age -- "that they may lay hold on the life which is life
indeed" (1 Tim. 6:17-19) -- the glory of millennial life.”
"I make no
purse," said George Whitefield, when stopping a public subscription for
himself in Edinburgh. "What I have, I give away. 'Poor, yet making many
rich' shall be my motto still."
A true gift
comes from ones heart and soul. It does not come out of abundance,
obedience or responsibility. It comes because one’s life has been altered
and changed by the awesome power of Jesus
Christ. It becomes a true gift because it is
given out of love for God and not out of a
sense of “paying ones taxes or duties.”
Jesus challenged his disciples that day when
he pointed out the lady and the two mites that she had given to the
treasury. He challenged them to discover if they were willing to give the
true gift to the mission and ministry that they had been called to live
out in that society. His word challenges his church today. It challenges
you and me to look at our selves and to discover how we bring our tithes
and offerings to him. Do we give out of our abundance or do we give out of
our poverty so that others may live?
Winston
Churchill said: “We make a living through what we get. We make a life
through what we give.”
The lady at
that treasury that day made a life for herself that would bring many
blessings to her. Some would say that they would only be eternal blessings
but I disagree with that. Out of her poverty she gave to
God and at that very moment she knew the joy
and the love of our creating and redeeming God.
At that very moment she knew more happiness and joy than all the others
that Jesus observed at the treasury that day.
I came across
this analogy of givers many years ago. I do not know who wrote it. It is
very powerful and true. The author of it wrote: “There are three kinds of
givers -- the flint, the sponge and the honeycomb. To get anything out of
a flint you must hammer it. And then you get only chips and sparks. To get
water out of a sponge you must squeeze it, and the more you use pressure,
the more you will get. But the honeycomb just overflows with its own
sweetness. Which kind of giver are you?”
The lady who
walked up to that treasury that day was a honeycomb. Her giving flowed
from within to the outside. It came from the deepest parts of her heart
and soul and it flowed out into the world and it touched others in a very
special way. She gave a true gift out of love and compassion.
I was just a
child," related a retired Baptist preacher, "when one spring day my father
called me to go with him to old man Russell's blacksmith shop. He had left
a rake and a hoe to be repaired and they were ready, fixed like new.
Father handed over a silver dollar for repairing them but Mr. Russell
refused to take it. 'No,' he said, 'there's no charge for that little
job.' But father insisted. And if I live a thousand years," said the
preacher, "I'll never forget that great blacksmith's reply. 'Sid,' he said
to my father, 'Can't you let a man do somethin' just to stretch his soul?"
The lady
stretched her soul when she gave all that she had. Are we stretching our
souls as we respond to God’s love and saving
grace as revealed through Jesus of Nazareth when we give to
God’s treasury?
In the name of the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit.
Amen
