Two Coins

November 8, 2009

Mark 12:38-44
38 As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.”
The Widow’s Offering

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything?all she had to live on.”

Jesus was at the temple in Jerusalem, sitting near the temple treasury. I imagine that it might be like a Japanese shrine or temple, where there is an offering box where people can toss in coins when they come to worship. It was in a place where everyone could see the people making the offering and see how much they put in. Some rich people put in a lot, but then there was the woman who put in two very, very little coins.

Since they could be seen, the rich people put on a bit of a show, to show how rich and generous they were. People would see them and think that God has blessed them because they were really good people. And then the poor widow put in very little and people would see her and think that she must be a very bad woman because God had not blessed her. People are very judgmental, especially when they do not know the whole story. For example, if people did not know she was a poor widow, they might think she was just stingy or did not really believe in God very strongly. Others who knew her situation might think that she should keep the coins, especially because it was all the money she had, and she would need it to try to buy food for herself and children. She need not give anything because of her poverty, besides, 10% of nothing is nothing. Others might say that the rich people should give some of their money to her rather than give it all to the temple. They would criticize the social system and economic inequality of their day.

Jesus saw the woman and her offerings, and he also saw her heart. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything?all she had to live on.” When this poor woman gave her two small copper coins, it meant she had nothing left. She had no safety net, no nest egg. How was she going to live? How was she going to survive? She would have to rely completely on God.

This is a teaching in the Bible. Poor people have to rely completely on God to live, and so God blesses them in a special way. Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). In other words, if the poor have the Kingdom of God, then you can say, “Blessed are the poor, for they have everything.” Rich people have wealth that they can rely on, middle class working people also have an income, and they might forget about God and how God is blessing them. Poor people have to pray the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread” and trust God to answer their prayer. That is why the faith of the poor people in the Bible is so highly praised.

The poor woman gave her all. It was her sacrifice. When Jesus became a sacrifice to forgive our sin, he gave his all. He did not have any money when on the cross; the soldiers had even taken his clothes. He gave his life, his life blood, as the sacrifice to God. He gave his all, His Father accepted this greatest of all sacrifices and forgive the sin of the world. Then gave Jesus his life back on the third day when he arose from the dead. In this way, Jesus gave his greatest offering to God in our place, more valuable than all the money in the world.

Part of our Sunday morning worship is the offering. Of course it is for the salary of the pastor and the upkeep of the building and our evangelism projects. But the offerings are more than just dues: dues can be collected before or after the service. The offerings are part of the liturgy because they are an act of worship, a symbol of giving our lives to Jesus. Whether our offerings are big or small, it is a symbol of giving ourselves to God. In our liturgy, the offerings follow the confession of the Creed, and the offerings are a continuation of that confession of faith as we dedicate ourselves to Jesus. That is why we teach children to give an offering also, it is one way they can show that they worship God, it is the way we teach them the joy of service to God.

I like the use of offering envelopes. Nobody knows for sure how much we are giving, so it does not distract from our worship. Our offerings say “thank you” to God, because he has given us everything we have. He even gave his Son Jesus for us.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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