The Greater Gift

Budgets, deficits, and spending are a large part of congregational life. In addition, as families and individuals, we have to make decisions about how we handle what God has given us. Today’s Gospel text is a familiar story. It has come to be known as “The Widow’s Mite.” However, this text is not just about giving or contributing to the Lord’s work. This word from God teaches us the proper perspective on living as God’s people.

In our story, Jesus shows us two very different categories of people. He shows us that this poor widow gave more than either the self-righteous scribes or the people of great wealth. Her gift was truly the greater gift in God’s eyes because the Lord sees our hearts, not our gifts, as we give.

As sinners, we have a hard time appreciating how differently God’s ways and thoughts are from our own. If we had been alive in Jesus’ day, we would have thought the Pharisees and the rich were the bee’s knees. We would admire their clothes, their power, their dignity, and most of all, their ability to “honor” God with gifts so generous that we’d fear we’d never have a chance to look as good as they did in God’s eyes. They had everything and they knew it.

In contrast, none of us would take any note of the insignificant and plain old widow who, at great cost, gave a paltry sum of two copper coins. We’d avoid looking at her because we wouldn’t want her to be embarrassed by knowing that we’d seen her meager contribution.

And yet, Jesus tells us and the crowd something so amazing that it has the power to catch and keep the interest of even the most jaded and self-important person. Knowing the hearts of the people who had come to hear Him and maybe witness some miracles, our Lord commends the almost invisible widow and condemns the magnificent Pharisee!

Trusting in her Lord, the poor woman has appealed to God’s mercy and has put her money where her mouth is. She has taken what precious little she has and given it to God’s glory. For this, Jesus celebrates her faithfulness and assures her a greater glory for eternity. But whereas the poor woman trusted in the Lord, the Pharisees trusted in themselves and in the opinions of others who adored and admired them, and they made offerings of great sums of money.

Contradicting all of the world’s ways of counting what is valuable, Jesus proclaims that the rich in this life already have their reward in the pride that their self-centered giving offers them. Because they determine that they are more important than the poor, the orphans, or the widows, the Pharisees and the rich are, in turn, judged to be unimportant by God.

In God’s way of thinking, it’s not the size or the amount of what we give back to Him that counts. What matters most to God as we give is the issue of where our real treasure lies. If we recognize that nothing we return to our Lord is our own, but is entirely His, then anything we give back is given in the right spirit. On the other hand, even if we give everything we have received from God back to Him, but it is given out of fear, with a grudging heart, or with the expectation that others will admire us for our generosity, our so-called “giving” condemns us.

The bottom line in the story is that the widow gives the greater gift because what she returns to the Lord is done in the recognition of the greatest gift of all—Jesus and His death for the forgiveness of the world. It doesn’t matter how many treasures a Pharisee gives in the Temple. It doesn’t matter how many buildings a wealthy benefactor builds for a hospital or university. It doesn’t even matter how many meals a Christian provides for the hungry unless the one who gives—gives in Christ, and the one who receives recognizes Jesus in the gift. The greatest gift any of us really has to give another is not the gift of time or of self—it’s the gift of eternal life in Jesus. Everything else will lose its value or will be forgotten over time, but the gift of the Good News of salvation, just like God’s Word, endures forever . . . and ever!

The widow knew what really mattered and she knew that she couldn’t take it with her. She was rich in love, generosity, and joy. We are all challenged to follow her example of giving as our Lord gives so that we can be truly rich with her. This well-known account, often referred to as “The Widow’s Mite,” teaches an important message about deceptiveness and sincerity of heart. The power to live our lives as God’s people and to worship him “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23) is Jesus Christ Himself. Because He knows our hearts, He also knows our weaknesses. He gives us the strength for sincerity of heart. By His Word and Holy Sacrament, we are fortified and renewed. The scribes may have had their long robes and high standing in society, but they were far from God. The simplicity of the poor widow and her giving out of her poverty all she had is an important message to us. The greater gift is the one that comes from a love for God because that gift shows our Savior to be the greatest gift of all! Enjoy that gift this week. Amen.