OUTRAGEOUS MONEY TALK

“Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.  For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on’” (Luke 21:1-4, ESV).

We are not told in this story how much the rich actually put in the offering box but we do know from a parallel passage in Mark that the widow put in two coins that together made a total of less than one cent. I’m sure that whatever the rich put in was hundreds or even thousands of times more than one penny. Why would Jesus make this statement, “This poor widow has put in more than all of them”? Pretty outrageous statement, isn’t it?

Plain talk about money, giving, and possessions is often in short supply within the church. Usually there are just a few well-defined camps in the church when it comes to what I call “money talk.”

One group doesn’t talk comfortably about money. They teach that you must tithe or you are cursed. Their approach is legalistic and pharisaical. Plain talk about money and being generous almost never happens in this group. It’s as though it is beneath them to talk about financial things but most of this group feels the same way about sex, and they certainly never talk about that!

On the other side of the spectrum are those who talk about money all the time — consumed with money, wealth and possessions. They have developed whole theological positions about God’s responsibility to make you rich. This group is into material things and anyone who doesn’t agree with them is “living beneath their rights and privileges.” They consider financial success to be an indicator of spiritual well-being.

From church history we learn that it has been a challenge for the church to find a balance in its approach to “money talk.” It was the church’s foolishness over money and selling “indulgences” to get people out of purgatory that irritated Martin Luther and led to the Protestant Reformation. The selling of “get out of hell passes” was a scheme by church leaders to raise money for a new cathedral.

Jesus was never silent on “money talk.” He taught and spoke more about money and possessions than He did about heaven and hell. Why did He speak so much about this? Because He understood that the human spirit would struggle to find and stay in balance about money and possessions.

The story related in Luke 21 about the poor widow and the rich giving their offerings seems to be out of place at first glance. At second glance, however, we begin to learn some very important things about money and giving.

One of the reasons some people never want to talk about giving is because they don’t want to think that the Lord actually pays attention to what they give. Yes, that’s what I said: “Some of us don’t want to think that the Lord is aware of what we give.” When Mark tells this story, he says that Jesus sat down and watched what was happening. This was more than a casual glance! He was studying intently what was happening because it was important to Him

Why was this important to Him? Giving and our approach to it is a key indicator of how solid our relationship is with Him. Our Lord is a giver and is generous beyond measure, and grace is but one indicator of that. When people claim to be saved and Spirit-filled but are stingy, as the rich men in Mark 12 and Luke 21 were, it’s an indicator of what a poor understanding they have of their Savior and how little of their life they’ve actually let Him have. “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8).

The rich men gave God a tip. After they had taken care of all their expenses and paid all their bills, they looked to see what was left and their offering was out of that “abundance.” This is the pharisaical spirit that gives to be seen of others, to be appreciated for being “a big giver.” This is not generosity, this is not freely giving, and it did not impress the Lord.

This poor woman who had little in life was more in love with the Lord than the rich men. She was more grateful and appreciative than they were. She gave everything she had because she understood how much God loved her and in her impoverished way she wanted to give back. The poor woman honored the Lord with her two coins that didn’t add up to much, but for her it was everything she had and she was delighted to give it. Jesus was impressed with her gift and her willingness to give. Her generosity delighted the Lord.

We learn something from Jesus’ outrageous comment. We learn that He does not look to see how much you give but He looks to see how much you keep back for yourself! The rich men gave God a tip, which is better than what some of us do, but the poor lady gave Him everything she had. She threw herself into God’s love and mercy and said, “This is the least I could do. I know you are my Father and my God and You will watch over me.”

Why do we give to the Lord? We do not give because must, because we do not have to! Instead we give because:

            1.      We love Him and our giving pleases Him (2 Corinthians 9:7).

            2.      We are following His model and God is an outrageous giver. “For God so loved the world that He    gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16).

            3.      He has asked us to be wise stewards and not lay up treasure on earth but in heaven. When we give into His kingdom we are laying up treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20).

           4.      Everything on this planet is His and when we give we are acknowledging His lordship over creation and over our lives (1 Corinthians 10:26).