Well here it is the post I have been waiting for. The last of the series and the one that calls on us to give 100% of who we are, what we have, and that is all Jesus wants. Think about what is here and then come back as I have a whole new thought for us to study on. Enjoy Pastor WaynO
Unselfish Love Is Enough!
The point of the widow's two copper coins is better understood when we notice what comes immediately before it in Mark's Gospel. A scribe has just asked Jesus the question. "What is the most important commandment in the law?" And Jesus has answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). The widow is quite obviously doing that—loving God with her whole life, seeking to put God first among all her priorities, seeking God's kingdom first before all other kingdoms.
As the offering was being taken one Sunday morning, the great preacher John A. Broadus came down and stood in the aisle beside one of the ushers. Broadus moved beside the usher as he went from pew to pew. watching every coin and bill that was given by his parishioners. Some of them were angered at this action. Some were confused and ashamed. Others were amazed. All were surprised. After the offering was completed. Broadus want to the pulpit to begin his sermon, which was based on the story of the widow's mite. He concluded the sermon by saying. "If you take it to heart that I have seen your offerings this day and know just what sacrifice you have made—and what sacrifice you have not made—remember that your Savior goes up the aisle with even usher even' Sunday and sees every cent contributed by his people. He knows more than what we give: he sees through to the heart. He also knows exactly what remains in our wallet or purse—the amount we keep for ourselves. That statement, like Jesus's statement about the widow's mite, helps us to see that the bottom-line answer to the question. "How much is enough?" is more than a figure or a formula.
A laywoman once asked the pastor to come to her office to talk about her stewardship. She had just joined the church after a significant conversion experience in which her life had been changed radically. She wanted to know how much money she ought to give to the church each week. The pastor carefully outlined the annual budget, then gave her a general idea of the average amount church members usually gave. The new member sat back and looked at him in astonishment. "You and I are not thinking in the same terms at all." she said. "Joining the church was one of the greatest decisions of my life, and it means I'm going to make some big changes in the way I relate to God at every point in my affairs." She then named the sum she intended to give each week, an amount so substantial that it staggered the pastor's imagination.
Pledging campaigns can sometimes unintentionally cause church members to think in terms of minimum amounts instead of sacrificial amounts. How much do other people give? How much should I raise my pledge above last year? How much would be fair? Now, let's see... inflation went up 3 percent this year, and that would be.... For most people, such figuring can lead to a phony kind of stewardship, one in which we never ask the real questions: "What percentage of my income does God expect me to give? What does God call me to do as a reasonable offering of my life?"
A certain man and his wife were going along the street one day when she stopped in front of a jewelry store to admire a ring in the window. "I wish I could have a ring like that some day," she said. The couple lived on a very low income, so there seemed little likelihood that this would ever happen—they had no money to spend on such extravagances. But the man loved his wife very much. He had always felt badly that he had not been able to buy for her the things he really wanted to during the many years of their marriage. They were constantly struggling with expenses that seemed greater than income, but that day he made a vow to himself—he was going to do something special for her next Christmas. He started saving every dollar he could and keeping it hidden. Sometimes, he would eat a small lunch or no lunch at all and set the money aside. Finally, as early December came, he began to shop for the kind of ring she had so admired in the window. He spent many lunch hours looking in various jewelry stores—comparing prices—trying to be sure he got the best possible ring for the amount of money he had saved. At last he found it. He bought it. had it wrapped, and waited in anticipation for Christmas Day.
Another man—a very wealthy man with an enormous annual income—realized that Christmas was only a week away. During the past year he had been so preoccupied with business, golf, and an extramarital affair with a pretty young woman who worked in his office that he had hardly realized that his wife existed. But it was Christmas, and he needed to "do the right thing." He sent his secretary down to a jewelry store to buy his wife a Christmas present. She selected something nice, and it was very expensive—several thousand dollars. He was proud when he gave it to her on Christmas morning. Even though he had not even see the diamond-studded bracelet until his wife unwrapped it, he had done the right thing.
Which of these two men gave the greater gift?
If you can answer that question, you understand how Jesus answered the question, "How much is enough?"