Giving Your All

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Please keep the Bibles open at that passage – Mark 12.41-44. – the incident about the widow’s offering.

And then imagine yourself in a hot air balloon. If the balloon is in danger and we need to lose ballast fast, we quickly have to decide what we value least and what we value most. It’s a good idea to be clear about what we value most before that moment comes. Otherwise we may hang on too long to what should be jettisoned, and put ourselves in jeopardy.

That, really, is the point of having a Giving Review. The question we want to be asking ourselves is this: What exactly is the place of money in our lives? If we think that our lives depend on money above all, we won’t let go of it. But when we know that our lives depend on Christ, we won’t let go of him. Money will come way down on the list of priorities. And if Jesus asks us to throw out some financial ballast, we’ll gladly do so.

Now I want to ask two simple questions as we look at this incident in Mark’s Gospel and you can see my two headings on the back of the service sheet: What Does Jesus See? and What Does Jesus Say?


First, WHAT DOES JESUS SEE?

Listen again to what happened. Verses 41-42:

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. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.

Our Bibles call this incident “The Widow’s Offering”, but it’s as much about the offerings of the rich as it is about her meagre contribution to the coffers of the Jerusalem temple. And there is a series of contrasts that Jesus saw.

First, there were many of them. There was one of her.

Secondly, they were rich, she was poor.

Thirdly, they gave a lot, she gave a tiny amount. They put in “large amounts” while the widow put in “two very small copper coins worth only a fraction of a penny.”

That’s what Jesus saw as he sat there watching the giving going on. What does he see as he watches us? Taking a long close look at our own finances can be hard. What’s even harder is to expose our finances to the gaze of someone else. But the truth is, we have no choice about that. Jesus watches our every financial move just as surely as he sat down opposite the place where the temple offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.

On the whole we don’t have the kind of public and professional scrutiny of our personal finances that, say a charity such as the Jesmond Trust has. We don’t have to give account to anyone else. Or so we easily think. But we do. We’re accountable to the one who gave us the money we have in the first place, and to whom it ultimately belongs. We’re accountable to Jesus. He’s watching what we do with it more closely than any auditor.

We mustn’t think, though, that he’s waiting to catch us out. Jesus came to save, not to condemn. His purpose is to bless us. He wants to guide and help us. He wants to warn us off going down roads that will lead us to disaster. He wants to set us free from the deadly bondage of money. He wants us to be able to use the money he’s entrusted us with to further his plans for the world and for our lives and for the ministry that he calls each one of us to.

So as you sit down with a piece of paper in front of you to do your own personal giving review, think of Jesus at your elbow, as it were. Let him be your financial adviser. Let his presence with you by his Spirit be a gentle reminder that every penny you have at your disposal really belongs to him. Ask him to show you how he would like you to use that income over the next year. Because Jesus sees us just as surely as he saw those rich people and that poor widow. What does Jesus see? He sees how we use our money.


Secondly, WHAT DOES JESUS SAY?

Mark 12:43-44:

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. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on”

Jesus changes our basis of measurement. He asks his disciples to look at what is going on through the eyes of God rather than through the eyes of men who are dazzled by wealth. According to the value system of the world, the bigger the gift, the louder the applause. But Jesus effectively says that God’s scale is different. God looks at the proportion that is given, rather than the pounds and pence.

On that basis there is indeed a massive contrast between the giving of the rich and the giving of the widow. And it’s the widow who gives much more. The rich, says Jesus, “all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.”

Think proportionately. What proportion of their wealth were these rich people giving? Impressive as it looked to the eyes of men, in fact they were only giving a tiny proportion. What proportion was the widow giving? 100%. On Jesus’ scale, the widow’s gift is far bigger than those of the rich. "I tell you the truth”, says Jesus, “this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.” And that could well mean “more than all the others put together.

So there is a straightforward lesson that we need to take on board: God measures by proportion, not by absolute amount. Or to put it another way, God looks at how much we keep, not how much we give away. If we take just that on board, that’s enough totally to transform our approach to giving.

But it’s not just the amounts which are so different here. It’s the attitudes. These verses are very matter of fact. Who gives more, who gives less? But scratch the surface and there is a stinging rebuke to these rich people lining up and making a show of their, quotes, “generosity”. What makes that so clear is what comes immediately before this incident. Look up the page to vv38-40:

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, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.”

Who are these people? They are very religious. Indeed they are leaders in the church. They know their Bibles inside out. In fact they spend much of their time teaching the Bible to others. They have the best seats in church. They wear long robes. This is beginning to make me feel very uncomfortable.

But surely the point is this: to other people, and even to yourself, you can look very spiritual. You may even intimidate others by the apparent depth of your devotion. But inside, where it counts, your heart may be as hard and cold towards God as stone. What mattered most to these people was reputation, wealth, luxury and status. God and people in need mattered least.

What a contrast there is in the amounts that different people give! What a contrast there is in their attitudes. And what a contrast between the way the world sees things and the way Jesus sees them!

How then does Jesus see this poor widow? Some people, rich or otherwise, will go to considerable lengths to avoid giving anything at all. Not so this widow. Just think for a moment about what she does here. She throws in a couple of coins, that’s all. But what do they represent? As Jesus commends her to his disciples he says: “but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on” - that is, the whole of her livelihood. That word livelihood appears in a few other places in the New Testament. They throw more light on what is going on here.

Do you remember the woman who had been bleeding for many years who sneaked up and touched the hem of Jesus’ cloak? She was desperate to be healed and she found what she needed in Jesus. But Luke records that before her encounter with Jesus, “she had spent all she had [that is: her livelihood] on doctors.” There was no NHS then. What mattered to her more than any amount of possessions was simply to get well. She was ready to spend her whole livelihood on her health.

Then in Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son, the younger son says to his father: “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So the father divided his property - his livelihood - between his two sons. And what does the younger son do with his livelihood? He squanders it. Nothing mattered to him more than satisfying his own desires. He was ready to spend his whole livelihood on himself. He cared nothing for the concerns of his loving father. And that, of course, is a picture of our attitude to God before Christ takes hold of our lives and we come to our senses and turn back to him.

Then 1 John 3v17 says:

If anyone has material possessions [that is livelihood again - same word] and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

If we love others, then their needs will come before our own. How can we become like that? Through faith in Jesus. Immediately before that verse, John has said:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Remember the context of this incident at the temple we’re looking at. This is the final week of Jesus’s earthly life. Shortly before this, he cleared this corrupt temple, overturning the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of the rip-off merchants. Mark 11.18:

The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him…

And a few days later they found a way, and the nails went into Jesus’s hands and feet. And he died. Why? Because he laid down his life for you and for me. Jesus spent his whole livelihood on us.

Surely we can’t sit down to do our financial review, and say to Jesus as he watches at our elbow, “Here’s the bit you can have. You gave your very life for me – and I’m giving this bit back to you, and keeping the rest for myself.” All we have and all we are has to go back to Jesus. Surely all we can say is: “Lord, you have it all. You gave me all I have. It’s all yours. Now, what would you like me to do with it?” We have to give the whole of our lives and our livelihoods back to him.

And the evidence is that we have at least begun to learn that. A rather fascinating and encouraging piece of research was done recently by Christian Research on how Christians use their money. They surveyed people who attend evangelical churches, and compared what they do with their money with the UK population as a whole. They found that, on average, evangelicals give 7.5% of their income to their church, a further 3% to Christian charities, and another 1.5% to secular charities. So in total, and on average, evangelicals give away 12% of their income. That’s equivalent to about £3,000 a year in after-tax income for the average household. And that’s about nine times higher than the average level of charitable giving by the UK population as a whole. The report of the survey quotes Billy Graham, who said: “A chequebook is a theological document – it shows who and what you worship.”

And it’s pretty clear that the faith of evangelical Christians has a profound effect on how they use their money. The report comments: “It is encouraging that these Christians care for and use their money very differently from most people. Through their day to day decisions about money they are demonstrating Biblical virtues such as self-control, patience and contentment.”

This isn’t blowing our own trumpet – or it mustn’t be. But it is cause for thanksgiving and rejoicing in such clear evidence of the work of the Spirit of God in the hearts of his people.

However, the example of this widow who is observed and commended by Jesus can leave no doubt that we have a lot further to go. And there are challenges in that survey too – not least in the fact that evangelicals in this country have total accessible savings of £15 billion. Just think of the ministry that even part of that could fund.

The story is told how at a church meeting a very wealthy American rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian faith. “I'm a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I remember the turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first dollar and I went to a church meeting that night. The speaker was a missionary who told us about his work. I knew that I only had a dollar bill and had to either give it all to God’s work or nothing at all. So at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God. I believe that God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.” He finished and there was an awed silence at his testimony as he moved toward his seat. As he sat down a little old lady sitting in the same pew leaned over and said to him: “I dare you to do it again.”

We need to respond to the challenge of this widow’s example not just once in our lives, but throughout our lives.

And what happens when Jesus sees someone giving everything back to God? Blessing happens.

Do you realise what the fruit of that woman’s giving has been over the centuries? She has had a significant impact on world history. Why? Because Jesus saw what she did, and he held it up and he used it for his purposes, and it’s been the inspiration that has challenged and changed countless lives.

She wasn’t even aware of it. She probably thought that her tiny contribution wouldn’t even be noticed by anyone. God does so much that we’re not even aware of. But one day we’ll see what God has done. We’ll see all our missed opportunities. But we’ll also see the opportunities for generosity that we took. And we’ll see how Jesus took the seed we gave and multiplied it a hundredfold and then a hundredfold again. And even though we don’t always see it now, we can trust God for that fruit. We can be confident that when we give back to God, we’re making the best investment of all.

I thank God for all that Jesus has already taught us at this church about being generous, and laying out our resources for gospel causes. But we have a long way to go. My hope is that we will increasingly become the kind of church that Jesus can watch, and commend, and hold up as an example. Can you imagine any greater blessing than that?

One Christian woman puts what she’s learned like this:

“God’s got me to the point [where I say to myself]: It’s all a gift from Him; use it for Him. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is this: I’m not a generous giver when I give God a bigger percentage every year. I’m a generous giver when I put my hands out and say: ‘God, it’s from you. What do you want me to do with it?’”

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