Giving Generously

I can still vividly remember the encounter – even though some 25 or so years have passed now. I was delivering the free, weekly newspaper to the homes in my street. As I walked up to one house, one of my elderly neighbours opened her door to me to receive her paper. She engaged me in conversation. It transpired that her husband was at home, undergoing expensive dialysis treatment – he didn't have long to live. And for some reason she commented on me, a young lad of 13,14, getting paid for my weekly job. "Don't forget," she said "money is the root of all evil." Well I didn't know quite what to say and I politely made my excuses and left. 'Was she right?' I thought to myself? Back home, I relayed the tale to my parents who gently corrected her error, pointing me to the truth of 1 Timothy 6:10. No, it's not money, but the love of money that is the root of all evil.

Funny isn't it, how the topic of money can elicit different responses from different people in different situations. Even, no doubt, from Christians in giving review! But a staggering one sixth of Gospels and one third of the parables address the subject and so we can't just dismiss it as evil. In this morning's passage Jesus draws our attention away from money, in and of itself, and challenges us to see whether our attitudes towards it are consistent with the life of a faithful disciple. So back to Mark 12 and my first heading:

WHAT JESUS SEES? (v.41-42)

And he (Jesus) sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. (Mark 41-42)

Let me just give you a bit of background. Jesus is in Jerusalem, he's been there for a few days, having arrived via donkey power and he has already been in the temple. Everyone knew about that commotion when he knocked over the tables and chairs. We get the impression that this scene, outside the temple treasury, is a bit calmer as he watches people pop their gifts to God in the box. (Which by the way was probably the sort of collection box referred to in our OT reading).

Jesus is on his own initially and what does he see? He sees many rich people put in large sums of money and he sees one poor person put in, humanly speaking, very little. As he pauses on this scene, Mark wants his readers to know that Jesus sees everything. There is nothing that is hidden from his view. Physically or spiritually. He sees the physical act, but he also sees the giver's attitude and the cost to the giver of that gift.

So what will Jesus see as sits and watches JPC give this year?

Clearly he has already seen much extraordinary generosity for which we give him praise! As in Jerusalem, so in Jesmond people have given large sums. As in Jerusalem, so in Jesmond people have also given smaller sums. And we praise him for every penny.

But maybe this year Jesus will also watch ungrateful givers at JPC– givers who forget about their giving, especially when it's done by Standing Order. Now giving by Standing Order is crucially important and if you don't currently do so may I take this opportunity to encourage you to set one up and if you are a UK tax payer fill in a Gift Aid form too because the very kind tax man will increase the value of your gift by 25%. But I tell you what, once we've done that we've got to work to see it as an act of worship when there is no regular physical transaction. We've got to work hard at transforming the reviewing of our bank statements (whether on paper or online) from potentially depressing moan-filled moments into grateful prayers of thanks for all we are able to do with what God has provided.

Maybe Jesus will also see distracted givers at JPC this year who have been too distracted by the cares and worries of this world to review their giving regularly in line with their income. Can I ask you, honestly, when was the last time you reviewed your giving? Have you sat through numerous giving reviews and just thought it was ok? For most of us our income modestly increases year on year. But it can also go down and we need to check our giving accordingly.

Maybe Jesus will see some non-givers at JPC this year. But if you have decided to devote your life to Jesus and to follow him as your ultimate King, then he actually doesn't leave you the option of not giving. The New Testament is littered with teaching about 'when we give' not 'if we give'. And so if for whatever reason you don't yet regularly give back to God. Can I encourage you to start? Whether you are like my eldest son who has just got his first current account and allowance. Start. Whether you are a few months into your first job. Start. Whether you have been a Christian for years and you have never really understood this teaching. Start.I pray that as Jesus looks at JPC this year he will see faithful disciples taking seriously that call to follow him by giving generously & sacrificially.

Don't forget – his is the only opinion/ audience that matters when you fill in this review. Some of you will think that what you are giving is insignificant – that's not important. Some of you will think 'I wonder what so and so is giving' – that's not important! Some of you will wonder how far your giving will go get us to our total of £1.2million – that's irrelevant! What we have decided to give is done purely with Jesus as our audience. It's between you and him! But Jesus is watching. He is perceiving what is going on. He can, and he does, read beneath the surface and he sees our hearts. And nothing says more about our hearts than what we do with our money. What does Jesus see? – He sees the amount and he sees our attitude.

Secondly, then

WHAT JESUS TEACHES

The scene shifts from one of Jesus on his own, to an opportunity to teach his disciples collectively. v.43:

And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on." (Mark 12.43-44)

We need to get this in perspective. Mark records that the woman put in two of the smallest coins in circulation! The experts reckon that it was about the equivalent of about a 60th of a daily wage. I did some basic calculations and worked out that in today's money that's roughly £1! Compared to our £1,230,000 budget – it's nothing! In purely financial terms the value of her offering is negligible. It's not even worth comparing to those massive amounts put in by the wealthy donors – but you know what? The divine exchange rate is very different. And in the upside down world of the gospel, its value to God is huge. Jesus is teaching us two things:

Firstly, that the value of the gift is not measured by the amount but by the cost to the giver.

And here Jesus says that she has put in everything she had, all she had to live on – literally her whole livelihood! We're talking serious sacrificial giving here. I read about a sort of modern day equivalent this week. There was an article in a magazine on the sacrifices that the well-known English vicar of Baghdad (Andrew White) has made over recent years to serve his congregation in the Iraqi capital. Refusing to accept hero status he instead turned the spotlight on a modern day poor widow. Here's what he said:

People come up to me all the time and say, 'You're a hero.' I'm not. The hero is the old lady in Portsmouth who every quarter hands me an envelope with £200 or £300 in it. She has nothing more than a state pension to live on, but month by month she faithfully saves from it so she can help people.

I calculated that once a month that old lady effectively says to God "This week Lord you can have it all!"

What is the cost to us of our giving? How much of a sacrifice is it? Because, according to the divine exchange rate, if there is no sacrifice involved then there is little spiritual value to the gift. In practical terms this means we have to ask ourselves whether we give from all our income (inc gross, gifts, tax credits etc) or just the bit that we think we can spare once all the bills/outgoings have been accounted for. CS Lewis offers some helpful advice on this:

I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusement, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say it is too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our charitable expenditure excludes them." (CS Lewis Mere Christianity p.77 1961 edition)

Secondly, Jesus teaches that the motive is more important that the amount

It's not that Jesus condemns those who gave a lot. He didn't. As then, so now, God needs people who give huge sums of money. But the widow was so motivated that she gave everything. Why? Well, to discover the answer we need to back up a few verses. Remember that Jesus had been in Jerusalem three days. During that time his conflict with the religious leaders had been increasing. They wanted to kill him. They'd been trying to trap him with their clever questions about taxes, about the resurrection and then this one - what was the greatest commandment? We see Jesus' reply in v.29:

The most important (commandment) is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And 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.

In the verses that follow, Jesus gives two contrasting responses to this command, by way of a real life parable if you like.

Firstly, there are the scribes (religious leaders) of v.38-40 who love themselves more than they love God.

They like to show off their religious activity – special clothes, best seats in the house, public praying – so that they can gain status, recognition and respect. But Jesus can see that it is all a pretence. He sees their hypocrisy. JPC beware the attitude of the scribes.

And then secondly, in contrast to the scribes, there is the poor widow of v.41-44 who loves God more than she loves herself. She quietly gave her gift and only Jesus knew the true cost to her of that gift. Her motive was to love the Lord her God with all her heart, soul, mind and strength – how? By loving him with all her money. She understood it was all God's anyway and that she had just been entrusted with it temporarily. We only understand what Jesus is teaching in this acted out parable when we realise that the main contrast is not between the rich and the poor givers inv.41-44, but between the religious leaders of v.38-40 and the poor widow. And if we start our giving review process by asking 'How much do we need?' or 'How much can we spare?' or even 'What's the total giving target?' – then we begin more like the Scribes than the poor widow…because we begin with self and not with God. Oh, how we need to cry out with the Psalmist – "what can I give back to God for the blessings he has poured out on me". It's almost a rhetorical question because in one sense the answer is nothing – its grace! But at least the thought process begins with God and what he has done for us, rather than beginning with self. And so we need to begin with questions like 'Do I believe that Jesus loved me and gave himself for me to buy me back from a life without him?' 'Is my heart's desire to love him with all my money?' and 'Do I believe that nothing I have is truly mine anyway - just on loan from God?'

If we can't answer yes to these questions it's more than good budgeting advice we need - we need to rekindle our love for him. Which only comes through re-grasping his love for us.

Maybe you are here this morning and you just don't get me. Maybe with all this talk of 'giving' I'm winding you up! Well let me say this to you. Christians are people who should want to give generously and sacrificially, not to appease God, but because God has given his all generously and sacrificially for us. You see at its most basic there is a huge problem between us and God. The Bible calls it sin/selfishness. And because God is just that sin cannot go unpunished. The Bible says the punishment is eternal death. But God sent his only son as a sacrifice to pay the price of our sin so that we don't have to. He sacrificed his own son so that we can live forever with him. All we do is receive that gift of grace through faith in Jesus. And if you haven't received that free gift of grace – then I urge you – don't delay. Turn to him in repentance and faith today. God gave his all for us – to redeem us and bring us back into relationship with him. God gave his all – because he wants you in relationship with him forever.

So to my third and brief final point:

WHAT JESUS WANTS

Quite simply: total dedication! The real lesson Jesus wants to teach us concerns discipleship. Ultimately this widow's selfless act is not included by Mark primarily for its moral value, Jesus' chief purpose was to show his followers a model of discipleship. The poor widow is the striking stand out example in this story – a faithful disciple who is devoted to God and trusts his provision entirely. Oh you and I can come up with our sophisticated arguments for why we need to hang on to this or that amount of money, but at the end of the day the real thing that Jesus is watching is not so much we give away, but how much we keep for ourselves.

And whether we are talking about our gifts, our time or our money – God has given us them to give away in his name. True recipients of grace don't just hold it in – they pass it on.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary action. Right now we are presented with an unusual opportunity to demonstrate our total dedication to God. Don't forget the second part of the greatest commandment that Jesus draws our attention to. Mark 12:31 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' In other words how do we love God practically? By loving others. How do we love others practically? By preaching the gospel in word and deed. That is what a church should be all about. That is what JPC is all about and we pray it'll be what SJB is all about.

And as we consider the many, many lives that need to come through these doors and through the doors of SJB we need to ask ourselves this:

Are we willing to sacrifice our temporary comfort today for their eternal comfort tomorrow?