Two men were talking and one told the other a story from his childhood about a trip to the circus.  He and his mother were standing in line a long time to buy tickets when the father of the family in front of them finally got to the ticket counter.  It was obvious there were eight children in the family, all young and somewhat poor.  The children were well-behaved and clean, and all stood in line, chattering excitedly about what they hoped to see that night.  The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted and he proudly responded, "Eight children and two adults please."  "That'll be $26," she said.  The proud father staggered a moment and leaned a little closer and asked, "How much did you say?"  "$26, now pay up or move along."  It was plain the man didn't have enough money.

          In that moment, the mother behind them dropped the $10 bill she'd been holding to buy their tickets.  Then she reached down, picked up the $10 bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket."  The man looked at the money and then straight into the woman's eyes.  Then he took her hand firmly and said, "Thank you, thank you, ma'am.  This really means a lot to me and my family."  After the family had left, the mother turned to her son and said, "We've seen the circus before, let's go home."  Well, they didn't go to the circus that night because his mother, a widow, decided the man and his eight children should go instead.  No, he said, they didn't see any of the circus performers that night, but that man never forgot that most important real-life performance his mother, a struggling widow, had ever shown him.

          Every now and then you hear of extraordinary feats of generosity.  For no obvious reason people become big-hearted and give liberally to help others out who are facing difficult times.  Sometimes it is done from pure generosity and other times it's done from pure trust in God.  But always, it's a wonder to behold.

          Today's scripture lessons tell us of two women, both widows, both who showed their trust in God.  Though penny-poor and at the end of their ropes, both widows showed extraordinary generosity.  The first woman we know as the widow and her mites.  Jesus was on the road to Calvary's cross and along the way He and His disciples visited the Temple and observed the people dropping their money into the offering box.  In a time of no paper money or credit cards, the clatter of coins into the box made it obvious what people were giving for the temple offering.

          In the midst of the more wealthy people, there came an insignificant woman, a widow.  She had no husband to look after her and hence was the poorest of the poor.  In that day there was no one who was more hard up than a widow with no one to care for her.  It would have been easy to miss her in a crowd of people with so much, but Jesus didn't miss her.  He saw her give two of the smallest copper coins in circulation at the time.  Her offering was barely worth a penny.  We won't even stop to pick up a penny in the street, but to her it would have meant food for another day.

          St. Mark says she gave two coins, two mites.  She could have given just one and kept the other for herself.  That would have been justified.  Widows often had to beg for what they needed.  A coin no matter how small was worth something.  Every one was valuable to her, and it's certain she didn't have others laid by at home.

          Jesus told His disciples that, poor as she was, she gave the most, because she put in all she had.  She gave God everything and trusted He would provide more.  Some might call that reckless, even extravagant.  "Keep that money and give later when you have more," we'd say.  Some may have shaken their heads at the tiny offering, but Jesus didn't.  He praised her generosity and trust in God.  He said she understood giving better than all the others combined, for she had given away all she had.

          The second story we don't know as well.  Another widow and her son lived a long time before Jesus' time.  She lived in Zarapheth, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, 50 miles north of Israel.  She wasn't one of God's chosen people; she was a Gentile, and yet she showed her faith in God by feeding a stranger who came to her door.

          A terrible drought had fallen on the whole country and this widow and her son were about to bake their last loaf of bread from the little flour and oil they had left.  As she prepared her dough, a stranger arrived, Elijah, who was also very hungry.  He promised that if she fed him, her flour and oil would never run out.  Now this woman did not know Elijah, and like the widow and her mites, she would have been justified in keeping part of it, or even all of it, for herself and her son.  But instead, she trusted God and unselfishly fed the stranger.  She, too, had come to trust God for all things, including life.

          Some today might say those two women were just desperate, they had nothing to lose by giving it all.  I rather think they were willing to take a leap of faith, to give and then trust that God would provide their needs.  They surrendered their lives completely to the will of God.  What they did was not irresponsible, nor was it foolish.  We know this because God honored them by giving them a place in history, as examples of true faith and trust.

          The self-giving widow in the temple foreshadows the self-giving life of Jesus.  Remember, Jesus was in Jerusalem for the last time, on His way to the cross.  In just a couple of days He will be arrested, put on trial and crucified.  He will lay down his life, extravagantly, sacrificially, generously, for the sake of others.  Jesus was on his way to lay down every cent He had so that we might be forgiven.  He was willing to give His last morsel for us.

          The story of this insignificant widow's mite is Mark's explanation of who Jesus is.  He is the seemingly insignificant criminal on the cross, giving up everything He owns for us.  The widow gave extravagantly because of her love for God.  Jesus gave His life extravagantly because of His love for us.  The question, though, is how do we react to this?  What kind of givers are we?  Do we give only out of our abundance?  What we can afford to give?

          Most of us in this room have no concept of how poor these widows were.  We can probably afford to give a lot.  Like the pastor who announced to his people:  "Today I have good news and I have bad news.  The good news is we have enough to pay all our bills, and even to build a new church.  The bad news is it's still in our bank accounts."

          When the offering basket comes around, do we give sacrificially, or just give something?  Is our offering enough for it to cause us some stress and worry over whether we can afford it?  Sacrificial giving is not something that only poor people do.  Are our offerings a sacrifice or they the leftovers?

          Mark Twain was once listening to a businessman of questionable ethics.  The man said, "Before I die, I mean to climb to the top of Mount Sinai and read the ten commandments aloud."  Twain replied, "I have a better idea.  Why don't you just stay here and keep them?"

          Will we actually live our faith in God or just talk about it?  The importance we place on money says a lot about our faith.  How we use the blessings God gives us says a lot, too.  We modern people too often know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.  We so often value the wrong things, like the farmer who was incensed because a rogue bull got into his prize cow herd, but yet knew nothing about the boy who was dating his own daughter.

          A young man approached his girl friend's father.  "Sir, there's something important I would like to ask you.  I was wondering if you would ... I was wondering whether, er, uh ... That is, I was thinking you might be, uh, willing to, well ...er ..."  The father grabbed the young man's hand and shook it warmly.  "Of course, my boy!" he said with enthusiasm.  "Certainly I'll give my permission.  My daughter's happiness is all that matters to me in the world!"  The young man was completely puzzled.  "Permission?" he said.  "Oh that's not it, sir.  You see, my car payment is due and I don't have the money.  Could you would lend me $95?"  The father snapped, "Certainly not!  I hardly know you!"

          I'm not trying tie this message to special needs we have.  It's true, you'll probably see an envelope in the next weeks about the projects we're completing.  But this message is about faith and trust more than it is about money.  God wants us to surrender ourselves to Him and trust Him completely.  Just as these two widows were called to show their trust, so we are called to show our trust in God.  God is calling us to complete dedication and commitment to Him.  We need to give to the Lord more than He needs to receive.  We must be ready to demonstrate our love for God in a selfless manner like He showed His love for us.

          A mother wanted to teach her daughter about giving, so she gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church offering.  "Put whichever one you want on the offering plate and keep the other for yourself," she told the girl.  When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given.  "Well," she said, "I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers.  I knew I'd be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did."

          That little girl is more like us than not.  It's a lot simpler to take the easy way out.  It requires a lot less effort to give the minimum than to be generous.  It's hard to be generous.  That's where the challenge of trust is for us - to be extravagant with love, to be excessive in kindness, to be extreme in trust, to be generous to God because of His love for us.  Let me say it once again, God does not need our offerings; it is we who need to give them.  God can do everything without us; it is we who cannot live without Him.  May God grant us all here today the faith to trust Him completely for everything.  Amen

Copyright © 2003 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.