Lesson of the widow's mite - Wikipedia
(
Mark 12:41–44,
Luke 21:1–4)
According to Wikipedia each of the coins (which was all she had) was worth about 6 minutes of an average daily wage. So it could be worth less than $5.
I was wondering if Christians would agree that it is a good thing for the widow to do... and would it still be the case if it involved $100 or more? Thanks.
Mark 12:41-44
41 And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.
42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent.
43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury;
44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on."
Luke 21:1-4
1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury.
2 And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins.
3 And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them;
4 for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on."
Did Jesus condemn or disparage in any way the "widow's mite"? No. He used her offering as a means of highlighting the false generosity of the rich who were giving "large sums" from a surplus rather than from need, pointing out that the widow had given more than any of them. Did Jesus cast aspersions on the widow's motives? No. Did he imply she was foolish in her giving? No. It seems to me Jesus would not have balked at being critical of the widow, as he was of the rich, if she, too, had been badly motivated in her giving.
Why did the widow give in a way that put her in dire need? We can only speculate. Jesus doesn't hold forth on her motives; he simply uses her offering as a contrast to the easy giving of the rich, challenging the impression the rich were hoping to give, I think, that their large sums were indicative of their piety. What claim to piety, to godly self-sacrifice, can be made in charitable giving that essentially costs one nothing?
Should Christians give after the example of the widow? Should they give their last bit of money to the Church or some Christian ministry? There is no such prescription issuing from the accounts. Jesus did not say, "Go and do likewise." Do we encounter in other places in the Bible, though, commands to Christians to give in this manner? Not exactly, no. There are, though, commendations of believers who give in a way that costs them acutely, and accounts of believers pooling their resources in support of one another, and explanations of the principles governing Christian giving. But there are no accompanying explicit
commands to give after the manner of the widow.
Romans 12:13
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
2 Corinthians 8:1-4
1 Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia,
2 that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.
3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord,
4 begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints,
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
Prudence is often used by Christian believers as an excuse to remain safely within the bounds of their financial limits, trusting to a hefty bank-balance rather than God who has made it possible for them to accrue what moneys they have. When this is so, developing a history with God of His providence is prevented. I had the good fortune, as the son of a Baptist pastor in rural Saskatchewan, to see God provide miraculously for our family many, many times. My Dad left a thriving business in 1979 to serve God in the middle of nowhere, leaving an income of nearly a $100,000 a year to serve God in a pastorate for only $26,000 a year. And he had six kids and a wife to support!
But God is no man's debtor. In a myriad of ways, God made up for the monetary sacrifice my Dad made in serving Him. And we got to witness (and benefit from) God's providential efforts, up-front and in-person! My Dad could have done the "prudent" thing, the "responsible" thing, and carefully avoided any situation that might have jeopardized a healthy financial bottom line, but the trade-off would have been - as it is for many Christians - that we would never have witnessed God's amazing provision and come to trust His providence as fully as we do.
