A Grateful Heart
Dr. Larry Thorson
Mark 12:38-44
38 As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the
teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted
with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the
synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows' houses
and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most
severely."
41 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. 42 But a poor widow came and
put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
43 Calling his disciples to him,
Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the
treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she,
out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."
Today’s New
International Version Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society
Our story today has traditionally
been called the story of the widow's mite. While it’s generally perceived to be
about giving there is another element to this story that I don’t want us to
miss. Try to picture Jesus sitting with the leaders of the temple-the
Sadducees- observing the people as they come in making their donations. In those days you didn’t have a nice, golden
plate, quietly placed in front of you in your seat to drop your quiet checks
for no one to see but the people on either side of you and maybe the usher. No, in those days everyone knew everyone’s giving
record and that indicated how successful you were. There was no paper money so your coins would
make this loud noise as it rolled down a long horn shaped object and fell into
the pool of coins.
So here comes this widow (whom I used to
think was elderly and probably around 50 when I first started reading the
Bible) and she has two small coins practically worth nothing and drops them in.
They barely make a noise. You can almost see the
To the Sadducees who ran the temple and
knew how expensive it was to keep the place up, this woman was to them a waste
of time but to Jesus she is the stuff by which Kingdoms are erected. So I don’t
think this story is so much about giving as it is about motivation. Why do we
do what we do? What do we hope to achieve by our giving? The Pharisees and
Sadducees gave, at least partially, to receive peer recognition. And, said
Jesus, they received that reward. People praised them. People were in awe of them. The woman, on the
other hand, gave out of love for God. According to Jesus, she also received her
reward.
This morning I want to talk about why
we do what we do. What is the motivation behind our giving?
The first motivation for giving, I
believe, is that we have first given of ourselves. There was a very wealthy man who had never
been known for his generosity to the church. The church was involved in a big
financial program and they resolved to pay him a visit. When the committee met
with the man one afternoon, they said that in view of his considerable
resources they were sure that he would like to make a substantial contribution
to this program.
"I see," he said,
"so you have it all figured out have you? In the course of your
investigation did you discover that I have a widowed mother who has no other
means of support but me." No, they responded, they did not know that.
"Did you know that I have a sister who was left by a drunken husband with
five children and no means to provide for them" No, they said, we did not
know that either. "Well, sir, did you know also that I have a brother who
is handicapped due to an automobile accident and can never work another day to
support his wife and family?" Embarrassingly, they responded, no sir, we
did not know that either. Well, he thundered triumphantly, I've never given any
of them a cent so why should I give anything to you."
He had never given of himself
therefore he never gave of his resources. Giving is an outgrowth. As we
surrender ourselves to God we want to give not only ourselves but our goods to God
and to God’s church. Unfortunately in the church we say: I give, therefore I am
a Christian. But it's just the reverse. It is because I am a follower of Christ
that I give.
Secondly, your money follows your
heart. Jesus worded it this way: where your treasure is, there will your heart
be also. You show me your check book and I'll show you what is important to
you. Show me how much you give to the
I read of a minister who one Sunday
morning when the ushers had taken up the offering and brought the plates down
to the front, took the plates and held them up in the air and gave this prayer:
"Lord, regardless of what we say about you, this is really what we say
about you, this is really what we feel about you. Amen." Our money follows
our heart. If your commitment to Christ has not yet reached your billfold then
it has not yet reached your heart.
And this principle is true in
other areas. Take the stewardship of time for example. Have you ever noticed
how your time follows your interests. You get interested in something and you
invest in it--both with time and money. The number one reason why people say
they do not commit to the church is that they do not have enough time. They
really mean to do it, but they're busy. Yet, it is really amazing to me how
quickly people can clear their calendars for something that they want to do.
A sermon on stewardship has
nothing to say whatsoever to an uncommitted person. Jesus does not want your
money. Not first and foremost. What he wants is your heart. Once you have
surrendered your heart these other matters will fall into place.
The first motivation for giving, I
believe, is that we have first given ourselves to God and to our neighbor.
Secondly, our motivation comes from the priorities of our lives: Where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also. The third motive for giving is
because it makes God happy.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians that God
loves a cheerful giver. Dr. James I. McCord, then president emeritus of
Princeton Seminary, once told the story of a man who commented that he was
never coming back to a particular church because all they ever talked about in
that church was give, give, give. Dr. McCord concluded: I cannot think of a
better definition of Christianity than that: give, give, give.
Unless you learn to give, you can
never learn to be fully human. Let me ask you this. If there was a dog walking
down the street, healthy coat, obviously in good shape, and he had a bone in
his mouth, and that dog passed a flee bitten mutt that was near starvation, do
you think that the healthy dog would stop and drop his bone in front of the
sick dog? Oh, no. He would clinch his bone that much tighter in his teeth as he
passed by. That is the nature of animals. Only humans know how to be a giver.
Only humans can know that God is pleased when we give.
A fourth motivation it seems to me
is to give not because the church bills need to be paid but because we are
moved by a sense of gratitude. In a lot
of churches, they give people a line item budget that details what the church’s
expenses will be for the ensuing year. What that does is perpetuate the concept
that you are to give in proportion to what the church’s bills are. We need to be
giving out of a sense of thanksgiving and joy, not to pay bills.
When I give money to the church I
don't look at a line item budget. I don’t give because an air conditioning
valve has broken, and needs to be replaced. I give because I am overwhelmed
with gratitude for what Christ did for me at
When we give to the church, love
is no longer just an idea, it is an action. While human law says: you cannot
give what you do not have. God's law says: you cannot keep what you refuse to
give away.
Adapted
from a sermon called “Giving” by Brett Blair and Staff, ChristianGlobe Network,
Inc, 2003, taken from sermons.com