Summary: The Story of the widows mite shows us what it really means to give. It is not some percentage that we are required to give. Instead the widows meager offering shows how we are to give all to our Great God.
Intro: One Sunday in church a little boy took off his tie and put it into the offering plate.
“What are you doing?” asked his mother.
“The preacher told us to give our ties and offerings.”
It is apparent that the young boy misunderstood what the preacher said. It is also apparent today in the church that there is a misunderstanding of tithing and even more giving.
This morning we are going to examine the story of the widow’s mite. What we will find is that much more than simply money is involved.
The widow in this story gave two small copper coins equal to a mite. The mite was only worth about 1/5 of a cent. However the love, and faith with which she cast all she had into the offering horn made all the difference in the world. She gave more than all the “big” givers.”
We see in this story that God’ desires that we would give from our hearts not simply our hands.
Jesus gives us in this teaching in the temple principles for giving. We will see The Matter of our Giving, The Measure of our Giving, and The Motive of our Giving.
I. The Matter of our Giving (Mark 12.41)
A) Jesus Cares about our giving
It is very clear from just part of this verse that Jesus is highly interested as well as highly aware of our giving. “He sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury:”
The amazing thing about Jesus is that he has not stopped observing what we do with our money! He not only observes how we offer our money, but our time, our talents, our treasures.
God is not ignorant to how we offer our possessions and even ourselves to His kingdom work.
B) God’s Challenge in our giving
God’s yardstick for giving is the tithe. This word simply means a tenth.
Leviticus 27.30 "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD."
1) Everything. John and Mckinley get an allowance. When they get their allowance say
$40.00/ month. Automatically they do not have $40.00. Ten percent belongs to God first.
2) It belongs to the Lord.
If the church could really get their minds and hands wrapped around this. All that I have all that I am belongs to my God and Father in heaven.
Do you ever wonder why people don’t tithe, or give to God’s work
1) People may not have been taught 2) Misunderstanding of tithing and giving
3) Rebellion to God’s revealed will in His holy word.
But it’s uncomfortable. . . I don’t like it when the preacher talks about money.” If that’s true, you would certainly not liked the preaching of Jesus. When he walked the earth, he have 36 parables, and 16 of them had to do with our attitude toward money! 1 out of 10 verses deals with our attitude toward money!”
Randy Alcorn wonderfully captured the idea of giving by calling tithing the “training wheels of ginving.” (it is not the ceiling of giving it is the ground floor)
C) God’s Claim to our resources
It is so easy to get hung up over tithing that we forget so easily that everything is God’s. Everything I have from my wife, children, clothes, job, cars, computers, books, breath, food, all of it is God’s not mine. Technically I have no real right to it. I am simply a manager of what he has given. What is revealing is the attitude in which I deal with what is his.
Dr Adrian Rogers so rightly said, “a faith that hasn’t reached your wallet, probably hasn’t reached your heart.”
Nothing I have is mine, it is all His. What a note of freedom.
II. The Measure of our Giving (Mark 12.42-44)
There in the treasury were 13 containers called trumpets. They were probably brass receptacles shaped like a rams horn. Each had on them name for the respective offering. Now if you wanted to make a show of how much you gave it would be very easy. The money they had at the time was metal and the offering bins were metal. So the rich that made little sacrifice would clang their money in proudly. Jesus commended the widow not for the size of her offering but for the size of her love for the Lord and willingness to give all.
A) The principle of proportional giving
God in no way expects every to give the same amount. He does however expect us all to give by the same standard. His standard is the tithe.
You may say it is not taught in any place in the New Testament. Jesus never tells us what amount we are to give. However, Jesus also never tells any of His followers not to tithe. The size of the offering is not the issue it is instead recognizing God as the source of all you have.