The Widow’s Mite

Scripture Lessons

1 Kings 17:8-16                    Elijah and the widow of Zarephath

Psalm 146:1-10                    The Lord upholds the widow and the fatherless.

Hebrews 9:24-28                 Christ will appear a second time.

Mark 12:38-44                      The widow’s mite

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I suspect that the gospel lesson from today is very familiar to you. This is often referred to as the “widow’s mite.” The King James Version says that she threw in two mites. This amounted to about 1/64^th of a denarius and a denarius was about a day’s wages for a laborer. So, she had a tiny amount of money and yet she gave it all.

Is this a lesson in stewardship of your finances? This is often the way it is interpreted. The poor widow shines for all posterity as an example of pious giving. After all, she gave all that she had. Perhaps the church should press this example into service for “stewardship Sunday.” Let’s consider that possibility for a moment.

The text tells us that “many rich people put in large sums.” As Jesus watched, rich people came along and made large and impressive gifts to the temple treasury. These are the gifts that people take notice of. These are the gifts that “move the needle” so to speak. These are the gifts that would accelerate the massive building campaign that was underway. The temple complex was under construction for many years, including at this very time. Meanwhile, “a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.” This is the gift that nobody would take notice of. This gift makes no difference whatsoever. It is so insignificant, barely detectable, that it would have virtually no impact on the affairs of the temple. But the gift of the widow is significant enough that it drew the attention of Jesus who called His disciples to Him and said, “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 that she had, all she had to live on.”

Jesus commended her gift. She gave it all. Now if the object lesson of this story is financial stewardship, you must ask yourselves how you compare? Can you measure up to the widow’s generosity? Have you given all that you have? Or have you held back something? Any honest self-assessment would reveal that your giving is lacking. No matter how generous you are, it’s always possible to give a little more, unless you have given everything. If you measure your performance according to God’s law, you will always come up short.

Her gift is commended, but is financial stewardship really the point? Let’s look at this in a different way. After the widow left, do you think she starved to death? After all, those two coins were, “all she had to live on.” Compare this to the widow of Zarephath. She said to Elijah, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” The widow of Zarephath said that she didn’t have enough even to live on, but only had enough to die on. Nevertheless, Elijah asked to be fed and called on her to trust the word of God, “The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.”

Psalm 146 reinforces the wisdom of placing our trust in God. “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob…who made heaven and earth…who keeps faith forever…who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.” This Psalm also demands, “Put not your trust in princes.” The proper focus of your trust is not princes, not your worldly possessions, but God Almighty. You are held every moment, this very moment in fact, in His hands. Every breath you take is a gift from God. Psalm 90:12 says, “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Yes, it is wisdom to see that you are held in God’s hands. You cannot extend your life by an instant apart from God’s will.

This expands the discussion of stewardship far beyond mere financial stewardship or giving to the church. Stewardship is far more than how much you give, or what percentage you give. Stewardship involves a life of faith, in which you put your trust in God your Father to sustain your life. Stewardship means responsibility, using wisdom to receive and apply the gifts of God for the benefit of your neighbor. If you gave all you had to the church and wound up unable to provide for your children, that would not be good stewardship.

“But wait a minute. If giving everything away is not good stewardship, why did Jesus commend the widow’s offering?” This is a fair question and gets back to the point I asked earlier. Is this about financial stewardship?

There is another way to look at this. Just like the widow of Zarephath, this widow didn’t have enough to live on…she only had enough to die on. Whether your offering is big or small is of little interest to God. What is important to God is your trust in Him. God has claimed you as a beloved child in holy Baptism. Do you trust Him? God feeds you with Word and Sacrament. Do you trust Him? God knows every hair on your head (no matter how many or few). Do you trust Him for your good? Your offering to God is no more than this widow. Your offering to God consists primarily of sin, enough sin to die on. And yet will you trust Him? Do you confess that although you bring shame and sin to God, He will wash away your sin and redeem you? Yes, He will! The point of this lesson is that your offering is not sufficient, but Christ’s is. The shed blood of Christ is the offering that is necessary for your redemption and it has been offered for you and for the whole world. Thanks be to God.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.