Above painting: The Widow’s Mite, James Tissot, Nantes, France, 1836–1902
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Mark 12:41-44 — 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. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
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Sometimes I wish the Bible would take a little bit different approach to the stories it tells; as in this story from Mark 12. Jesus is watching the people bring their offerings in to the temple treasury. They did not write checks in those days, nor did they even have paper money. It was all coins. So, the bigger the offering, the more coins you had to put into the collection plate. Therefore, anyone watching could pretty much tell what kind of giver you were. Jesus first saw rich people throw in large amounts of money– coins, coins, and more coins—with lots of noise for all to hear. It was meant to be an impressive show, and it was. But then, says verse 42, a poor widow comes up and throws in just two small copper coins, “worth only a few cents.” Even though she was poor, she also contributed. This makes the story a very nice lesson on generosity. But then in the last line of the text it goes from being a good story to an outrageous story. It says in verse 44 that those two coins was everything that poor lady had; “all she had to live on.”
What can we do with a story like that? She just gave everything she had, so now what was she supposed to do? The story already had a good point, why did Jesus have to push it to the point of being ridiculous? Who, after all, would give their last penny to church, and then go home to nothing to eat? No one is expected to do that. Pushing the point this far makes the story lose some of its credibility. No one is going to do that, and it becomes easy to dismiss the whole story and not get anything out of it at all.
I would not have told the story that way. I would have quit while I was ahead and omitted that last half of verse 44. Even then, it would still be a nice story of sacrificial generosity. But it would be more believable, and not so easily dismissed as unrealistic.
But as much as we might want to edit the Bible here and there, we don’t get to do that. We must take the story as it is and deal with it. And the first thing we see is that this isn’t just a sermon illustration. It is not a parable that Jesus is making up as he goes. No, this is something that Jesus and the disciples were observing. Jesus actually saw the wealthy folks noisily putting in their many coins, and then he saw this widow quietly putting in her two coins. And, in his divine wisdom, he knew that was all she had. So it is not a matter of Jesus,or Mark, carefully crafting a story for its greatest possible effect. No, it is Jesus doing just like the baseball umpire, and “calling ’em as he sees ’em.” And what he is seeing and what he is telling us about is a poor widow, giving an incredibly sacrificial gift to the Lord’s work.
I don’t know how to apply this story and make it relevant for you. But why should I try? Jesus doesn’t even apply it. He doesn’t turn this into some universal principle of stewardship. He doesn’t make a sermon out of it. Jesus doesn’t say, “Therefore, ALL of you should give ALL that you have to live on.” He doesn’t even say what I have usually said about this text, that the amount you give isn’t what matters, it’s what you have left after you give that matters, therefore, we should all consider “percentage giving.” That is a true lesson we can take from this story and from the rest of the Bible; but Jesus doesn’t go into any of that here. Nor does he explain away the difficulty and say, “Now, that woman ought not have done that, she should have kept a little lunch money back.”
Jesus doesn’t do any of that. He simply commends the woman for her tremendous gift, saying, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything–all she had to live on.” Period. End of story. And then Jesus leaves it to his disciples and you and me, to make our own applications and think about our own giving in the context of this poor woman’s gift.
I too will leave it at that. (continued..)
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O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature. All that we possess is from your hand. Make us always thankful for your loving providence. Give us grace that we may honor you with all we own, always remembering the account we must one day give to Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978, (from prayers #157 and #183)
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