In Mark 12:41 Jesus and his apprentices are at the temple in Jerusalem. They’ve gone from the large Court of the Gentiles to the smaller Court of Women.
The Court of Gentiles is where Jesus ran off the money changers in Mark 11. It’s also where the early church met initially in Acts. [i] The Court of Women is the place beyond which women were not permitted. It was a place of public worship. [ii]
And there, in the Court of Women were several receptacles where people could give money to the temple and its ministry.[iii]
Mark tells us, Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. (Mark 12:41a TNIV)
It’s as if Jesus watches the executives visit their accountants to make their end-of-year charitable giving choices. Jesus watches worshipers putting money into the collection trays. He watches shoppers buying gifts for their loved ones. Jesus watches how people give.
And he observes something about giving. First, he observes that for many, our giving tends to come from the margins. 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.” (Mark 12:41b-44 TNIV)
Some people, Jesus observes, give from their margins. Here, some gave “out of their wealth.” They gave out of their excess. If we could look through their budget, maybe we’d see something like this: mortgage – $2,000 per month; sandal and robe purchases – $500 per month; figs and dates at the marketplace – $200 per month; banquets for influential civic leaders – $1,000 per month. And whatever was left over, whatever was excess, whatever was in the margin, could be used to make gifts to the temple. Imagine all the money these wealthy people used to maintain their high standard of living. Then, imagine all the money that was left over. That’s the money they gave. Their giving didn’t dig into their core, the resources they used for their standard of living. They gave “out of their wealth.”
And that is how most of us give. Our giving-whether it’s to church, to other charities, to family or to friends-tends to come from the margins. It flows from what’s left over, from the abundance. We use most of our wealth to support our standard of living. And what’s left over is what we use to give. Imagine in one pile putting all the money we use just to live on-groceries, mortgage, rent, clothes, school, etc. That’s in one pile. But most of us have money in addition to the money used for those living expenses. That’s the money we tend to give. We don’t give money that was designated for groceries, mortgage, or clothes. We give money from our margins.
It’s like when I went grocery shopping to fill the two Feed-A-Family Thanksgiving sacks which my family gave at a recent Thanksgiving food collection where I preach. I was already going to the grocery store and already planning on spending the $130 it typically takes to feed us for a week. It wasn’t a stretch for me to toss some additional green beans, corn, pies, and stuffing. I could add that without significantly impacting what we had already planned to spend on food for that week. The Altrock’s didn’t eat any less that week because of the money I used to purchase the goods for those sacks. I gave out my wealth. And many of us do. We give from our margins.
But Jesus observes that giving from the margins is small giving, even when it produces large gifts. Jesus says that the large amounts being given by the wealthy were smaller than the amount given by the widow: this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. Their large gifts, because they came from the margins, were actually small in spirit and in sacrifice.
And that is very counter intuitive. I read a story a few weeks ago about the town of Erie, Pennsylvania.[iv] Erie, once a thriving iron and steel town, is now rusting. Many factories have closed or relocated. A large paper mill shut down in 2002. Its poverty rate is twice the national average. But this year, an anonymous donor gave $100 million to charities and schools in the Erie community. One by one, the administrator of that gift has invited the heads of those charities into his office and told them the good news: an anonymous donor has given $100 million to the city and you’re charity is getting $1-$2 million of it. The director of the homeless shelter cried when she received the news. But Jesus says the truth is that such large gifts are actually small gifts if they come from the margin, if they simply come from the excess of our wealth.
I don’t think Jesus is trying to be mean or ungrateful. But he’s just stating the truth. When our giving comes mostly from our margins, whether it’s what we put in the plate, give as a gift, or donate to a charity, it’s small giving. The gift may be large, but the giving is small.
Kevin Harney tells the story of a man who came to Peter Marshall, former chaplain of the United States Senate.[v] The man said: “I have a problem. I have been tithing for some time. It wasn’t too bad when I was making $20,000 a year. I could afford to give the $2,000. But you see now I am making $500,000, and there is just no way I can afford to give away $50,000 a year.” Dr. Marshall simply said: “Yes, sir. I see that you do have a problem. I think we ought to pray about it. Is that alright?” The man agreed, so Dr. Marshall prayed: “Dear Lord, this man has a problem, and I pray that you will help him. Lord, reduce his salary back to the place where he can afford to tithe.” Though the man tithed, and though his tithe had grown to a very large figure, his giving had become small. It was driven by a small spirit. Once the tithe began to impact his life and plans he had made, he could no longer give it. For many of us, giving flows from our margins, and as a result, it’s small giving, even when it produces large gifts.
Jesus, however, observes that a very different kind of giving is possible. He observes that it is possible to give not from the margins, but from the core: 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.” It was hard in Jesus’ day to get any poorer than a widow. Widows were so vulnerable that God enacted special legislation in the Old Testament demanding that people care for them. One of the greatest praises of God was that he looked out for widows: 5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. (Ps. 68:5) Widows were so poor that they warranted divine protection. And this widow is no exception.
It’s possible that this widow has been made even poorer by some religious leaders who have taken advantage of her. Earlier in Mark 12:38-40 Jesus warns against teachers of the law who “devour widows’ houses.” These teachers of the law could not accept wages for their ministry, so they preyed on the hospitality of other people, like widows. It’s possible that what little this widow had has been squandered by a religious leader who took advantage of her hospitality.[vi] All she has left are two small coins. The word Mark uses for these coins indicates they were the smallest coins in circulation and worth only 1/8 cent each.[vii] This was not spare change she had jingling in the ashtray of her SUV. This was all she owned. Jesus says she put in everything-all she had to live on. These tiny coins, not even worth a penny, were all she had to live on.
This was the money she would have used to buy her last groceries. This was the money she would have used to pay her last utility bill. This was the money she would have used to put shoes on her feet. And she placed it into the treasury. It was a gift that came not from the margins, but from the core. It was a gift that impacted her very way of life. It affected what she would eat, what she would wear, and what kind of roof would be over her head. There is a kind of giving possible that comes not from the margins but from the core.
Recently a group of students and young professionals from Jackson, TN participated in the Memphis Urban Ministry Poverty Plunge in Memphis, TN. During the weekend they lived like the poor. As they arrived at the Downtown Church of Christ, their makeshift homeless shelter, they had to change into clothes which poor people wear and they slept on the concrete floor. There was no meal for them the first night, part of the simulation which assumed that they came too late to the homeless shelter and missed the meal. For the next day the only real food they got was what they could purchase from money they could scrounge up. Lunch was a pitiful offering of four packs of peanut butter crackers which they purchased from $2.05 which they collected from a wishing fountain downtown, a newspaper machine, and by begging. They found work folding clothes and made a total of $12 that afternoon. They used that to purchase dinner. They were able to buy two packages of spaghetti, two cans of chili, and 2 liters of cola. That was their supper.
But imagine, if instead of spending that $12 on the only substantial meal they had in two days, they saved it and put it in the collection tray that Sunday morning at the Downtown Church of Christ. That would have been surprising. Of course, it would have been no great sacrifice. They knew later that day they’d be back in their own homes and have enough money to go out to eat anywhere they wanted. But that’s what this widow did. She took the only money she had, money from the core, and gave it away.
And the remarkable thing about giving from the core, according to Jesus, is that it is large giving even when it produces small gifts. The widow’s gift was very small-only a fraction of a penny. But her giving was very large. Jesus says, Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. Her gift was small. But her giving was large-because it came from the core. There were dozens of Ask and Imagine pledges much larger than the one from that teenager who pledged 25% of her babysitting money. But there was no giving as large as hers. Giving from the core is large giving even when it produces gifts that are small.
And the reason for this is that it reflects the Spirit of Jesus. One of the key moments in Mark’s Gospel comes in Mk. 10:43-45. Jesus teaches his disciples that whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus’ saw himself as one who came to serve and give his life-to give from the core. And Jesus points to this widow as an example of what it means to serve and give your life.[viii] It’s a spirit of complete devotion to God and to others. It’s a spirit of giving which leaves nothing on the table. It’s a spirit which offers up everything, even one’s life, to serve God. That’s the kind of giving this widow demonstrates. It’s a reflection of the giving Christ will demonstrate on the cross.
It’s a type of giving few of us are used to. I met Steve Diggs recently. Diggs speaks and writes on debt in his seminar “No Debt, No Sweat!” He uses the image of rivers and reservoirs to talk about different approaches to giving. Reservoirs hold as much water as possible. They keep the water in one place. Rivers, however, pass along as much water as possible. They keep the water flowing from one location to the next. They hold nothing back. In the same way, we often live as reservoirs. When we give from the margins, we act like a reservoir. We hold in as much as possible and only pass along the little that might make it over the spillway. The widow and Jesus, however, model what it means to be a river. As rivers, they pass along as much as possible. They hold nothing back. Not even two small copper coins.
Ultimately, this is a call away from the tendency to think that church and spirituality are all about me and making my life better. There are those of us who approach church and spirituality in this way. We think of ourselves as reservoirs. It’s all about what God and church can put in my reservoir. But Jesus calls us to a river kind of life, a life in which it’s not about me, it’s about God and others. Jesus calls us to no longer be satisfied with giving from the margins. He calls us to give from the very core.
[i]Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale reference library (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 1246.
[ii]James M. Freeman and Harold J. Chadwick, Manners & Customs of the Bible, “Rewritten and Updated by Harold J. Chadwick”–Cover.; Includes Index., Rev. ed.]. (North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998), 466.
[iii]John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck and Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-c1985), 2:165.
[iv] ‘Anonymous Friend’ gives $100 million to town; http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/12/million.mystery.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch
[v] Kevin G. Harney, Seismic Shifts (Zondervan, 2005), 200.
[vi] Robert H. Gundry Mark (Eerdmans, 1993), 727-729.
[vii] Robert H. Gundry Mark (Eerdmans, 1993), 729.
[viii] David Rhoads, Joanna Dewey and Donald Michie Mark As Story Second Edition (Fortress, 1999), 133.
