THE WIDOW’S MITE

By Dr. Eric C. Stumpf, Senior Pastor

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church – Munster, IN

Mk 12:41-44 + Stewardship Series +

7 & 8 November 2009

                 Have you heard the story of the Widow’s mite before?  Many first heard the story in Sunday school.  The word “mite” has come into our language to mean a very small coin and a small amount of money. The translators of the King James Version of the Bible used the term, which referred to a very small Flemish coin from the 14^th century, to describe the small copper coins.

                The event took place during Holy Week, Tuesday to be precise. Jesus would be crucified in three days.  Jesus and his disciples sat in the temple watching people give their gifts.  Since they did not use paper money or credit cards, all money was coin.  The custom was to place this offering in the large metal horns – think of a large upside down tuba without the wrapped tubing and valves, which emptied into a box.  As the donator placed his or her coins into the horns everyone nearby could hear the clattering of the coins. 

There was another custom that made this more impressive or noisy, if you will.  If you came to the temple with normal coinage, it was forbidden to give those coins to the temple.  Normal coinage issued by Rome or other previous governing authorities almost always had the profile of the ruler, like our quarters have Washington, our pennies have Lincoln.  The temple did not want anything with a graven image.  Therefore before you could give your offering you had to change your coin to the acceptable coins of the temple and they were these small copper coins.  One silver coin, representing a day’s wage, would be exchanged for 40 to 60 small copper coins which made your contribution sound even noisier as it rattled down the metal horns. 

Jesus was watching.  His disciples were looking.  But Jesus saw things differently from the disciples.  While the rich came with many coins making many clattering sounds as their coins tumbled down the horn, Jesus saw not the amount of coins, but the sacrifice, or lack of it, being made.  Jesus saw the heart.  On the outside the donor might appear generous, but Jesus saw they gave only to impress others.  Now the widow came.  Jesus knows her two small coins, which would hardly make any noise at all, was all she had.  Jesus saw the heart that trusted God to provide, the piety of faith that compelled her to give her all, and the hope she had in God’s promises.  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 she had, all she had to live on.

Grace is the Foundation

                We began this series on the foundation of grace.  The building of our Christian life in all aspects simply can’t be done without God’s grace in Christ for us.  Thursday I was reading an article entitled “The Facebook Grave Site,” (Chicago Tribune, November 5, 2009).   How many of you know what Facebook is?  I have not embraced that idea yet.  From what I gather, you can be in contact with friends and network with them, communicate and keep in touch.  It’s more than emailing because you can also read the comments of other friends on your wall and it often includes photographs and even video.  It sounds very chummy.  However, the title intrigued me.  The writer, Elizabeth Weingarten, shared her experience with connecting with a friend, Miriam Frankl, from high school who suddenly died in an accident.  Grief was expressed and posted on Miriam’s Facebook site, by those who knew her well and those who were mere acquaintances.  In her closing comments she wrote:  Posting on a Facebook wall is one way my generation grieves for the dead.  It is a way to pay respects, to pretend that a friend who should not be dead is still with us.  My question is, “Is that all there is?”

                If our best hope is to pretend that a friend who died is still with us, or we know people who think that way, we have good news.  Jesus who died for the sins of the whole world, including Miriam, Elizabeth the writer, you and me, died so there would be more, much more.  The grace God gives to us in Christ is that Jesus rose from the dead for our salvation, he ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us, he will one day, our last day, call us to himself, and those who have received this grace, trusted this grace, relied on this grace, will have eternal life with Christ and all those who love the name of Jesus.  Who we are will not be some figment in cyberspace.  It is that grace which is the basis for living now as well as our hope for eternity.

Grace Witnesses the Truth

                As much as I love the account of the Widow’s Mite, I wish I knew how it ended.  Did she go on and meet a nice man who loved her and took her as his wife and brought new joy in her life?  Or did she break a leg, became sick, and died.  No one knows, but that does not stop some people from speculating.  I have heard some TV evangelists say, “If you give to God; He’s going to give back to you.”  That means if you give a dollar, God will give you a dollar back, or if you give ten, you’ll get ten back.  I find that pretty discouraging.  The widow only had two small copper coins, was that all she could hope for from God?  Let me assure you God gives us a whole lot more to His dearly loved people.  Think how God so richly gives you more than you give and how He uses you to do his will.

                Have you ever gotten a dollar bill with the phrase “Where’s George?” stamped on it?  There is a web site call www.wheresgeorge.com.  If you go there and sign-up, you can enter the serial number of dollar bills, and write www.wheresgeorge.com on it.  If someone receives your dollar in change and enters the serial number, it records where the bill went and you will be contacted.  Some bills have travelled to all parts of the country, some even overseas.  Some people connect stories with where the bills were found.  It makes me think about where our gifts go.  For the sake of illustration I have ten one dollar bills.  Think of this as an offering given on Sunday. God blessed you so you could earn it or receive it. You share this gift because faith is at work in your heart.

One of those dollars enables the message of hope to be proclaimed and preached from the pulpit of St. Paul’s, lifting a person’s faith at a time of stress and trouble. 

This one dollar bill joins other one dollar bills to create a stream that goes to Indiana District offices in Fort Wayne. Some of those dollars goes to our international offices in St. Louis to do the work of the national church.  Let’s say this one stays in Indiana and helps Tom Going as he brings Christ to Japanese Lutherans at Trinity Lutheran in Indianapolis. 

This dollar supports a teacher in our school who teaches about the gift of baptism God gives in Christ and causes one of the children to say, “I want to be baptized too.”

Another dollar goes to help people in need such as Virginia and Bob, a couple our congregation helped in the flood last year, she wrote: “…you helped us…we would not have had a home to come back to if not for the selfless generosity of…your church members.  ‘Thank you’ are two…little words, but they are all we have.”  Two little words like…two little copper coins. 

Another dollar goes to support our radio ministry so those unable to come to church because of age and infirmities will hear the words of hope. 

Another dollar buys salt.  That may not sound too impressive, but it’s the salt we use to spread on the sidewalks in the winter which melt the ice and snow.  It means that a gray haired widow who is not too steady on her feet is confident that the sidewalk at St. Paul’s will be clear for her to come and worship her Lord and be strengthen through her life’s trials. 

This dollar was given to help a student in our school attend even though his or her parents are having a tough time paying for tuition.  This student is taught the love of God’s larger family. 

This dollar helps our mission team go to Alaska to share Jesus with native children so they might know the Savior.  The team told us that after a year when they return they are shown some of the graves of the children who didn’t make it through the winter.  How urgent it is to share the words of eternal life. 

This dollar goes to help men who have lost hope because of circumstances and bad life choices, but now can know Jesus as their Savior and have hope in the future at The Breach Ministry in Gary. 

Finally, this dollar goes to buy books so adults who join our congregation might know Jesus better and join us in serving the Lord. 

That’s a lot of powerful things for just a few dollar bills.  The power is not in the money itself, just as it was not in the two copper coins, but in the grace of God at work in the hearts of God’s people.

The Challenge

                Here’s the challenge as I see it.  Times are tough.  More and more people need the grace of God in their lives.  What is our response?  We could take all God has given us, dig a hole, so to speak, and think we can bury it and keep it safe.  When God asks us for an account, we could proudly show him exactly what he gave us, preserved and safe, because we risked nothing and believed nothing.  Or we can be emboldened by God’s grace, see the many needs of ministry here at St. Paul’s, the wonderful opportunity and the honor God has given us to work with Him to do his will and further the Kingdom of God.  We can boldly go and use God’s gifts to us so we might accomplish His will and risk it to do the ministry He has called us to do, so that on the day of reckoning we might hear, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”  If grace is our foundation, I know what we will do in St. Paul’s.  Amen.  

SDG