Pocket Change
Text: Mark 12:41-44
41And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. 42A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. 43Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; 44for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on."
Jesus was interested in giving and in money. He wasn’t obsessed with money, but understood the importance and necessity of money for everyday life. He sits here and watches as people give their offering. There were all kinds of offerings given. Large and small in amount. Then a woman steps up throws in two mites. There wasn’t much about this offering that should have caught Jesus’ attention or anyone else’s for that matter. This woman gave the smallest amount possible. The coins she placed in the offering were copper. The type of coin doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal except that it was almost a social obligation to give a silver coin at church collections. Only the very poor could get away with giving a copper coin and only the desperately poor would give a copper coin as small as what she gave. According to Jesus she gave everything she owned. This sacrifice caught the attention of Jesus!
This woman’s story stand in stark contrast to the story of the young man we call the Rich Young Ruler found in Matthew 19:16-22.
Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” Jesus said, “Why do you question me about what’s good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you.” The man asked, “What in particular?” Jesus said, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself.” The young man said, “I’ve done all that. What’s left?” “If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.” That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go.
What was the difference in these two individuals? Why could the poor woman give all she had, mere pocket change, while the rich young man could not bear to give up his great riches? Two stories. Two completely different views or outlooks on money!
I believe that most of us as American Christians fall into one of these stories. Most of us do not have a correct view of money. We can see this incorrect view of money when we discover that:
1. 1 billion people live on less than $1 a day . . . the average American lives on $97 a day. Christians are represented in this amount. We are called to think more about others than ourselves and yet we live on 9 times as much as those in need and we want more.
2. About 40% of Americans worry about money. Even though we are instructed in Matthew 6:25-27 not to worry.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
In 2007, 84% of U.S. adults donated money to churches or non-profit organizations, but only 5% of adults tithed.
There certainly needs to be a pocket change and in order for that to happen we must first have a correct view of money. We need a pocket change.
How should we view what is in our pocket?
From these two accounts we learn there are several ways to view money.
A. Money is a Gift.
When we begin to think about money and deal with money we must have a correct view like the woman did that money is a gift from God and we have it or don’t have it based on His generosity. We must sincerely believe that every good and perfect gift comes from God. We must understand that we work for wages and according to Scripture we give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wage. But we must also know that our employer is not our source. Our source is God and as long as we understand that He is our supplier we will have a correct view of money. We must do more than read Matthew 6:33 we must live it.
Matthew 6:33 says: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (food, clothes, etc) will be added unto you."
Our attention is not on the gift, but the giver. We steward the gift. We give thanks for the gift. We let it go easily and then we trust God with the outcome. We comprehend that a gift received leads to a gift given so we dig deep and give even more than we are obligated to give and even more than some think we should.
This little lady threw in what most of that day would have considered to be pocket change. But what really stands out is that this woman was only obligated to give one coin! She went one step further and demonstrated a pocket change and out of her need she gave 2 coins. She knew that what she had was a gift! What is in your pocket has been placed there by God as a gift to you. You now required to steward that gift.
B. Money as God.
The rich young ruler shows us is that it is possible to view money as our God. We can become obsessed by it. He is described as a young man who was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go.
Money becomes our God when we can’t let it go. What is holding you? What possesses you? Do we hold stuff or does stuff hold us?
Luke 12:15
Then He said to them, Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.
We need a pocket change when we hold onto it tighter than we hold onto God, our call, our command.
Money and material possessions are, in fact, among the things we cherish most deeply. We readily admit our attachment. When asked how important "having a beautiful home, a new car, and other nice things" was to them, for example, 78 percent of the people surveyed said "very important" or "fairly important," while only 22 percent said "not very important."
When we view money as a status symbol rather than a gift we are in trouble. When we would rather take our chances with God rather than having to part ways with it it has become an object of worship.
I am reminded of the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Remember them? They sold a piece of property and then in an attempt to gain status they put on an offering show and said they had given everything. They were only obligated to bring a tithe, but instead they bragged about giving everything. They took a chance with God and lost. Remember they were killed on the spot.
I wonder how many of us on a weekly basis play Russian Roulette with God. God I know you have asked me to bring 10% to you, but here is a tip to hold you over. God I need this money worse than you do. I have things I need to get. And we come in each week and think we escape detection. I wonder how many of us are struck dead financially, emotionally, spiritually because we haven’t had a pocket change?
Money is a gift! It is not God. It doesn’t deserve our allegiance and it can’t satisfy our soul. It can however, destroy our soul if we are not careful.
Ecclesiastes 5:10:
Whoever loves money will never have enough money; Whoever loves wealth will not be satisfied with it. This is also useless.
C. Money is a tool.
We need to have a correct view of money and understand that money is simply a tool! God places money in our hands as a means to an end. David understood this. He collects a huge fortune from the people. He has the right as the king to use that money for anything he desires. But you soon understand that David knew that the wealth was nothing more than a tool to establish God’s temple. Hear the understanding he has in 1 Chronicles 22. “14With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord one hundred thousand talents of gold (3,775 tons), one million talents (37,750 tons) of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone too I have provided. To these you must add more.”
He could have set back and lived it up. He could have played one ton for you two tons for me much like we do, but he knew that the money was simply a tool.
Our money is nothing more than a tool. That tool is to be used to live and to love. It is a tool that allows us the opportunity to expand His kingdom on earth. I am not talking merely a local church. I am also talking about using the gift of money that God has given us to expand His kingdom daily. We do this by acts of kindness, by supporting the spread of the gospel, and by assisting those who are less fortunate than us.
When we think about money we should view it as nothing more than a green hammer or screwdriver. We are building with it. We don’t put it in a tool box, but that is what it is. In the end, whether or not we really view money correctly will be determined by what we build and leave behind. Money allows us to construct a better life for ourselves and for others!
We must have a pocket change and begin to see money as a tool rather than a yardstick! If we don’t see money as a tool we will spend it carelessly and will have nothing to show for our labor. However, when we begin to see it as a tool we will build with it!
That is how Jesus thought about money. His attitude is revealed when he sent his disciples to the lake to get the coin out of the fish’s mouth to pay taxes. It was merely a tool. It wasn’t the goal or god of his life. He espoused the view that "We make ourselves rich by making our wants few." Don’t give thought to what you will wear, where you will sleep, what you will eat.
C. Money is a thermometer.
Money is an indication of our relationship with others.
I like what one man said, “Money doesn’t change you; it reveals who you are when you no longer have to be nice.” Money is nothing more than a thermometer that reveals how much you care about people. If all of your money is spent on you then you don’t care about other people. If all of your money is spent on things then you don’t care about people. It is thermometer. Money doesn’t make you care about people it simply reveals whether you do or not.
We understand that concept and most of us probably don’t have a problem with that thought. Yet, we get nervous when we take that thought to its next logical step and say that money is also an indication of our relationship with God.
From the accounts that I read to you we discover that pocket change begins with or originates from a heart change. Our heart must change to help us have a correct view of money.
Jesus understood the connection between our heart and our pocket. He said, in Mark 6:21 that where your treasure is there your heart will be also!
Another way to say that is if He doesn’t have our treasure then He doesn’t fully have our heart.
The widows mite was pocket change. It didn’t amount to much and wouldn’t be noticed, missed or acknowledged. But her pocket change was caused by a heart change! That is what caught Jesus’ attention! She had a correct view of money which then filtered over to a correct view of God! She loved God more than she loved her money.
When you really stop to think about it 10% is pocket change. Yet, that 10% , and our willingness to either obey or choice not to obey, gives us a very clear picture and insight into how much we love, trust, and serve God. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t tithe that I can say has a really strong relationship with God. Usually those folks are wishy washy, up and down, sporadic at best, and fringe folks.
And yet most of us never seem to make the connection between our view of and relationship with money to our view of and relationship with God.
Most of us never connect the two. 68 percent in a recent survey agreed that "money is one thing, morals and values are completely separate." In fact, most people seldom think about connections between faith and money. In a survey of Americans fifty-one percent agree that "the Bible contains valuable teachings about the use of money" But agreement is one thing; making use of these teachings is another. Only 29 percent said they had thought more than a little in the past year about "what the Bible teaches about money," and only a few more (31 percent) had thought about the broader issue of "the connection between religious values and your personal finances."
We don’t like to admit it, but how we handle our pocket change is a clear and concise picture of our heart! In one instant Jesus reveals the young man’s heart.
I am asking God to expose our hearts this morning as well. It is one thing to say, “God let me follow you. Let me be used by you. Let me touch people for you. Let my life matter. Let my life count.” And it is something totally different to say, “God here is everything I have. It is yours. It if it means digging into my pocket weekly and giving you what is Yours I will do it. If it means selling everything and moving I will do it.” That is a different kind of life. You know what kind of life that is? It is the life of a disciple!
I can tell how most folks are doing spiritually without ever really talking to you or dealing with you around the altar. All I have to do is observe how you handle money, whether you hold it or it holds you, and whether or not you give obediently. I know you can fake it. It is possible to throw money up as a smoke screen, much like Ananias and Sapphira, to convince folks you are a giant spiritually. I don’t worry too much about that because that type of person is usually exposed by how they treat people. Their treatment of people belies their commitment to God. So I know there are exceptions, but most of the time a true litmus test for our heart is to look at our pocket.
My prayer today is that you will experience a heart change that will produce a pocket change. That money will be viewed as a gift and a tool rather than a god or a goal. That your commitment and desire for God’s presence in your life will be apparent by how you handle your pocket change!
Ask you the question, “What does your pocket reveal about your heart?”
