Perhaps there is a line of people getting ready to enter the temple for worship. The line leads to a small square room lined with metal collection boxes. The boxes have metal horns extending out of them so the giver can walk by these boxes and drop their coins in these long horns that lead to the these metal boxes. As you can imagine, the coins make a constant clanging noise as they are cast into the receptacles.
Most of the people shuffling along, quickly make their donation, and move on. But one person, who has already given His offering, stands over in the corner with His disciples.
WHAT IS HE DOING IN THE CORNER?
Verse 41 tells us, “And Jesus sat over against the treasury, AND BEHELD HOW THE PEOPLE CAST MONEY into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.”
He saw that many were rich and they were casting their coins in the metal boxes that made a very loud noise. Naturally, the bigger the coin the more noise it made.
Of course, also in the room, supervising the money boxes, are several priests. As the wealthy citizens pass by and make loud clanging noises by virtue of their many coins, no doubt, the priest would smile and say, “Thank you brother!”
Many seem quite impressed at the generosity of those who cast an abundance of big, heavy coins into the boxes. It is no surprise that no one pays particular attention to one frail, little widow who enters the room.
• But while no one paid her any attention, the Lord, standing over in the corner, noticed her. She stood out in that crowd like a fly in a glass of buttermilk.
• She stops at the collection box. Perhaps she then reaches into a pocket and carefully draws out 2 rather insignificant coins. (mites, were the smallest currency used by the Romans). She tosses both of these lightweight coins into the big metal box and they were so small that you could barely hear them when they landed in the metal boxes.
But while others paid her no attention, the Lord’s eyes were glued on her. He was impressed.
He is so impressed that he singles this woman out :
• He said that her offering was more important than the offering of the rich
• He recognizes her seemingly uneventful giving by telling the disciples, and by having this episode permanently recorded both in the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke, insuring HER a place in history!
Out of all those who attended the temple that morning, she got the Lord’s attention in a greater way than any other.
Have you ever heard someone say, “The devil never misses a church service.” This is true. Any time God’s people gather to worship the Lord, you can rest assured the devil is somewhere nearby, trying to keep that from happening.
But while we recognize that the devil never misses a church service, we need to also recognize that the Lord never misses a church service.
Illus: Did you hear about the student that graduated with perfect attendance? In 1991, Jessica Tyser started preschool at Wood County Head Start. On Wednesday, about 2,500 school days later, Jessica will have finished her last day as a senior at Marshfield High School, without missing a day in between.
It is a tremendous achievement when a pitcher can pitch a no hitter. It is a tremendous achievement when a student can take a test and score one hundred. But listen, it is a tremendous achievement when a person can have perfect attendance for so many years.
The Lord has perfect attendance. He is here every time the doors are open and we have come to worship Him.
WHAT IS HE DOING WHEN HE IS HERE? The Bible tells us in a very descriptive lesson.
Notice, when the Lord was in this church service, He was WATCHING the people.
I believe every time we meet, the Lord looks across the congregation and He sees:
• Some did not come, because they put other things ahead of Him. If you were to ask them why they did not attend, they would come up with a good excuse. BUT THE LORD KNOWS THE REAL REASON WHY THEY DID NOT COME
• Some did not come to worship the Lord; their mind is in other places
• Some will not even so much as open their mouth and sing praises unto Him
• Some use the time at church to sleep
Every time we come to church, the Lord is here and He is observing us.
Notice, in this particular church, He is watching the folks as they give their offerings unto the Lord.
WHY IS HE WATCHING THIS?
Did you ever hear the old expression, “Money talks”. It really does! One man said, he knew money talks because his money is constantly saying, “Goodbye!”
But money talks in other ways also.
Illus: A crusty old man walks into a bank and says to the teller at the window,
• "I want to open a checking account and want to do it now!"
• The astonished teller said, "I beg your pardon, sir; I must have misunderstood you. What did you say?"
• "Listen up, are you hard of hearing. I said I want to open a checking account right now!"
• "I'm very sorry sir, but we do not tolerate that kind of behavior in this bank." Having said this, the teller leaves the window and goes over to the bank manager to tell him about her situation.
• They both return, and the manager asks the old geezer, "What seems to be the problem here?"
• "There's no problem," the man says. "I just won 50 million bucks in the lottery and I want to open a checking account in this bank!"
• The manager said, "I see, and this witch is giving you a hard time?"
As the Lord is observing this worship service, this passage of scripture revolves around what the widow’s mite said about her. The Lord was impressed with her.
God is not impressed with what impresses mankind. For example:
• God isn’t interested in the quantity of our finances, friends or family
• This church’s size, sanctuary or staff doesn’t impress him
Out of this large gathering, this one little old widow impressed Him.
We need to look at her life so we can see how our life can impress the Lord.
We see that -
I. HE WAS IMPRESSED WITH HER DESIRE TO GIVE
It never ceases to amaze me that many people say, “Preacher, if I win that 10 million dollar lottery, I will tithe 10 per cent to the church.”
Listen, they are willing to tithe on 10 million, but they are not willing to tithe on one hundred dollars! I have a sneaky feeling that if they won 10 million, they would not tithe on that either.
There were some things Jesus knew about her because of her physical appearance.
• She did not have very much in the line of worldly possessions, you could tell that from her appearance.
• She was likely dressed like a poor person wearing a frayed robe and worn out sandals.
• She was alone, and perhaps looked lonely, which would provide a good guess that she was a widow.
But HOW did Jesus know that the 2 mites she gave were all that she had?
I’LL TELL YOU HOW JESUS KNEW ABOUT HER!
Jesus is Omniscient! He knows everything there is to be known of us. EVERYTHING!
It was no big deal for Jesus to have supernatural knowledge about this woman. He has done this before. (See John 4, the Samaritan woman from Sychar)
And NOT ONLY did Jesus know this woman’s circumstances, He KNEW HER HEART!
THE LORD STILL KNOWS THINGS ABOUT US THAT NOBODY ELSE KNOWS!
• Are you suffering emotionally today? Jesus knows!
• Are you burdened with worries and concerns? Jesus knows!
• Are you going through a financial, physical, emotional or spiritual crisis? Jesus knows!
That’s a sobering thought, isn’t it? Jesus not only knows about our external acts, but He knows what is going on in our hearts!
That is why He ignored the pompous, glory seeking hypocrites but noticed the poor widow lady.
Illus: Song-
“Jesus knows all about our struggles.
He will work till the day is done.
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus.
No not one! No not one!”
This woman could have taken a good look at all the rich and said to herself, “I can not drop a large coin in the plate so I am not going to give.” But instead, she gave what she had to give.
We see that HE WAS IMPRESSED WITH HER DESIRE TO GIVE and -
II. HE WAS IMPRESSED WITH HOW SHE GAVE
This passage of Scripture is no doubt used often as a springboard for the topic of “GIVING”. But I think it goes WAY BEYOND that!
Did you know that technically, this woman didn’t even have to be present in the Temple. She didn’t have to tithe! She only had 2 cents!
So why was the woman there? That is where her attitude comes into play.
SHE BELIEVED IN GOD’S WORK!
You see, a person might not be able to teach a Sunday School Class, but the fact is, if they love the Lord, they can do something. And to the Lord, doing that little something is just as important as doing some great thing in the eyes of man.
This woman truly WANTED TO GIVE, even if it didn’t matter to anyone else.
The Lord was impressed because she had a GOOD ATTITUDE. She wanted to do something to advance the work of God.
Also, notice she did what she did FOR THE LORD, NOT TO IMPRESS OTHERS. She quietly and cheerfully sacrificed her whole living, and didn’t tell a soul!
We see that HE WAS IMPRESSED WITH HER DESIRE TO GIVE and HE WAS IMPRESSED WITH HOW SHE GAVE!
Conclusion:
This widow really impressed the Lord. She apparently had no one else to help her in life.
• Her husband was dead. We don’t know for how long, but she was left destitute.
• We must assume that she had no other relatives, because the Levitical Law would have called on them to support her.
• She was all alone. She was by herself. She wasn’t even with a friend!
And think about what those 2 little coins represented to this widow!
To a wealthy person, 2 mites were like pennies are to most of us. YET, to this woman, those 2 coins were the sum total of her livelihood! They were her last meal! They were absolutely all that she owned!
But something incredible happened when this poor widow gave her all. SHE THEN BECAME TOTALLY, ABSOLUTELY DEPENDENT UPON GOD!
Will you give your all and depend on God for your supply?
Give the Lord . . .
• Your Time
• Your Talents
• Your Tithes
We see that . . .
I. HE WAS IMPRESSED WITH HER DESIRE TO GIVE
II. HE WAS IMPRESSED WITH HOW SHE GAVE
