MARK 12:41-44 "COMMITMENT TO REAL GIVING"
A) This is a touching story with a powerful message that is often ignored! * It is a story:
* That shows how God’s heart reaches out to those in need .......
* He reaches out in tenderness, and compassion, and love!
* It’s a story that shows how much devotion and commitment and boldness mean to Him!
* It’s a story that shows how deeply God is moved by those who give all they are and have to Him!
* Compare this story to the one in Mark 10:17-22, the rich young ruler .......
* This is a story that shows what real giving is!
B) In v.41 of our text, Jesus observed some people giving!
* Following all the plotting and argument in the Court of the Gentiles, (Mark 11:27-12:40),
* Jesus walked into the Court of the Women, over by the treasury.
* The treasury was an area in which there were 13 trumpet shaped collection boxes where the
worshippers dropped their offerings.
* He sat down, apparently all alone, to get some relief and rest from the tension of the past hours.
C) While resting, He "beheld how the people cast money into the treasury."
* The word "beheld" means He was deliberately observing, discerning the motives of the people
as they made their offerings! * He saw many walk by and drop in sizable offerings!
* Some were apparently quite large contributions!
* He could see the handfuls of coins and hear them clang against the sides as they slid down the
funnel shaped trumpets. * But none attracted His admiration!
* Finally, a poor widow came along and threw in two mites, which were the smallest of coins,
coins of little value! * Christ took what He saw and taught what true giving really is!
(1) REAL GIVING IS SACRIFICIAL GIVING - V.42! * "And there came a certain poor widow."
* The word "poor," means pauper! * She was not just poor, she was destitute, in deep poverty!
* No doubt, her poor dress and plain appearance showed her desperate plight!
* The coins were all she had, yet she gave them despite her own desperate need!
A) Now, note the point: What she gave was a sacrifice!
* What the others gave was not a sacrifice! * It did not cost them nor hurt them!
* They still had plenty left, for they gave only what they could spare!
* But not the widow ... Her gift cost her ... It hurt to give, for she gave what she could not spare!
* She gave what Christ called a sacrificial gift! * She sacrificed!
* She went without a meal, or gave up something else so that she could give!
B) There is a great difference between giving what one can spare and giving sacrificially!
* I’m talking about actually giving up something in order to give!
* Sacrificial giving is giving when it hurts, when a person has nothing left, nothing to spare!
* The difference needs to be stressed ... for God expects sacrificial giving!
* If the world and its desperate needs are ever to be reached for Christ, then every believer must
give sacrificially!
(2) REAL GIVING IS MEASURED BY HOW MUCH A PERSON HAS LEFT, NOT BY HOW
MUCH A PERSON GIVES - V.43! * "This poor widow hath cast more in, than all they ......."
* Jesus called His disciples to Him and used the great sacrifice that the widow made to teach us
a much needed lesson! * Note several facts:
A) They all gave an offering to God!
* Both the people, (v.41) who had, and the poor widow who did not have!
* The ones who had plenty gave more money, much more than the widow!
* Their contributions were generous ... Their incomes were dazzling, so their offerings were large!
* But in God’s eyes, the widow gave more! Why?
* Because God measures what was kept, not what was given!
B) The widow had less remaining, the others still had much!
* The widow had given more of what she had, the others had given less of what they had!
* The widow had sacrificed more, the others had sacrificed less!
* In proportion to what she had, the widow gave a larger percent!
* The others gave a much smaller percent!
* After they had given, they still had 85% or 90% or 95% to spend on themselves!
C) This is the lesson Jesus was teaching ... a critical lesson!
* God counts what we have left, not what we give!
* He counts the amount of sacrifice, not the amount of money!
* The gift that matters is the gift that costs the giver to give!
* To the Heavenly Father, it is not the size of the gift that impresses Him, but the sacrifice the giver
had to make in order to give the gift!
(3) REAL GIVING SEEKS TO HAVE A NEED MET - V.44!
* Note the words, "But she of her want (out of her need) did cast in all that she had, even all ..."
A) She had great need for food, clothing, and shelter!
* She had so little ... She was the kind of person who would have had to wander about seeking
odd jobs just to survive in a depressed economy!
* Looking at her, a person could tell she never knew where her next meal was coming from!
* She had no one to care for her and no one to help her!
* The weight of the world seemed to lie upon her shoulders!
B) There was no man who cared or expressed care!
* This was evident in her appearance, but she knew something!
* Men may not care, but God cares, so she came to God for help!
* And what she did is a crucial lesson for men to learn!
C) She took her need and gave it to God!
* Her need was financial, so she took what money she had, and gave it all to God!
* She simply said, "God, I have need, the need for money. I don’t even have enough money to
buy food. If I am to eat, You have to provide somehow, some way."
* "I have worked as hard as I can at the jobs I have been able to find. Here is all I have. Take it
and use it for Your kingdom. Please now, You take care of me!"
D) She knew the great principle that God will take care of those who give all they are and have
to Him!
* She knew that if she was to be assured of God’s care, she had to give all to God!
* If she gave all, God would not deny her anything!
* He would provide all the necessities of life - Matt.6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of ......."
* She took her need and all that was involved in it and gave it to God
* She sought God to meet her need by giving all that she had to God!
E) Note something else: Two needs are present and being met!
* One: God’s temple (church) had need, and the widow, though poor, gave to help carry on the
ministry of God!
* Two: The poor widow had need, so she gave, believing God would see to it that she had food,
clothing, and shelter!
* Luke 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together,
and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete
withal it shall be measured to you again."
* Prov.11:25 "The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also
himself." * God assures us of blessings in our giving!
(4) LAST: REAL GIVING IS GIVING ALL A PERSON HAS - V.44!
* "But she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."
* Just imagine ... She gave her living ... Not just part, not just a sacrifice ... But ALL!
A) She could have easily said what so many often feel!
* "My gift doesn’t matter. It is so little." * "I have so little. God will understand. He doesn’t expect
me to give it when I can’t even buy food." * Friend, there is no excuse for not giving!
* Then why is it that people are not willing to give?
B) Because we lack devotion and dedication in our commitment to God!
* Whether it’s commitment of life, time, gifts, or money!
* If you are not willing to give to the work of the ministry, to keep the work of God going,
* Then you are not committed to God as you ought to be!
* How can you say, "I love God with all my heart," and not give to His work?
* Something is wrong, and I believe you know what it is!
C) Come to Jesus today and have a good talk with Him!
