Giving
Mark 12:41-44
All Scripture Marked NKJV: The New King James Version. 1996, c1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
All Scripture Marked NLT: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997,Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.
This week all the celebrity gossip surrounded a 14 year old girl from Palm Dessert California. The story broke on Thursday, and this morning the buzz on the internet is high. Yahoo! Buzz index marks her mother and the little girl first and second on their top movers for searches with an increase of 750%.
The little girl’s name is Jazmin Grace. She is the newly acknowledged daughter of Prince Albert of Monaco. The name Grace is a tribute to Albert’s mother, the late Princess Grace or we know her as Grace Kelly.
Her mother was a waitress when she went on vacation in the south of France. This is where she met and had a relationship with Prince Albert in 1991, and Jasmin was born in California in 1992.
Jasmin will not in line for the throne, but her marketability has definitely gone up. The results of this announcement will change her way of life forever. (news.google.com)
How would like to wake up one day to find out that your father or mother are a monarch or even a celebrity?
What could you do with all that money? What difference would it make on your daily life?
What would you give to others? Would it make a difference in your giving to the church or to God?
If your first reaction is to say that you would finally be able to give, becoming suddenly rich would not change anything at all.
If your reaction is to say yes, you could finally give more, becoming rich likewise would not make any difference in your giving.
That is because giving is not at all about the amount of your possessions you give away. Giving is about the amount of your heart that you give away.
Look with me at Mark 12: 41-44, found on page 897 in the Red Bibles under your chair.
41 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. 42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. 43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” (Mk 12:41-44, NKJV)
Giving is one of those tough topics of the Bible—but one of my favorites, because it frees us of so much when you and I are obedient to God’s command. It is also enjoyable because I truly dislike asking for money and I have a forum here that I can talk about giving freely.
The Army pays me; I will not get a dime of your money from Church funds. Asking you to give to the chapel gives me no financially gain. I’m preaching about it because I believe that it is an important part of the Christian like.
We are in a series of sermons called “From the Heart”, and this is one of those areas that is truly from the depth of my heart, as I believe it was of Jesus.
Looking at the story we see
1. Jesus observes our giving.
Verse 41;
41 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. (Mk 12:41)
Jesus walked over and sat down to watch the people as they gave in the treasury. He knew their hearts and he knew their motives. The key to this verse, however, is the fact that Jesus took the time to specifically sit and watch.
Giving is important to him.
One thing I don’t want you to take away for here is that Jesus is like a vulcher
waiting to rip you apart. I don’t see Jesus sitting there being the judge of our offerings—that is for another time and place for that.
I see Him simply interested it in what is going on.
I have been reading some personal blogs on the internet lately. I do this, one because it helps me understand trends that are out there and two because they allows me to see the process of the human mind over a period of time—especially if you go all the way back to the begging of the blog. One, I am reading begins in 2002 and has over 1600 entries.
But mainly, I read them because they tell an interesting story of life. Too me, they are interesting.
I think Jesus was the same way about giving in this story. I think that it was interesting to him to sit and observe the coming and going of the people.
It is important to Jesus that we are giving.
My pastor, Mike Hamlet says that there are two ways to outwardly determine someone’s priorities. You look at the person’s datebook and the person’s checkbook.
We talked before about how precious our time is. We must use it wisely. What you do with your time is an important indicator of where your priorities are. You will always find the time to do what is most important to you.
The same with your checkbook. You pay for what is important to you. We make sure our families are taken care of. We make sure we have the latest entertainment. But do we make giving a true priority?
Jesus finds giving important, and he stops and observes.
2. Jesus sees our Grandstanding.
Verse 41 again;
41 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. (Mk 12:41)
I picture the people walking over not being showy about it, but definitely proud of themselves—putting a lot of money in the box. They feel very good about themselves.
In verse 44 Jesus says;
44 for they all put in out of their abundance, (Mk 12:44a, NKJV)
The New Living Translation translates
44 For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, (Mk 12:44a, NLT)
He know that they could give much more financially. He knew who these people are. He knows all about there finances. He knows every bill, allotment, and investment they have—still he sees that they are giving a tiny part of the surplus.
He didn’t buy it.
Richard Kudlik looked the part of a US Marshal. He had the badge, the jacket, and the flashing lights on his truck. The problem was, he didn’t have the job. This past month a former of girlfriend led the real US Marshals to arrest him.
His former girlfriend, Pamela Brown, met him through a friend and had a growing romance when she received an anonymous email stating that “the man (she) was dating was not who he said he was.” After some digging, she located his wife of 17 years, and then other girls who had been lied to over the internet and elsewhere.
He was just putting on a show.
Jesus saw the show the rich were putting right in front of him. He wasn’t impressed.
They were placing in tiny amounts of their surplus acting like it was a big deal. It wasn’t.
How many times do we fake our giving by simply putting in a larger amount than anyone else, just to prove our faithfulness to others?
We may be helping the church financially, because God blesses even our smallest attempts, but are not necessarily helping ourselves when we grandstand for our own glory and our own position.
If we are not giving for the right reasons, it is fake—impersonating a true giver.
We need to be authentic in our giving. We need to be giving for the right reasons if we are going to give at all.
Which leads to the next and final point.
Jesus doesn’t need our money. This whole conversation and this whole idea of giving has nothing to do with our money. To God—it but worthless paper.
Jesus doesn’t need or want our money.
3. Jesus wants our Hearts.
Verse 42;
42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.
Out of all the givers that day, there was one who did impress Jesus.
As he observed, He became a little excited to see this women give her two mites worth.
Verse 43;
43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” (Mk 12:42-44, NKJV)
All of the rich that passed by him did not impress him—but this poor widow—the one that the others should be caring for—the one that the others probably looked down on—the one that slipped by the fashion police on the way in—she was the one who impresses Jesus. Because she gave all that she had.
The perspective is not about how much total price tag—but how much of ourselves are going to allow risking ourselves in giving. Have you ever come to a point in your life that you have truly sacrificed financially for God?
There are some promises when we are obedient in every area of our lives and this is no different. But, what if there were absolutely no promises. What if God just said give? Does it matter whether we are going to be blessed or not? God created us—Christ died to pay the penalty of death, so that we can live with God forever—He gave us the jobs that we have—Hasn’t already done enough for us already?
If we expect a return on out investment—is it truly a sacrifice?
Obviously, we have money so that our needs can be met. Jesus blesses us with our paychecks so that we can take care of ourselves. But, Jesus desires that we give all that we have of our hearts to Him. We hold so much back…we put a price tag on everything, but he gave his life for us.
It is not about the price tag, it is about giving everything to Him to let Him use it in the way that He sees fit—to use us as we let go of the straight jackets of this world to go and truly do good things for Him.
When I think of this widow, I think of the American Great Depression. We don’t have a clue what it was like then. Entire cities went bankrupt and were unemployed. Millions were without work, without the basics of life.
Many of us have barely even heard stories of the trials that people went through during this time.
In the Great depression, one of the most famous pictures of this time is a picture of a migrant mother. The picture was take by Dorothea Lange in 1936. The picture is of a 32 year old woman who was living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. (http://www.english.uiuc.edu/MAPS/depression/photoessay.htm)
I look at this woman and I see her bring her two pennies into the courtyard and drop then in the bucket. It isn’t about the money—it is about the heart.
Many times we talk about accepting Jesus into our hearts. This is simply believing in Him and giving Him authority over your life—surrendering to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and seeking to follow the teachings of the scriptures.
All of us are sinners. We have all done things to make God unhappy. The Bile teaches that the payment or punishment of this sin is death.
Jesus sacrificed his life for us—to pay our penalty for us. We simply accept this payment and accept him to come into our hearts. That is where it starts.
Tonight, you have an opportunity to do just that right where you are sitting you can ask Him to come in.
After the service, I will be down here at the front and would love to talk about your decision to accept him.
