Sacrificial Giving

INTRODUCTION (SECURE ATTENTION) & BACKGROUND OF THE PASSAGE:

PRAY before starting the sermon.

ILLUSTRATION: {There is an old story about a king that was coming to visit a certain land.

The people in the land were so excited that a king would grace their little village with his presence.

They wanted to find a way to honor him and decided to do so by giving him the best of their wine.

Every person was to bring one cup of their best wine from home and they would all put it in one big pot, and when the king came he would taste the best wine from all the people.

One person thought if everyone else is bringing their best then I could bring water, it won’t make a bit of difference with hundreds of others bringing their best.

When the king arrived and tasted the wine, he discovered that it was all water.

The king was not honored.}

How is your giving?

Do you give the best wine to the Lord or do you give mere water to him?

If you just give water, the King of kings will not be honored.

Today’s text talks about a poor widow who gave her best; in fact, she gave all that she had!

Would you take God’s Word and turn your Bibles with me to MARK 12:41-44 (READ)?

I have entitled today’s sermon as: “SACRIFICIAL GIVING.”

In the passage that we read today, we see that:

CENTRAL PROPOSITION OF THE TEXT: Jesus assesses our giving by watching how and what we give.

FALLEN CONDITION FOCUS: Already dealt with.

As Jesus went to the temple, be began condemning the religious authorities for making the Father’s Temple a den or robbers.

However, he ends his visit to the Temple by commending a poor widow.

It’s an amazing contrast between the greed of the religious leaders and the sacrificial generosity of this poor widow.

This story also points to Jesus, who gave his all (his very life) to save sinners.

Though this widow’s sacrifice needs to be commended, we must also lament the fact that she gave sacrificially to the “den of robbers.”

She gives to the religious system which actually exploited her.

The religious leaders devoured these poor people and lived a life of luxury with their sacrificial offerings.

The victims were giving to their oppressors.

The temple couldn’t really help the poor and the oppressed as it became a “den of robbers.”

This story presents the need for Jesus, who is the real temple.

The temple in Jerusalem was a mere shadow of Jesus.

We don’t need a grand and expensive temple in Jerusalem because Jesus himself is the temple.

As the followers of Jesus, our focus must be on people rather than the rituals and the grand temple in Jerusalem.

Read 1 Timothy 5:16.

Read James 1:27.

However, the story of the poor widow teaches us important lessons about sacrificial giving.

THE PURPOSE BRIDGE: To challenge the members of EAGC to give sacrificially.

CENTRAL PROPOSITION OF THE SERMON: I have used inductive proposition for this sermon.

I. JESUS WATCHES US AS WE GIVE.

Refer Mark 12:41-42.

Read Mark 12:41.

Jesus sat down opposite the treasury.

Probably he was tired after all the opposition he had to encounter.

The treasury was around the court of the women where men and women were allowed to go.

There were 13 trumpet-shaped boxes that served as the treasury.

People could bring in their offerings and drop them in one of these 13 offering boxes.

Jesus literally kept watching (imperfect tense in Greek) the people putting money.

A. Many rich put in a large amount of money.

Read Mark 12:41.

Many rich people gave huge sums of money.

As they gave huge sums of money, their offerings probably made a loud clanging symbol because the entryway of the offering boxes was made of metal.

They didn’t have paper currency in those days.

The rich gave a lot of money.

But the rich continued to remain rich even after giving a sizeable offering.

They gave out of their abundance.

B. A poor widow gave two small copper coins.

Read Mark 12:42.

However, the poor widow’s offering was not loud enough.

She was not just a widow, but a “poor widow.”

Probably, she was one of the widows who was devoured by the scribes (refer Mark 12:40).

She gave two small copper coins (Greek: lepta), which was equal to a penny (Greek: kodrantes), which is 1/64th of a day’s wages of a laborer.

In fact, the Greek word ‘lepta’ means ‘a tiny thing.’

It was the smallest coin available in circulation.

If the average wage of a person in Rs. 500, 1/64th of it would be about 8 rupees.

This poor widow could have kept one copper coin.

But she gave everything she had.