Generosity in Poverty

The story of the widow’s mite is one of the best-known stories in the New Testament. The passage just prior to this concerns Jesus’ rebuke to priests who are “devouring widow’s homes.” Jesus was concerned about a religious institution that had become more consumed by its own survival than the needs of the most vulnerable, namely widows and orphans. And yet, this needy woman is seen here in the temple giving everything she had. Others were giving out of their excess. She was giving out of her poverty. Her gift was amazing to Jesus. It was a gift of radical generosity. Its remembered because it looks similar to the gift that Jesus will give on Good Friday at Golgatha. The next passage talks about the destruction of the temple. The context of this story reminds me that when the church is more concerned with its own maintenance and survival than it is with the poor and needy, it is not sustainable! When we seek to maintain the institution rather than build up the kingdom, we are on thin ice!

• What does it mean to give sacrificially?
• Romans 12 speaks of making your life a living sacrifice. What does that mean to you?
• How do you live sacrificially in terms of your stewardship?
• How can we live in such a way that we become a living sacrifice?