Luke Chapter 21
By Pastor Neil
Reflections on Luke Chapter 21
In Chapter 21 of his Gospel, Luke includes a wonderful little story. Perhaps it is because of our curiosity about the unknown future that we are tempted to race past this little story of the poor widow and immerse ourselves in the longer teaching in the chapter about the signs of the end of the age. We join with the millions of Christians across the years who love to speculate about the future and make and remake our interpretations of the signs of the end of the age. But for today, I want to just stop and think again about this little story right at the beginning of the chapter, Luke 21:1-4.
As we put ourselves into the situation, we see that Luke sets up the story by noting that suddenly “as he (Jesus) looked up” He saw an everyday occurrence at the Temple. The rich people were coming into the public area for those were bringing money into the Temple. Customarily the offering box was a large container, perhaps the size of an antique steamer trunk. Leading into the trunk were fluted metal funnels that had a wide opening that funneled down to an opening into the box that was too small for an unseen hand to reach down in to steal any of the offerings. Since most of the currency of the realm was made up of metal coins or perhaps other valuable metal objects, gold or silver, it must have made quite a clatter as their impressive gifts clattered down the funnel and into the box. It was impressive, as it was meant to be from their perspective. After all, if you are giving away large sums of money, shouldn’t you at least have the satisfaction of impressive onlookers who will venerate you for your great generosity? Never mind that though the gifts were large, they represented but a small part of the great treasures that some of them had at home. In all, giving a large gift in the Temple was a satisfying experience for the rich, including the pleasure of the impressed onlookers.
Suddenly, perhaps even surreptitiously, a widow appeared. Widows were often pitiful people for whom society in that day had little use. No husband to care for her and give her “place” in the community. She was so poor that it is likely she also had no sons, which is like having “strike three” called in her society. She was “out”. But she was faithful. Unbelievably she took two tiny coins from her money pouch, and dropped them into the offering funnel. As they quietly “clinked and clanked” briefly and then dropped almost silently on top of the great offerings already given, it is unlikely that anyone even noticed, aside from Jesus. In that instant Jesus saw a great truth that needed to be told. Gifts are proportionate to our resources. As a proportion of her wealth, she had given a far greater proportion of all she had than had any of the rich who had proudly dropped in their gifts that day. They still had plenty to live on. She now had nothing.
In my mind’s eye I see that Jesus showed us, in this brief encounter that nothing short of all we have is sufficient in God’s eyes. We only understand the gospel when we understand that all we have and all we are belongs to God and, in fact, has been given to us by God in the first place. It is a point of view that Christians all share. We don’t own everything ourselves, giving God “some” of it. God owns us and our “stuff” and we are faithful to give what He asks for. That is a pretty good picture of the mind of Christ for us. It’s also a reminder to give generously, as God directs, for the work of the Kingdom. Do you give faithfully and generously to the work of the Kingdom?
