Readings for today: Luke 21-22, Psalms 119:97-128
One of the many things I get to do is travel to remote villages in the Horn of Africa twice a year to preach the gospel. The organization I serve alongside holds training conferences in Ethiopia, Uganda, and South Sudan. We gather hundreds of church planters and train them in theology, Bible, pastoral leadership, discipleship, and other disciplines. As part of the experience, they send us out to villages around the training center to preach on Sunday mornings. On a typical Sunday, we arrive with the worship service already in progress. The indigenous people have gathered earlier in the morning to begin singing and praying and praising God. Once we arrive, we join them, often being given seats of honor in the worship service. At some point in time, they take up an offering. Remember, these men and women are subsistence farmers. They have little to nothing to call their own. Quite often, their offering consists of the first fruits of their hard labor. Maize. Squash. Wheat. Perhaps a chicken for the wealthier families. Then there are the people who come forward with nothing. They have empty hands. They hold them over the offering basket and pantomime the act of giving as practice for the day when they will have something to give. It’s incredibly humbling and powerful every single time.
I think about those men and women every time I read this passage out of Luke about the widow’s offering. It’s so easy in my culture to get caught up in the size of the gift. It’s so easy where I live to honor the rich who give generously. But Jesus takes us deeper. He reminds us it’s not the size of the gift that matters as much as the size of the sacrifice. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:3-4 CSB) Imagine the faith it takes to give when you have little to nothing to live on. Imagine the faith it takes to make your offering when you know you may be choosing to go without as a result. I remember when my wife and I were living on public assistance early in our ministry. We felt the pinch every month as we gave. It wasn’t always easy. There were times we went without as a result. But we never regretted our decision. Now we have been blessed with much. We have far more than we could ever need. And this verse continues to challenge us. Do we give out of our excess or do we give sacrificially?
People often ask me about the biblical standard for giving. Is it the tithe? Is it more? Is it less? Is there a New Testament standard at all? My answer is always the same. God calls us to sacrifice. God calls us to give like the widow in Luke’s Gospel. We are called to prayerfully consider what that might look like in our lives for it looks differently for each of us. The goal is not to hit some arbitrary number like 10% but to give in such a way that we feel it. Give in such a way that we go without. Give in such a way that we learn to depend on God. For most people in my situation, I believe that it involves giving far more than 10%. This is scary I know. Especially if you are not trained in the spiritual discipline of giving. So the key is to begin where you are and commit to grow your giving with each passing year. As you do, you will find yourself learning to live on less and less while receiving the freedom that comes from knowing your life depends on God not on the stock market or your ability to produce or your retirement account.
Readings for tomorrow: Luke 23-24, Psalms 119:129-152