Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:06] Hey, everybody. Pastor Chuck Allen here, and thanks for joining me on this Wednesday for another weekday podcast. Today, I want to talk about widows and coins. I want you to imagine Jesus is sitting near the temple treasury. Now, he's there because this is the time in which people are giving. They didn't do the offering back then like we do today. They didn't pass a, you know, a basket or a plate. They didn't have a QR code, of course, you know, they. They had a big copper vessel, and you would walk up to that and you would deposit your gifts. Naturally, in that day, the louder the bang, the bigger the gift. The bigger the gift, the better the recognition. You see where this is going, right? And Jesus is in the temple treasury and he's watching people give.
[00:00:56] Which, if we're honest, feels a little weird and a little uncomfortable.
[00:01:02] Nobody. I've never met a church person yet that wanted to hear a sermon on money.
[00:01:08] But the truth is, Jesus talks a lot about it because money reveals things.
[00:01:15] You see, he's not watching how much people gives. He's looking at their heart. Because money reveals things. Like, it shows what we trust. It shows, quite frankly, what. What we fear, what we believe is going to hold us together and keep us well, right side up.
[00:01:35] And one by one, these different people come forward and the wealthy give these large amounts, big bangs, impressive amounts, the kind that make people nod and approval and go, ooh, ah.
[00:01:48] And then this widow walks up. There's no attention. There's no applause.
[00:01:52] Two tiny little coins, practically nothing worth less than a penny together.
[00:01:59] I mean, literally, there's no noise, but she gives them again. Nobody pays it any attention, and nobody gives her any applause. And nobody's giving her atta girls, just two tiny coins.
[00:02:13] And Jesus stops everything.
[00:02:15] He calls his disciples over and he says in Mark 12, I tell you the truth, this poor woman has given more than all the others, for they gave a tiny part of their surplus. But she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.
[00:02:31] And I know what you're thinking. More. How in the world is that more?
[00:02:35] Because Jesus uses a different scoreboard. He uses a different accounting measure.
[00:02:41] We love to measure the amount the bang.
[00:02:44] Jesus measures the heart.
[00:02:46] We like to measure the what's given, the results.
[00:02:50] Jesus measures what's left.
[00:02:52] The wealthy gave from abundance.
[00:02:55] The widow gave from trust.
[00:02:58] And that's what catches Jesus attention.
[00:03:01] He is captivated by her, this little widow in these two tiny corns, because she gave everything out of her heart. Her desire to do well, love. When it came to how she managed her resources.
[00:03:19] And it catches Jesus's attention. Trust. Not size, not visibility, not impressiveness. Trust Jesus. I trust you with everything.
[00:03:29] And that, quite frankly, friends, it means that that's the most significant thing you offer today. Might not look significant to anyone else, but let's face it, your gifts, your service is not for everyone else. It is for him.
[00:03:47] A prayer, a conversation, a tiny act of generosity. But heaven sees it so differently, because in the kingdom of God, it's not about how much.
[00:03:58] It is about how deeply we trust.
[00:04:01] So, friend, today, don't underestimate what feels tiny or small or insignificant, because Jesus doesn't at all. He sees the heart behind it all. He measures that trust. He measures that faithfulness and that obedience. And that's why he brought his disciples over and said, look at her.
[00:04:22] This is what the kingdom of God looks like.
[00:04:26] So today, remember, it's not about how much. It's not about where the percentage point or the decimal is. It's about your heart. And that's true about your money, which reveals a lot. Well, about your heart. God bless you, friend. Thanks so much for listening in to today's weekday podcast.
