21:1 ¶ And he looked up, and
saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting
in thither two mites. 3 And he said, Of
a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: 4 For all these have of their abundance cast in
unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living
that she had.
The Saviour here makes
a distinct difference between those generous men of wealth who give freely to
religious impulse, giving which in no way threatens their day-to-day survival
and a widow, perhaps one of those mentioned in the last passage fleeced by the
religious elite, who gave all she had to support the religious institutions of
her nation.
Moses had commanded,
and you should read this passage and the context;
Exodus 30:13 This they shall
give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after
the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is
twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall
be the offering of the LORD. 14
Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years
old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor
shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for
your souls.
King David collected
for the future temple;
1Chronicles 29:9 Then the
people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart
they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great
joy.
Again, in the days of
King Joash;
2Chronicles 24:6 And the
king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not
required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the
collection, according to the
commandment of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the congregation of
Israel, for the tabernacle of witness? 7
For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of
God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow
upon Baalim. 8 And at the king’s
commandment they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of
the LORD. 9 And they made a proclamation
through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the LORD the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness. 10 And all the princes and all the people
rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.
This is giving to
build, maintain, and support a very physical structure, the center of Jewish
religion. By contrast Christian giving was to help other Christians,
particularly church bodies that were suffering.
1Corinthians 16:1 ¶ Now
concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches
of Galatia, even so do ye.
But, regardless of the
reason for giving, God has blessed our generosity to the furtherance of the
gospel and care for the saints and even all men in general so that your
generosity to those in need whatever their spiritual state is mentioned in the
following.
2Corinthians 9:1 ¶ For as
touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to
you: 2 For I know the forwardness of
your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready
a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many. 3 Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our
boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be
ready: 4 Lest haply if they of Macedonia
come with me, and find you
unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this
same confident boasting.
5 Therefore I thought it
necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make
up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be
ready, as a matter of bounty,
and not as of covetousness.
6 ¶ But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and
he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his
heart, so let him give; not
grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always
having all sufficiency in all things,
may abound to every good work: 9 (As it
is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his
righteousness remaineth for ever. 10 Now
he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed
sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) 11 Being enriched in every thing to all
bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. 12 For the administration of this service not
only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many
thanksgivings unto God; 13 Whiles by the
experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection
unto the gospel of Christ, and for your
liberal distribution unto them, and unto
all men; 14 And by their prayer for you, which long after
you for the exceeding grace of God in you. 15
Thanks be unto God for
his unspeakable gift.
If you think that
Christians are only justified in giving to the faithful in need please note
that early Christian writers like Eusebius wrote of Christian benevolence to
the unsaved and even a pagan emperor like Julian the Apostate noted that this
was one reason for the advancement of Christianity in the Roman Empire.
As an example a fourth
century plague in the city of Caesarea caused a sick and weakened population to
flee. Only the Christians stayed behind to minister to the dead in burial and
to the dying, distributing bread to the starving. Julian wrote to a pagan
priest and cited how the Christians extended charity to the poor and helped the
suffering suggesting that if there was to be a revival of paganism, which he
desired, the pagan priests of the various gods must do the same.
In this passage, penury is poverty and the poor widow who
gave her two mites, a miniscule
amount of money, gave all she had and was honored by Christ and her great faith. However, His point
is in the contrast between the rich men and the widow’s giving, not in a
command for suffering people to give all they have that would go to their own
sustenance.
The doctrine of tithing
the tithe, a word not mentioned in the letters of Paul to the Christian
churches, can be an unnecessary burden to the poor in a church body. God has
not called you to let your children go hungry or without basic medical care and
it is presumption on God to say that you will give all of the money you would
have paid for your rent and food to your church and just trust God to provide.
That being said, we all have experienced or we all know of times of great need
when God has provided abundantly and I can honestly say that no matter what
financial state I have been in God has never let me go hungry or homeless. It
is a balance produced by a sound mind and strong faith. God honors a cheerful
giving heart, notice the cheerful and not begrudging, acting in faith but does
not ask you to neglect your duties as a provider for your family willingly. Do
not let someone use this passage to suggest to you that you sign over your paycheck
to the church and then have a bad testimony to your landlord or your family
while you act in presumptive faith, the kind of faith that gives you an excuse
not to do what God has called you to do while pretending to do what He has not
called you to do.
1Timothy 5:8 But if any
provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath
denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
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