“He looked up as saw the rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on” (Lk. 21: 1-4).
The people of Jesus’ time were just like us. They, too, had a natural desire to seek happiness and they searched for it in many of the same ways we do today; in the immediate gratification of material things and material pleasures. They identified happiness as having things and material comfort, possessions of various kinds. They thought that people who had wealth and fame, or religious or political authority were blessed by God and that the poor were poor because they were somehow outside of the graces of God. This was so among many Jewish believers of that day, despite the fact that throughout the Hebrew Testament, God constantly admonishes the people to “care for the widow, the orphan, and the alien among them” (Exodus 22: 21-22). It remains the perspective of many today, in both secular and religious circles.
We live in an increasingly self-absorbed time, a time when belief in God is more and more often considered antiquated, foolish, even delusional. G.K. Chesterton once wrote: “When men stop believing in God, they don’t then believe in nothing, they believe in anything.” This suggests that without a strong belief in something larger, or greater than the self, it becomes more likely that one will embrace, even give one’s all, to any idea, or any thing, that ‘promises’ the fulfillment of one’s immediate desires or wants. And the result is that we get caught up in a never ending quest to get, to acquire, and to attain possessions, or fame, or power that never really fully satisfies us. In this kind of thinking, any suggestion of “sacrificing” for the good of another, or for the common good, is thought to be dumb at best, or worse, as delusional. “What good does that do for me?”
Jesus is challenging us to “see” differently here. In pointing out the generosity of the widow in comparison to that of the wealthier donors to the treasury, he is trying to get us to shift our perspective. We have our eyes, our minds, our hearts focused on the wrong things. What the widow reveals is that there is something greater than things, that happiness has a far richer source, something far more valuable than wealth, or fame, or societal importance. The source of real, lasting happiness is not in things but in love. Love of God and neighbor is what helps us to respond with love when we see others who have greater needs than our own. This generosity of love gives us the impetus, the strength, even the willingness to sacrifice our immediate desires for the greater good of the other, or for the common good. Love opens us up to the larger world, to that which is greater than ourselves. In other words, love is not just a feeling; it is an act of will.
The widow shows us this kind of love. When she placed those two meager copper coins in the Temple Treasury, she willingly gave her all to God. It was an act of total dispossession, not just of her last coins, but of herself. It was a free act of will on her part. Her love for God and others was greater than her material poverty. The paradox? In the larger picture, her gift of those two small coins was of greater value than those much larger sums given by the wealthy. Her response is a direct contrast to the response of the rich young man of the famous parable who asked Jesus how he could assure his entry into the kingdom (Mt. 19: 16-30, Mk. 10: 17-31, and Lk 18: 18-23).
When Jesus told him that, if he truly wanted to enter into eternal life, the kingdom of God, he should go and “sell all that he had and give the proceeds to the poor and come follow me”, the young man walked away sad, “because he had many possessions.” She gave away all of her “possessions” when she placed her last two coins into the treasury box, not just her material wealth, but she gave the immeasurable treasure of herself as well. Which of these more closely imitates Jesus Christ? Which of these might more readily enter the kingdom of God?
Jesus is proposing a serious truth to us here. Because all of us are made by and for God, the value of each and every one of us is far greater than all of the “things” the world has to offer. Our relationships of self-giving love to God and others are our greatest treasures. Our love for others is made greater or lesser in the measure with which we freely give the treasure of ourselves to others. Jesus emptied himself, his divinity and his humanity, completely for us. What greater thanks can we offer Him in return than to give our whole selves to Him and to others? This is Love. This is the definition of a truly loving relationship.
Here is the great paradox that Jesus is teaching us: When we can love God and others truly, completely, without reservation, we will be able to, “bears all things, believe in all things, hope in all things, and endure all things” (1Cor 13: 7). This is the source of the happiness we are all searching for. This is joy. The value of our giving of ourselves to God and to others, like that of the poor widow, should not be determined by the value we place on money or material things, but by a disposition of our hearts and our willingness to sacrifice for the greater good of an individual other, or for the common good.
We are in this world but we are not to be of it. We are made for something greater; the kingdom of God. If we truly believe this, then, rather than giving our all to the transient, impermanent, incomplete things of this world, shouldn’t we try, with our whole hearts, minds, souls, and strength, to live in ways that are worthy of the eternal kingdom of God. Our souls are made of, and for, better things. Let us pray for hearts as great and generous as that of the widow in this passage, so that we, too, may hear Jesus say to us, “Out of your poverty, you gave me and your neighbor your all. Come! Enter into the joy of eternal life with me.”
SKM: below-content placeholderWhizzco for FHB