The grace of food for a growling belly. The grace of clean water for a thirsty tongue. The grace of a pair of full and willing hands to pour generously into empty and world-worn hands. The grace that can be found only in a Risen Savior and returning King who seeks and saves all who are lost. Extravagant grace.
Grace is never given without some sacrifice on the part of the giver. Grace never fills the empty without emptying the filler. It is the only way the scales of a broken world can be balanced. You can flip through the pages of your Bible all day long and you'll never find one story, one parable, one red word about giving that doesn't cost the giver something. If we follow the Bible's lead in our giving it may very well cost us our lives.
It is easy to use a checklist mentality. Drop the canned goods off at Second Harvest and write the tithe check for our 10%. Good things. Noble things. I just wonder if we're too comfortable in our giving and I wonder if that is what Jesus was trying to say when he told this story.
Mark 12:41-44
And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”
I don't think that God is terribly concerned about how much we give. I think he is more concerned about how much we think we need to keep. This widow was the poorest of the poor. She had no money and no social status. She gave and didn't worry about how much she would get to keep. I imagine that she wondered where her next meal might come from or how the hole in her roof would ever get patched. Her gift wasn't just monetary it was a sacrifice of faith. If anyone was paying attention to this husband-less woman they would have rolled their eyes at her stupidity. What little could her little do except leave her empty handed? Giving beyond reason is a way to walk in faith. A way to live in faith that God provides...for us all.
Maybe our giving should make us uncomfortable. Maybe it should make us squirm in our seats. I'm not sure that we should be fine that the presents we give to people with enough should amount to more than we give to those who don't have enough. I'm not sure I am fine with that anymore. The Bible makes me ask these questions. The Scriptures and the pointed words of Jesus make me think that I need a better perspective on giving. A radical perspective that makes my closed fists open freely, palms up for all to receive my abundance or my meager little. It isn't the amount that matters. It's the intent.
I'm not a Communist. I'm not trying to redistribute wealth so that all is fair. This world is a broken, unfair place, but I know in Christ there is more than enough.Would you take your "more than enough" and share it with those who hardly have anything? Are you willing to be the filled up one who is emptied for the sake of the empty? Take a moment to check out some incredible gifts that you can give from the Compassion Christmas Catalog!
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