A Heartfelt Gift

To be Used with Session #6: Stewarding a Legacy

Scripture: Mark 12:41-44

Connection with Unit Theme: To complement the Bible study “Stewarding A Legacy” this sermon will reflect upon the actions of the crowd, the actions of a widow, and Jesus’ response to both. We will learn that God is fully aware of our giving, no matter how much it might be.

Introduction: We have all encountered the kid who may not have had a great deal of talent but was all heart. It may have been the young man on the basketball court that was shorter than everyone else but got the most rebounds. It may have been the young lady that was a new hire.  She did not have a 4.0 GPA in college, but she was always on time and asked all the right questions. No matter what the circumstance may have been, we always wanted the one who showed heart on our team. In today’s sermon, we will encounter someone who did not have much to give, but her gift caught the eye of Jesus because it was gift from the heart. We have three different characters in the text, and we will explore each in the outline.

1. The actions of the crowd

As always, we must set the context to understand the passage. It is Passion Week and Jesus is teaching in the temple. The religious elite had been trying trap Him with His words and yet Jesus had answered their questions. Mark informs us that “no one dared to question Him any longer” (v. 34).

While all of this was transpiring, Jesus observed how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. The text reveals that the rich people were putting in large sums of money. The text does not give us any indication if this is a good thing or a bad thing. The text is merely revealing a fact. We also learn that those who were giving large sums were giving out of a surplus. Since they had wealth, they were able to give out of a surplus.

What is the application for us today? It would be easy for us to argue that if we have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and food in our stomachs, then we could be considered wealthy. If we look throughout our land, we could quickly determine not everyone has food, clothing, and shelter. Yet, we do, and this does mean we have wealth. There were some in this story that had wealth and they gave. If we have wealth, and we do, then we too should be challenged to give and to give from the heart.

1. The actions of the widow

The next person we see in our story is a widow who had “two tiny coins worth very little” (v. 42). It would be similar to say that she gave two pennies. If someone went to the store today with two pennies, that person would have to walk out of the store with the same two pennies as they could not get anything with them. In a similar manner, the two tiny coins the widow gave would not have amounted to anything and would not have been able to meet the needs of the temple in any manner. 

Another way to look at this action is that the widow “put in everything she had.” Others were giving out of their wealth, but she was giving out of her poverty (v. 44). The gifts from the wealthy did not cost them nearly as much as they were giving out of a surplus. Her gift, however, cost her greatly and it appears that she was willing to give.

It would be easy to contend that her giving was from the heart. She knew that it was going to cost her, yet she gave it anyway. This was not giving out of obligation. This was sacrificial giving, and this kind of giving is first decided upon at the heart level. We could also contend that she was modeling the type of giving that Jesus was soon to exude. Remember, this was the Passion Week. Jesus was only a matter of days of sacrificially giving His life so that we could have the chance to spend eternity with Him.

1. The response of Jesus

Our last person to look at in today’s sermon is Jesus. How did He respond to what was taking place?  First, we do not see Him condemning the wealthy for putting in large sums of money.  He acknowledged their actions and did not provide any commentary towards it. Second, we do see Him expounding upon the actions of the widow. He acknowledged the small nature of the gift from a worldly perspective, while articulating the magnitude of the gift from a sacrificial standpoint. It was the sacrificial gift that caught His attention. If He was aware of a sacrificial gift then, He will also be aware of a sacrificial gift today. The key is that the gift needs to come from the heart.

The question for us now becomes, how does this apply to us? As we learned about stewarding a legacy in our groups this morning, how does a sermon on a heartfelt gift of two tiny coins apply? We can quickly see that the amount is not the issue. Instead, it is the heart behind the amount. If we want to truly leave a legacy, then we need to offer a sacrificial gift. A sacrificial gift is not based on how much we do or do not have. Instead, a sacrificial gift is based on giving our all and trusting that we have a God who is aware of our sacrifice.

Conclusion: If we truly want to give a gift that is going to leave a legacy, then it needs to come from the heart. In order to give a gift from the heart, then we need to surrender our hearts to Jesus. If give out of our abundance, but do not surrender our hearts to Christ, we will be eternally disappointed. If, however, we begin with surrendering our hearts, we will begin our journey towards sacrificial giving.For those of us here today who have surrendered our hearts to Jesus, let us be challenged by the widow in the passage. She did not give much in the eyes of the world but is caught the eye of Jesus. Can we strive to be like this widow and begin to give sacrificially? When we give this way, we are giving like Jesus because He laid down His life for us.