Tim’s Daily Bread Devotional 7.4.21

By July 4, 2021Daily Bread

Thank you for sharing this early moment of your day with me, with God, and with the thoughts and words of this reading that I hope you will carry with you throughout the coming day and night.

Today’s Scripture:

Mark 12:41-44 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
The Widow’s Offering

41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Tim’s Devotional Reflection for Today

When you look at who Jesus criticized most, it was not those who were sinners or tax collectors—the ones most despised in Jesus’ day and place.  Rather, it was those who were self-righteous.  It was those who were impressed by their own importance, who sought to do things in a big, public way in order to win the praise of others.  He criticized hypocrites, people who paraded their piety, who spoke in “stained glass tones,” who prayed long, impressive-sounding prayers to “wow” those who heard them.

One day, Jesus and his disciples were sitting opposite the treasury of the Temple, watching people give their gifts.  Some of the wealthy people were making a big show of presenting their offerings. They wanted people to be aware of their charity. They used large coins so that when the pieces of money fell into the box an impressive clanging sound could be heard by all.

My grandmother told me of a man she knew who only gave a little bit to the church and only about twice a year.  But, here’s what he would do:  He would take a shoe box and fill it with one dollar bills and coins and then when one of the two Sundays a year came, he would dump it into the plate and pile it high, so that everyone could see him giving what appeared to be a large sum of money.  Of course, people could see through it—just as Jesus could see through the fanfare of the rich giving their offerings.

In all this giving fanfare, a poor widow quietly placed in two tiny coins, the “widow’s mite,” an offering with a value of about a penny.  Probably no one else in the crowd noticed her offering.  Only Jesus.  He turned to his disciples, pointed out the widow, and used it as a moment to challenge his disciples to think more deeply about the place of money in their lives and the religious practices of his day.

Jesus was deeply concerned about the hypocrisy of those whose gifts did not represent their ability to give, but even more concerned that there was a poor widow whose gift represented such a sacrifice that she was endangering her livelihood.  Rather than praising this widow as an example of how we should give, Jesus is really critiquing the religious authorities and religious legal scholars for laying an onerous burden on the poorest of the poor while at the same time giving amounts that did not represent their own ability to give.  Just before the story of the widow’s mite, Jesus said to his disciples, “Watch out for the legal experts. They like to walk around in long robes. They want to be greeted with honor in the markets.  They long for places of honor in the synagogues and at banquets.  They are the ones who cheat widows out of their homes, and to show off they say long prayers. They will be judged most harshly.”

Then, when Jesus saw the gifts given with great fanfare and the truly sacrificial gift of the widow living in “hopeless poverty,” he turned to his disciples and said, “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than everyone who’s been putting money in the treasury.  All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had, even what she needed to live on.”

This passage is just one of the places Jesus condemns systems that oppress the poor and those who use religiosity to impress or manipulate.  Those practices are not a thing of the past and on this Independence Day we would do well to consider what this means for our nation in our time.

It is as though in this one text we have two contrasting kinds of gifts that are extremes:  some spare change on the one hand and too much sacrifice on the other.  In neither case do we see a gift that really represents the ability to give—a gift that represents the giver.  It is a good question for each of us to ponder:  What does it mean to give a gift that represents you and your ability to give?

I hope you will take a few moments to let the words of this message and the emotion that always connects us to music connect with your soul. I am so grateful for you, for our church, and for the Love that will see us all through this very difficult time. Please stay safe and well and we’ll be together again in spirit tomorrow morning!

Grace and Peace,


Dr. Tim Bruster
Senior Pastor