THE WIDOW'S MITE
"Now He looked up and saw the wealthy putting their gifts into the temple treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two lepta coins. And He said, 'Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all contributed to the offering from their surplus; but she, from her poverty, put in all that she had to live on.'" Luke 21:1-4
On another occasion when teaching the multitude on the Mountain, Jesus also said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Both passages teach us a lesson that is the secret to entering the kingdom of heaven.
While Jesus and His disciples sat in the temple area, they watched as those coming and going put an offering into the collection box. Wealthy men wore elegant garments of expensive fabrics and embroidery. They put in large sums of money, overflow from their riches. They were as well off after they donated as before they gave their contributions.
Then along came a woman in shabby clothes, obviously in need. She probably was embarrassed and tried to be inobtrusive as she dropped her pittance into the collection box. A widow, she had no one to support her livelihood. She barely scraped by. Yet, it is she whom Jesus recognized and praised, not for how much money she offered in coinage, but how unselfishly she gave...she gave everything she had!
What a contrast! The wealthy gave much in terms of monetary value, but Jesus looked past them to recognize the humility and generosity of the poor widow.
In the Beatitudes preached on the Mount, Jesus blessed those who are 'poor in spirit.' What did He mean? Contrast 'poor in spirit' with what He said to the church at Laodicea:
"Because you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have no need of anything,'...you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed, and eye salve to apply to your eyes so that you may see."
He was not talking so much about tangible wealth as He was about the attitude of the heart. In one word, Jesus focused on the Laodiceans' self-satisfied pride. While the professed believers had accumulated goods and riches, they thought they were wealthy and really didn't need more of God to round out their account.
In return, Jesus said, "You do not know that you are...poor." The Laodiceans did not see how poor they really were. Spiritually, they were poverty-stricken and did not see it. They were blind to their lack. On the other hand, the widow was poor and knew all too well how needy she was. Yet, she withheld nothing from God, but gave her all. And Jesus commended her for doing so.
The moral of the story is this: Those who are impoverished in their spirit are blessed by Jesus, because their pride is humbled as they bring themselves, blind, naked and poor to Jesus for His eye salve, His garment of righteousness, and His riches in glory.
On the other hand, pride gives God a part of their whole, but selfishly clings to the rest. The poor in spirit who give themselves as undone to God as not worthy of salvation are received by God and given the blessings of God in abundance.
Today's church is Laodicean. It has a form of worship, but denies the power of the Holy Spirit to control their lives. The Church has developed all the accoutrements of worship, while withholding what God wants most: A poor and contrite spirit that withholds nothing from Him. This is the danger of the Last Days.
We cannot necessaruly change an entire Church, but we can humble ourselves before God and seek Him for Himself, not for His riches and blessings. We can worship Him in the beauty of holiness, even if the crowd does not join us. We can carry His glory on our shoulders and in our inner temple. That is what God desires and has made possible by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Let us seek God with all our hearts for that to be true within us. That is the threshold of heaven!!