Our Gospel reading today was short and sweet and, I think, pretty easy to understand.
We’re going to spend a few moments looking at it in a bit more detail, before moving on to consider the How, Why and What of Giving Generously. But first…

Prayer

Mark is very specific about where Jesus was, V 41 sitting opposite the place where the offerings were put. And about what he was doing there V41 watching the crowd putting their money into the Temple treasury.
The temple treasury was situated in the court of women, both men and women were allowed in this court but the women could go no further into the temple buildings. It contained 13 trumpet-shaped receptacles into which people threw their money. I imagine they looked a little like the old-fashioned gramophone players, with their large speaker things. Like the HMV logo, which stands for His Master’s Voice and shows a dog listening at the trumpet of the gramophone . That is still the logo, but you need excellent eyesight to see it!
So, people were throwing their money into these trumpet things - interesting that it was done publicly. The rich were throwing in large amounts, Mark tells us, but a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins worth only a fraction of a penny. Jesus observes that, others gave out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty put in everything - all she had to live on.

The footnote here directs us to 2 Cor 8:12, which you may remember, was part of the reading for the previous sermon in this series which says a gift is acceptable according to what one has, if the willingness is there.

In other words, it is the willingness which is the motive of true generosity, not the amount. And this is what Jesus recognised in the poor widow - she, not the wealthy, was the one who was truly generous.

Some give their mite, some give with all their might and some
don’t give who might.
From A Barrel of Fun, p82

We come now to look at HOW to give generously and it picks up on what we have just observed from 2 Cor 8:12.

It’s all about motive. There is a world of difference between a careless, thoughtless offering and a choice, generous offering. This is perfectly illustrated way back in Genesis, where Cain and Abel present their gifts to God. Gen 4:3-5; In the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to God. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering, he did not look with favour.

Giving generously is, essentially, NOT about ‘how much’ but about ‘how’. Is it given with the right attitude, the right heart-set? However, this premise also helps us in deciding how much. If we know we have consciously given less than we feel is appropriate, this must surely indicate that our attitude is wrong and we can correct it by giving a choice, generous gift.

I was flicking through the concordance, as you do, looking up the word ‘generous’ and I came across this verse in the Old Testament, from Exodus 36:5. To set the scene, Moses is overseeing the construction of the sanctuary within the Tabernacle - a tent temple. People have been asked to bring freewill offerings to construct it. V5-6 The skilled craftsmen said to Moses “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done” . So Moses ordered that no-one should make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.
If many are generous, there should be more than enough. That’s a sobering thought.
HOW should we give generously - with the right attitude.

WHY should we give, generously or at all?

Giving is part of being God’s people. The principle of offering gifts to God directly or in His name to others is one that, as we have seen goes back to the beginning of mankind’s relationship to God. The Law given to Moses commands offerings to be given to God and the people are also instructed to give to the poor, the widows and the strangers among them e.g. Deut 15:7-11. Failure to do so incurs God’s wrath, see for example Amos 2 which records that the poor are sold for failing to pay tiny debts and God’s judgement is pronounced on them for this and their other failures in keeping his law.

This idea of the social responsibility of God’s people continues in the teaching of Jesus and into the letters and epistles of the New Testament. In Matthew 6:1-4, Jesus speaks of giving as ‘an act of righteousness’ and continues when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret…then your Father…will reward you. Notice it’s when you give, not if!

So WHY do we give - because it’s our responsibility as God’s people and it’s also a response to what God has done for us. That’s not to say that we can buy our salvation - the Bible is very clear that this is not the case. But we give to others in God’s name in response to what he has done for us and also as a sign of our commitment to him.

HOW should we give generously - with the right attitude.
WHY should we give generously - in response to what God has done for us, as a sign of our commitment to him and because Jesus commands us to do so.

After church one Sunday morning, a mother commented,
“The choir was awful this morning.”
“Yes”, replied the father, “and the sermon was too long.”
Their seven year old daughter added, “But you’ve got to admit, it was a pretty good show for 10p!” A Box of Delights, p72

WHAT should we give generously?
I want to suggest that ‘money’ may not be the answer! To an extent, for many who can afford it, money is often the easy option. It’s not too demanding on our emotions, we don’t necessarily need to engage with the issue at all, just write a cheque or hand over the credit card and the money whizzes off to the cause, perhaps without touching us at all. A kind of ‘if in doubt, throw money’ approach.
I don’t know about you, but I am convicted that that is my approach, probably more often than I would like to admit.
That’s not, of course, to say that we shouldn’t give money, but consider what we might give in addition to it. How might we give and engage in that giving?

The Gospel reading told of the wealthy who gave out of their wealth and the widow who gave everything out of her poverty.

In what area of our lives are we poor? Time is probably an obvious answer for many of us, do we give to God out of our poverty of time? How long, honestly do we devote to God each day?
Do we give God what’s right…or what’s left? Barrel of Fun p22

Or how much do we give to others of our time? I would like to suggest that it is our responsibility as Christians to give of other things as well as our money.

The Romans reading gave other suggestions; prophecy, service, teaching, encouraging, contributing to the needs of others and showing mercy. If it is contributing to the needs of others, Paul says, let him give generously. Do we give generously to contribute to the needs of others both in and, I think especially out, of the church family and are we prepared to give those things of which we may have little - like time or encouragement or time or compassion or time?

Small things make a big difference - I’m not suggesting that we give up our jobs so we have more time to devote to God’s work - although some are called to do just that. I was thinking about:

Ÿ Phoning someone to have a chat, to listen sympathise, rejoice or whatever response they need rather than slumping in front of the TV.
Ÿ Taking the time to drop someone a card saying ‘hello’, or ‘thinking of you’ or whatever.
Ÿ Inviting your mate out for a drink and a chat when you’d actually like to have a quiet night in.
Ÿ Agreeing to play squash in the week cause you know your friend is stressed and needs to work off some anger.
Ÿ Writing a letter to one of the link missionaries.
Ÿ Volunteering to take on a task in the church.
(I thought it would be difficult to give practical ideas, but once I got going, I couldn’t stop!)

HOW should we give generously - with the right attitude.
WHY should we give generously - in response to what God has done for us, as a sign of our commitment to him and because Jesus commands us to do so.
WHAT should we give generously - not only our money, but our time, our love, our compassion, our mercy - ourselves to contribute to the needs of others.

Some give their mite, some give with all their might and some
don’t give who might.
From A Barrel of Fun, p82

And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

PRAYER