Unnamed But Not Anonymous: The Generous Woman

Where has she come from as she enters the Temple?  Home duties?  Family responsibilities?  She is a widow, a woman alone, unsupported.  We don’t know if there is a son looking after her, or perhaps she lives with her daughter’s family, as Peter’s mother-in-law did. 

She walks to the Court of the Gentiles, the only place where women were allowed.  Does she even notice Jesus’ teaching?  Perhaps not.  She has one mission—to bring her offering. 

She is used to the rich people who elbow in front of her and enjoy the noise their coins make as they throw them into the bronze or brass trumpet-shaped receptacles. She waits as others bring their gifts. She doesn’t want to do anything that makes her stand out.

Finally, it is her turn, and she drops her two copper coins in.  Plink.  Plink.

She doesn’t realize Jesus was watching her.  He calls his disciples close because this will become a teaching moment.  He points to the widow.  Had they even noticed her before?  Probably not. 

And then the lesson:  this woman gave out of her poverty.  She put everything in.

The message should have been clear that it wasn’t just about money.  Following Jesus’ call is about “putting everything in.”  All hopes, plans, and dreams.  Every day of life, every relationship and activity. 

It’s not only about the money.  It was never just about the money.  Jesus knows that if we are “all in,” beginning with what’s in our hearts and heads, the money goes in, too.

What can this simple woman teach us that is transformational?

Money has no worth to Jesus. He wants our hearts. Generosity isn’t a dollar sign; it is a gift of the heart.

God’s value system isn’t based on comparison. We are channels through which God’s resources flow to the world.

Did the woman walk away, fearing where her next meal would come from?  Or was her faith in a God of all resources big enough to help her know that He would supply her needs?   But not because of her money, because of her heart.

We don’t know.  But we could find out.  Not simply by divesting our funds and hoping God comes through.  But by holding carefully but not tightly, every gift from God, whether it is money, investments, or inheritance.  It was God’s to begin with.  In our possession, it should remain His.