August 13, 2024: Tuesday Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 12:41-44
May the Peace of God and the Love of Christ fill your day,
Today let us give a prayer of thanks that Teri's rescue dog, Butters, will get to be around for a while longer. Evidently, vet assessments of when Butters would reach the point for needing to be euthanized have been set for a later date rather than this week. May God bless both Teri and Butters in the days which lie ahead. Today's study will be a bit shorter than usual because we have a passage with which we are all familiar, and when we start chapter 13, we will discover the need to understand cultural and religious practices which affected how Christ would be treated.
Today's passage from Mark 12:41-44 is one with which we are all familiar, but I suspect it is also one which causes us to question our motives in our stewardship. How the use of our time, talents, and resources are motivated in our lives and how we live into the Spirit's gifts, and perhaps most of all, remember yesterday's passage about the things that Christ condemned about the actions of the wealthy and powerful as they guided the lives of others for whom they were called to be responsible. It was this community that even used their theological understandings mostly for feeding their own egos and needs. It seemed that there were plenty of well-heeled women who came to the "Beautiful Gate" and the court of the women. Their offerings were apparently very generous, yet Christ saw them as far less important than the poor woman who came and put in a meager amount, but it was an offering of her heart of thanksgiving for God's abundant blessings. Jesus calls this offering the greatest of all the gifts that had been given so far. It is not that those other offerings were unimportant for the temple, but they were given out of the women's abundance. These women would go home to food, shelter, resources, and a great deal more, but the woman who made her offering of a few cents placed her trust in the LORD of hosts, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to provide for her all that she would need, and this is unlike the other women whose relationship with God stood on a much shakier ground if they would find themselves in her place in the community.
I have always said that giving is between the individual and God. It is not my business, or any other person's business what anyone gives. But for each of us this reading today tells us that it never hurts to assess how we ourselves respond to God in the use of our time, talents, and resources. I grew up in a home with tight resources, and I know that my parent's giving for the church that we attended, Emanuel Lutheran, was probably given out of habit more than thanksgiving and commitment. You see, between the LORD and us, we can be certain that our giving is known by God, and for every offering we make God remains most thankful.
Our offerings of time, talent, and resources should be sacrificial in their nature. Right now, at church we have come asking for special giving for the CROP offering from our congregation. In the past we have done a pretty good job of being generous with this extra offering. As for our house, we recently lost $30,000 in our budget, but we will commit to giving $20 dollars every week for CROP in addition to our regular giving. It has been tight for us, but God is good, and we know that every day in our lives. Without Christ, God's Son of Love, Forgiveness, and Salvation, our lives would be so much less hope filled. That’s why when there is an extra need during the years, we dig even deeper because we give out of our love for God. I am even confident that sometime during the CROP offering, the LORD will give us the way to do even more!
Giving of our time, talent, and resources should be done with a sense of recklessness. The question is always if I do this, will I have enough to meet the other demands on my resources, and to this time, God has always provided. How will you and I not give our whole selves in the face of God's greatest gifts through Jesus Christ?
Isn't amazing that the greatest gift to the work of God's Kingdom, a memorable offering, is only a few pennies? Everything we are, and everything we have comes from God, so how will we share the best gift of all that we have to offer OURSELVES! I can only say: In everything you give, do it with Joy in the Lord Jesus Christ!
With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim
Comments