[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fgiving-it-all":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fgiving-it-all-surround":90},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":13,"columnName":72,"date":73,"description":19,"extension":74,"image":75,"meta":76,"minRead":77,"navigation":78,"path":79,"postType":80,"publication":81,"publicationUrl":75,"seo":82,"stem":83,"topics":84,"__hash__":89},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fgiving-it-all.md","Giving It All",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10,11,12],"Deuteronomy","1 Kings","2 Kings","Mark",{"type":14,"value":15,"toc":68},"minimark",[16,20,26,29,32,34,37,40,43,50,53,59,62,65],[17,18,19],"p",{},"*Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. *",[17,21,22],{},[23,24,25],"em",{},"Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on’ (Mark 12:41-44).",[17,27,28],{},"**",[17,30,31],{},"*We know so little about this impoverished widow. Maybe her story went something like this . . . *",[17,33,28],{},[17,35,36],{},"Breakfast was skimpy as usual. A chunk of coarse, dry bread. A cup of water dipped from the public well the day before. A handful of grapes gleaned with permission from the leftover harvest of her neighbor’s vineyard. It was a simple meal, but the woman’s heart was grateful. Before she ate and drank she looked toward the sky and uttered a prayer of thanks.",[17,38,39],{},"When a crumb of bread slipped from her hand and fell onto the dirt floor, she hastily scooped it up. Nothing could be wasted in this one-room shelter she called home. She couldn’t be sure when or what she would eat again, but two lingering realizations lifted her spirits.",[17,41,42],{},"First, her circumstances did not mean God had abandoned her. She had heard the Scribes read from the Law, which said that the “God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome . . . defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing” (Deuteronomy 10:17-18). She had heard about a widow who shared her last remnants of flour and oil with the prophet Elijah, and God rewarded her faithfulness by making sure her household had food every day (1 Kings 17:7-16). And she had heard about another widow God blessed with a miraculous supply of oil so she could sell it and pay off her debts (2 Kings 4:1-7). To outsiders her plight looked desperate—and in many ways it was—but the woman trusted God to love and protect her.",[17,44,45,46,49],{},"A second realization gripped her heart. Poor as she was, she still had something to give. She clutched in her hands two coins called *lepta *(literally, “thin ones”)—little copper disks so inconsequential they were little more than play money for children. Most adults wouldn’t even stoop down and pick them up if they noticed them on the ground. Her lips turned upward in a wry smile as she pondered the irony: Her wealthy neighbors hardly considered ",[23,47,48],{},"lepta"," money at all, yet these tiny coins represented her entire life’s savings.",[17,51,52],{},"Wrapped in a modest but threadbare robe, she made her way through the crowded streets toward the temple. Like another widow, the prophetess Anna who thanked God for the Christ-child, she felt at home in the temple courts. Entering the Court of the Women, she approached the treasury where worshipers placed their offerings. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the teacher known as Jesus of Nazareth, and again her lips formed a wry smile. A few days before, he had boldly cast the merchants and moneychangers out of the temple, and the woman was glad. This should be a house of prayer, she thought, not a place where worshipers should show off or be ripped off.",[17,54,55,56,58],{},"Yet even today some were showing off. Impressive offerings clanged into the trumpet-shaped collection boxes, calling attention to the donors’ generosity. The widow sought no such attention. Quietly, with a prayer of faith and surrender, she dropped her two ",[23,57,48],{}," into the treasury. They didn’t make a sound.",[17,60,61],{},"The only person in the temple who noticed her gift was the most important person there. Jesus saw everything. He noticed how the people worshiped. (He always does.) He observed how they gave their offerings. (He always does.) He noticed what was kept as well as what was given. He noticed not only the size of the gift, but the sacrifice it represented.",[17,63,64],{},"Leaving the temple, the widow made her way through the crowded streets. She didn’t know exactly how the Lord would provide when she returned to her empty house, but a strange sense of peace welled up in her heart.",[17,66,67],{},"And somehow, she didn’t feel poor anymore.",{"title":69,"searchDepth":70,"depth":70,"links":71},"",2,[],"Another Look","2010-12-05","md",null,{},4,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fgiving-it-all","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":19},"articles\u002Fgiving-it-all",[85,86,87,88],"Biblical Theology","Spiritual Formation","Christian Unity","Intergenerational Ministry","qIOdKXE5wE6SDEMCaFv6QeLQd632tf29Rczz9GvSOxA",[91,96],{"title":92,"path":93,"stem":94,"description":95,"children":-1},"Giving Her All","\u002Farticles\u002Fgiving-her-all","articles\u002Fgiving-her-all","*Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on’ (Mark 12:41-44).*",{"title":97,"path":98,"stem":99,"description":100,"children":-1},"Giving the Gift of Honor","\u002Farticles\u002Fgiving-the-gift-of-honor","articles\u002Fgiving-the-gift-of-honor","Can you see the love of God in the gritty courage of a police officer who works to keep our streets safe? Do you see it in the eyes of a firefighter who runs into a burning building to protect lives and property?"]