GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 12:44
The Gift and the Giver
A hurricane swept across an island in the Atlantic, causing great destruction. One of the buildings destroyed was a church that a missionary and his congregation had labored for years to build. The missionary described the extent of the destruction at a meeting, and those present felt inspired to help the congregation rebuild its church. People began pledging various amounts—$1,000, $500, and so forth.
In that meeting was a small businesswoman who had saved money from her earnings for a trip. However, she felt inspired to offer $250 of her savings toward the rebuilding effort. She was not living in poverty, but she lived on a limited income. If she wanted to take the trip, she would have to save for weeks; yet she gave her savings to a congregation she had never met, on an island she would never visit.
In his Gospel, Mark describes a scene in which Jesus, after a day of teaching and repeated confrontations with opponents in the temple court, sat down to rest. In this instance, he sat across from the “trumpets”—the openings of thirteen offering containers in the Court of the Women. Each container listed the cause for which the offerings would be used. He watched people of means putting their offerings into the containers. Then a widow cast two small copper coins into one of the trumpets.
Jesus called this incident to the attention of his disciples: “And after calling his disciples, he said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those putting into the treasury.
For all, out of their abundance, they put in, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she had, all her livelihood.’” (Mark 12:43-44)
Jesus was not depreciating the gifts of the affluent; he was appreciating the gift of the widow, for they were giving from their abundance, but she was giving of her livelihood. St. Ambrose (340-397) wrote, “That which God esteems is not that which you proudly present, but what you offer with humility and devotion.” The gifts of the prosperous to the island congregation were surely helpful, but the gift of the businesswoman represented a greater sacrifice.
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