As I was studying this last week I read in "Feasting On the Word" about the two coins and thought I would try to use it in Sunday's Message.
If we would try to put ourselves in this story what would we be? Would we be the widow, or maybe the scribes, or the disciples, or what if we were the two coins? What if “we” were the offering that the widow gave that day?
These two coins that the widow put into the treasury at the Temple didn’t amount to much. They were barely noticed when they were added to all the other offerings that day. Today, just for today, and maybe longer, we are those two coins.
There have been times when all of us have thought that we had nothing of consequence to give or what we did have wouldn’t amount to much; it couldn’t possibly be noticed if we gave or didn’t give and it probably wouldn’t make any real difference in the greater scheme of things in this world we live in today.
Have you ever been at that point in your life where you said to yourself, “What’s the use? No one cares anymore. I’m just banging my head against a cement wall. Why even bother?” Have you ever felt like that? Have you said those words in your mind? I have. Have you thought that about how the taxes you pay are often not used for the good of all the people? Or how your tithes aren’t used as you think they should be used? Have you ever felt like you’re in a losing battle? And the world is going to be destroyed anyway someday so who cares if I don’t put my two coins into the plate. It won’t make any difference anyway, whatever. When was the last time you voiced those words, yesterday, this morning, a few minutes ago?
Friends, we’ve all been there. We’ve all felt like the bureaucracy is too much for us to battle against. If that’s the case what do you think is God’s message for us today in this gospel? Are our lives just an exercise in futility? Are we just spinning our wheels and making nothing but dust?
If my life is two coins and each of you here today is two coins then all together as a community we might be 50 coins, or 60 coins or 80 coins or maybe some here are three coins and together we total a 100 coins. One hundred coins has more clout than 2 coins, right?
What do you think is the message God has for us in this gospel? Is it about the corruption in the world or could it be about us giving our all for the work of the Lord, whatever that may be. Let’s think about our actions this past week. Did we give our all as if the Lord were standing on a hill watching our every move? Did we stop to think that everything we did this week was for the Lord, things like raking leaves, combining beans and corn, baking cookies, visiting a friend who was hurting, or changing soiled bedding or cleaning up after guests in the Super 8. Did we give it our all as if it were our offering to God even if it was only 2 coins? Most of us probably never gave it a thought, that every thing that we thought of as just work was an offering to God. Something He would use to further his kingdom here on earth or to bring glory to his Name. It probably never entered our minds.
Friends, you have plenty of company. Most of the world doesn’t give a thought to how their lives and work is used by God to bring his plan to a glorious end.
That can change today. Today we can all make that conscious effort to change. We can repent of our sin and turn our lives around and give our all to God and his work. We can, along with the widow, put our lives on the line for Jesus, put our 2 coins, give all we have and put it in the treasury of God’s kingdom.
What does that mean for us? I think it is different for each of us. Some will want to make the sacrifice of their lives and give their all in mission work somewhere in this great world. Others will make a commitment to make everything they do a witness to the love God through Jesus Christ gave to this corrupt and condemned world.
Today all I ask is that all of us take time to reflect on what we are doing with our lives. How are they being used to bring glory and pleasure to this great God we worship? How can our 2 coins make a difference in this community, in this county, in this state, in this world? Let’s all pray that God grants us the grace of faith to step out and trust in Him to provide everything needed to grow our 2 coins.
Friends, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
