Two Very Small Coins
“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, “Truly I tell you, 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 (NIV)
Thirteen chests stood in that courtyard, each with a mouth shaped like a horn and each labelled for a different purpose. People dropped their coins in with everyone watching. Her two were lepta, the least valuable coin struck in Judea. A laborer earned a hundred and twenty eight of them for a full day. What she carried in was worth about ten minutes of that day. She had a pair and could have kept one back without anyone noticing. A widow did not inherit from her husband: the property went to his sons or brothers, and she was left with her keep and the sum written into the marriage contract. Minutes earlier, in that same courtyard, Jesus had accused the religious teachers of swallowing up the homes of women like her. Her bronze helped pay the men who did it. On his way out he said the whole place would be pulled down, and Roman troops did that forty years later. God notices what a gift costs, even when nobody else can.
The part that costs you is the part nobody sees. Maybe you gave up an evening you badly needed yourself. Maybe you answered the phone with nothing left in you. Or you sent money you were not sure you could spare. Other people only see that the thing got done, and some days there is nobody there to see even that. So you end up deciding it did not really count. God has never once measured help by how big it looked.
Without a Sigh
- 1Name the one thing you are short of today: time, energy, health, money or quiet. Give a piece of it to one person before you sit down to whatever you are still looking forward to. At the very least, fifteen minutes of full attention without checking your phone. Tell nobody what you gave up, and do not sigh about it.
- 2If there is nobody with you today, give those fifteen minutes by phone: call one person and just listen, doing nothing else while you do.
Lord Jesus, you see what my help costs me when nobody else does. You know how little I have left by the end of a day like this. Today I want to give away a piece of what I am short of myself. Help me choose the person now and not leave it until later. Keep me from sighing about it or telling anyone what I gave up. Amen.
Today I will give from what I am short of, and I will not say what it cost me.
What were the widow's coins actually worth?
They were lepta, the least valuable coin struck in Judea. A laborer earned a hundred and twenty eight of them for a full day, so her whole gift came to roughly ten minutes of paid work. She had a pair, so she could have kept one back and nobody would ever have known.
What happened right before and right after this moment?
Minutes earlier, in that same courtyard, Jesus had accused the religious teachers of swallowing up the homes of women in her position, so her bronze helped pay the men who did it. On his way out he said the whole place would be pulled down. Roman troops did that about forty years later.
What if I have no spare time and no spare money today?
Fifteen minutes of full attention counts, and so does quietly doing something that was somebody else's job. What is measured is the cost to you, not the size of the gift.