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•41耶稣对银库坐着，看众人怎样投钱入库。有好些财主往里投了若干的钱。42有一个穷寡妇来，往里投了两个小钱，就是一个大钱。43耶稣叫门徒来，说：“我实在告诉你们：这穷寡妇投入库里的，比众人所投的更多。44因为他们都是自己有余，拿出来投在里头；但这寡妇是自己不足，把她一切养生的都投上了。”
耶稣用这个美丽的故事提醒我们，神的子民中一些最慷慨的人并不是富人，而是穷人。我就遇到过一个人，她就像耶稣在这个故事中所称赞的寡妇。她的名字叫安娜。她一个人住在一所很小的房子里，五十多年来一直没有任何改善。我去她家拜访她，就像走进了半个世纪之前。她的炉子还是那种市场上最早的电炉子。她叫我过去。她告诉我，她从微薄的社会保障收入中每周存下20美元，以备不时之需。她说，“毕竟，这个旧炉子不能永远用下去。但我认为我们的教会正处于需要它的时候”，她递给我一个信封，里面有51张20美元的钞票。我几乎想拒绝她的慷慨，但后来想起了这个故事。她以她的奉献来荣耀上帝。我需要担心上帝不会看顾她吗?我们从未听说过故事中那个寡妇的遭遇，但我认为她没有挨饿。
耶稣为什么向门徒指出这一点?我认为，作为教会的带领者，我们有时很容易对那些慷慨的会友的慷慨奉献印象深刻，而来自穷人的谦卑的，匿名的，慷慨的奉献却被忽视了。依靠社会保障的寡妇，挣扎着支付昂贵的药品，甚至是餐桌上的食物，而她仍然用她的定期的规律的奉献来荣耀上帝。她的慷慨或许在我们的眼中没有被注意到，但在耶稣的眼中并不是。他不仅看到她奉献了多少，而且看到她奉献的那点钱背后的心。最重要的是，耶稣看到了她的内心，一颗把上帝放在第一位的心。
祷告:天父啊，我为一切感谢你——为我的救恩，为我的生命，为我日用的饮食。求你赐给我一颗慷慨的心，使我在一切事上荣耀你。阿们。
Mark 12:41-44: 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. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (NIV)
Jesus reminds us in this beautiful story that some of the most generous of God’s people are not the rich, but the poor. I met one of those widows that Jesus honors in this story. Her name was Anna. She lived alone in a very small house that hadn’t seen any improvements for over fifty years. Visiting her at home was like walking into time a half century earlier. Her stove must have been one of the first electric stoves on the market. She asked me to come over. She told me that she saved twenty dollars a week from her meager social security income for a rainy day. “After all,” she said, “this old furnace can’t last forever. But I think our church is having a rainy day and needs it more.” She handed me an envelope with fifty-one twenty dollar bills inside. I almost felt like refusing her generosity, but then remembered this story. She glorified God with her gift. Should I be worried that God would not take care of her? We never hear what happened to the widow in the story, but I don’t think she starved.
Why did Jesus point this out to the disciples? I think that as leaders in the church, we can easily become impressed with the largesse of generous members, while the humble, anonymous, generous gifts of the poor go unnoticed. The widow on social security struggles to pay for expensive medicine and even the food on her table while she still honors the Lord with her regular gifts. Her generosity goes unnoticed to our eyes, but not to the eyes of Jesus. He sees not only how much she gave, but from how little she gave. Most of all, Jesus sees what is in her heart, a heart that places God first in every way.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I give you thanks for all – for my salvation, for my life, for my daily bread. Give me a generous heart that honors and glorifies you in everything. Amen.