In God we trust, not the almighty dollar

 

Though her words are simple and few, Listen, listen, she's calling to you: "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag, Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag."  --Mary Poppins

The one and only time I was in New York City, I took my daughter to see a Broadway play.  Of all the musicals that were showing at the time, she wanted to see Mary Poppins.  The Disney movie had been released in 1964, but we saw it on Broadway over 40 years later.

One scene in particular stands out in my memory.  Jane and Michael accompany their father, George Banks, to the financial institution where George works.  His boss, Mr. Dawes, discovers that Michael has a coin worth two pennies, commonly called a tuppence.  Dawes urges young Michael to invest his two cents in a savings account, where it can draw compound interest over his lifetime, and over time could amount to "a tidy sum."  Michael, on the other hand, sees a poor woman outside selling birdseed for tuppence a bag.  Perhaps realizing that the woman's present livelihood is worth more than his own hope of riches, Michael demands his money back so that he can give it to the woman outside.  Michael's father George warns him that this is a waste of money, but more importantly could be putting his future in jeopardy.

Over my lifetime, I have interpreted this scene differently depending upon my own financial state at the time.  I have seen it as communist propaganda (urging people to share their profits with the poor for the good of society at large); as an encouragement to "buy local" and reward small business (whose markups are very small); and as a plea for charitable giving (two cents may mean "tuppence" to you, but to someone else it may be all that they have for that day.)

I thought of that scene in that musical when I read Mark's story (found in Luke 21 as well) about the widow's two mites.

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much.  Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."  --Mark 12:41-44

 Jesus had just spoken of the Scribes loving to show off their wealth--their long robes, their best seats in the synagogue, their being invited to the best parties and being given the most prominent seat at the table, perhaps because they "devoured widow's houses" (Mark 12:38-10).  Maybe they profited from holding debt, and then calling in that debt when the primary earner died (leaving widows destitute).  Maybe they made a pretense of helping the widows by buying up their family property at pennies on the dollar, and selling at a profit.  In any case, Jesus watched them put great sums of money into the Temple treasury, knowing that this was for show--it was not a sacrifice for them to give this money away, because they would never miss it.

Contrast that with the two mites that the poor widow threw in.  We think in terms of our currency, that a penny is the smallest unit of money.  In Jesus' day, this was worth even less than that.  Some translations says that the two mites made up a penny. That's not even accurate.  In Roman times the penny was divided into four quadrans, like out dollars are divided into four quarters.  That lowly quadran, a quarter of a cent, was divided into two pieces, called mites.  This is what the poor widow gave: two coins worth a quarter of a cent.  (Dividing money this way was not uncommon--if you read pirate stories, you have heard the term "pieces of eight", which was an eighth of a gold coin.  In fact, prior to 2001, the US Stock Exchange traded in 16ths of a dollar; it was not until April 9 of that year that the Stock Market was converted to decimals.)

Dividing pennies into eighths showed just how poor this woman was, because Jesus said it was all she had.  This offering showed her great faith.  If the Scribes and rich people were "all in" to the treasury the way she was, they would be giving up all of their riches.  The poor woman gave all she had as an offering because she had nothing else to give.  What an act of faith!

In 1 Kings 17, verses 7-16, we read of Elijah testing a certain widow's faith:

And it happened that after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.  Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "Arise, go to Zarepath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there.  See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."  So he arose and went to Zarepath.  And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks.  And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink."  And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."  So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have any bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."  And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.  For thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth'."  So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days.  The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

We don't know if the widow that Jesus saw was thinking of this Old Testament story when she brought her two mites into the Temple treasury.  What we do know is that in giving all she had, she was putting her trust fully in God alone to sustain her.  We also know that Jesus noticed; the woman was not flashy like the rich Scribes who came with buckets of money to put into the offering box.  Her two little mites did not make as much noise in the box as the clinking of many gold and silver coins would have made.  Nevertheless, Jesus noticed.  If Jesus noticed, we know that God knew of it.  I believe that God met this woman's needs because of her faith as expressed by her going "all in" with her offering.

In Psalm 37 David wrote, "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread." (Psalm 37:25)   God takes care of His children, who come to Him in faith and pursue Him with their whole heart.  And lest we be deceived, and think that His followers are all meant to be wealthy in this world, we only need to go up a couple of  verses, to Psalm 37:23-24 which says: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand."  What of those who reject Him, who are not part of the elect?  Again we look to Psalm 37, this time verse 22: "For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, but those cursed by Him shall be cut off."

Friend, everything you have in this world you have by the grace of God.  If you are rich, your riches are entrusted to you by Him.  If you are poor, His grace sustains you.  Do not turn your back on Him.  Do not trust in yourself, for if you put your trust in anyone or anything other than Almighty God, you will be cut off.  If your needs are met, give praise to His Name.  If you are in need, if you want for anything, call out to Him, for He will sustain you.  Even if all you have is a fraction of a penny to your name, give your all to God so that He may give you the desires of His heart.