Gifts Large and Small
As he looked up he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins, “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4
The price of a gift shouldn’t make any difference to the receiver. The more important factor should certainly be the thought, the heart behind the gift. No gift is too small if it reflects the love of the giver. Too often many of us agonize over the size or price tag of a gift. Our society says that bigger is better as do the reactions of certain receivers.
Years ago I attended a party where the couple being honored was given a very large gift from one of their children. Clearly the dollar amount of that gift reached well into the thousands. The givers were extremely wealthy people. The price to them was nothing, a drop in their overflowing bucket. The woman receiving the gift became quite emotional, thanking them profusely with tears on her face. A few gifts later she opened a gift from another of her children. The gift was much less expensive, a small household appliance. It came however from a person much like the widow who most likely spent her last few dollars to purchase it. Beyond that it was something the woman had repeatedly mentioned wanting. Opening it she gave a slight nod in the direction of that giver and said a brief thank you. The look on the giver’s face gave away none of the disappointment I knew she was feeling. She smiled and expressed her hope that it was in fact the desired object. No assurances came that it was because the couple had gone back to oohing and ahhing over the larger gift. How unlike Jesus we are!
Knowing the people involved fairly well, I know the motivation behind both gifts. The large gift was given in part to buy favor with the couple. It was also given to say, “look what we can do, with no real effort.” The smaller gift was given in an attempt to fill a want. It stretched the budget of the giver to the extreme but she didn’t care because she was anticipating the joy of the receiver. That joy didn’t come, overshadowed as it was, by something flashier. Thankfully our Father doesn’t operate that way. We bring Him our measly little tithes and offerings, we occasionally obey Him, perhaps giving Him something that does stretch us a little and He is happy to receive it as long as it is given with a cheerful heart.
The size of our gifts and offerings do not matter to our Father in heaven. He looks at our hearts. Gifts should be given from love. We have the perfect example in Jesus, who gave his very life for us. He gave his literal blood, sweat and tears for us not just at the Cross but for all of the years leading to it. We are all aware of the violent and excruciating way that our dearest Lord and Savior died. Those of us who love him feel sorrow, pain and maybe some guilt at the thought of all he suffered. We think of that suffering in the past tense. I can’t help but wonder if every time we count some thing as more valuable than his gift if it breaks his heart a little bit.
Watching the scene I described above with the big gift and the smaller one, I saw the validity of the passage from Luke in living color. The size of a gift shouldn’t matter. The motive, the heart, the intentions are far more important. Jesus gave us all that he had to give. He gave us his heart, literally. How often we forget that as we seek him for far lesser things. We can be assured that he wants us to have what we need and even some of what we want. Before we drew breath, he’d already given us far more than we deserve.
The price of a gift shouldn’t make any difference to the receiver. The more important factor should certainly be the thought, the heart behind the gift. No gift is too small if it reflects the love of the giver. Too often many of us agonize over the size or price tag of a gift. Our society says that bigger is better as do the reactions of certain receivers.
Years ago I attended a party where the couple being honored was given a very large gift from one of their children. Clearly the dollar amount of that gift reached well into the thousands. The givers were extremely wealthy people. The price to them was nothing, a drop in their overflowing bucket. The woman receiving the gift became quite emotional, thanking them profusely with tears on her face. A few gifts later she opened a gift from another of her children. The gift was much less expensive, a small household appliance. It came however from a person much like the widow who most likely spent her last few dollars to purchase it. Beyond that it was something the woman had repeatedly mentioned wanting. Opening it she gave a slight nod in the direction of that giver and said a brief thank you. The look on the giver’s face gave away none of the disappointment I knew she was feeling. She smiled and expressed her hope that it was in fact the desired object. No assurances came that it was because the couple had gone back to oohing and ahhing over the larger gift. How unlike Jesus we are!
Knowing the people involved fairly well, I know the motivation behind both gifts. The large gift was given in part to buy favor with the couple. It was also given to say, “look what we can do, with no real effort.” The smaller gift was given in an attempt to fill a want. It stretched the budget of the giver to the extreme but she didn’t care because she was anticipating the joy of the receiver. That joy didn’t come, overshadowed as it was, by something flashier. Thankfully our Father doesn’t operate that way. We bring Him our measly little tithes and offerings, we occasionally obey Him, perhaps giving Him something that does stretch us a little and He is happy to receive it as long as it is given with a cheerful heart.
The size of our gifts and offerings do not matter to our Father in heaven. He looks at our hearts. Gifts should be given from love. We have the perfect example in Jesus, who gave his very life for us. He gave his literal blood, sweat and tears for us not just at the Cross but for all of the years leading to it. We are all aware of the violent and excruciating way that our dearest Lord and Savior died. Those of us who love him feel sorrow, pain and maybe some guilt at the thought of all he suffered. We think of that suffering in the past tense. I can’t help but wonder if every time we count some thing as more valuable than his gift if it breaks his heart a little bit.
Watching the scene I described above with the big gift and the smaller one, I saw the validity of the passage from Luke in living color. The size of a gift shouldn’t matter. The motive, the heart, the intentions are far more important. Jesus gave us all that he had to give. He gave us his heart, literally. How often we forget that as we seek him for far lesser things. We can be assured that he wants us to have what we need and even some of what we want. Before we drew breath, he’d already given us far more than we deserve.
Comments
Post a Comment