Sacrificial Giving is Real Giving

The story that Jesus told of the widow who gave an offering needs to be understood against the background of the ongoing arguments, discussions, debates and eventually divisions between Jesus and the religious eladers, particularly the Pharisees - who were known as the "set apart ones". The Pharisees would walk around in their long flowing robes, they liked to be greeted with respect in the market places and flaunt their intellectual abilities, and to have the best seats at the head table of the banquets and in the synagogues.
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However, for all their religious posturing, even as they said their long and fancy prayers were devising ways to "devour widow’s houses" meaning that they tricked the poor, especially widows, out of their money. Things are no different today. Watch any of the tele-evangelists and they all have the same message, directed to a captive audience, usually the sick and shut-ins, many are widows, and that message is "send us your money". Of course such requests are always couched in flowing, eloquent, emotional praying.
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Then Jesus sat down opposite the Temple treasury where people would drop money to help defray the cost of the sacrifices and expenses of the Temple. Some people would drop in large sums of money, but a widow came along and drops in two small copper coins, worth less than a cent, and according to Jesus, she had given more than anyone else.
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Here is the lesson in giving. Giving to be real giving must be sacrificial. For all the others, they had put money into the treasury ( read offertory plate) but they could easily spare it, and still have plenty left over. It was not in any way, considered ‘sacrificial giving" as it was really out of their wealth that they gave.
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It is not the size of the or amount of the gift that matters, but the sacrifice of the gift that matters. It is the cost to the giver that matters. Real giving, real generosity gives until it hurts. For many of us it is never a matter of giving until it hurts, because we are generally wealthy.
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There are few people who will do without their pleasures to give a little more to the work of God and to the work of the Church. So much of what happens in the Church today could be described as ‘coaxing people to give money" by way of fundraisers, dinners and other functions that offer something in return.
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Giving which is real giving has a certain recklessness to it. the widow might weel have kept one coin. It would not have been much but it was better than nothing. But no, she gave both. She gave everything she had. If we are being honest with ourselves, we always hold something back from Jesus.
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M. PSALM 68:1-6 --- GOD: DEFENDER OF WIDOWS
T. LUKE 18 --- A PERSISTENT WIDOW
W. LUKE 7:11-17 --- A WIDOW’S SON
T. LUKE 21:1-4 --- A WIDOW’S OFFERING
F. LUKE 20:1-47 --- EMPTY RITUAL & RELIGION
S. JAMES 1:26-27 -- RELIGION THAT GOD ACCEPTS.