The Parable of The Widow and Her Coins

He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.’

New Revised Standard Version, Luke 21:1-4

Its so easy to complain about the wealthy people of this world. Mansions with billionaires who all seem to have criminal levels of wealth. How can anyone really justify having so much in light of the suffering in the world? We scoff at the inequity, and certainly look down our noses at more than a few people along the way.

The widow reminds us: What did you do? You judge the millionaires, and she--by her example--judges you. Many of us have convinced ourselves that we "need" so much of what we have. We tell ourselves that its the millionaires and billionaires who could stand to reduce their standard of living, but the rest of us are just "getting by." Tell someone starving to death that you "need" your car or your new clothes or your jewelry more than they need to eat.

These are some of my favorite verses in scripture. To me, its all about judgement. Or at least, a caution against it. Who can really judge the giving of another? If we have such a difficult time managing our possessions and giving what we have in service to the needy, we should be able to understand the difficulty someone else has in parting with their stuff, as well--even the very rich. There is something in the human condition that makes intentional poverty a very difficult thing to do.

Its too easy to say, "Yeah, I have a few extra dollars I could give, but they have millions they could easily give without even batting an eyelash." But did you give your few extra dollars? Did you give another dollar that wasn't extra? Careful who you judge, because while you may shake your head at the millionaires and billionaires, there might be someone in the third world who could shake their head at you.

I'm not trying to lecture anyone here, because I wrestle with this every day myself. The more we have, the more we convince ourselves that we need. While these verses are a reminder to us what 'gospel giving' really looks like, it may also help us to have compassion on the "rich" people of the world who hold onto their wealth. They are not that different from us.

There is nothing comfortable about this parable.