We talk a lot about generosity at Elevate Life Church. We think it’s incredibly important to what it means to be a Christian – someone who embraces the life of Jesus as their own. But exactly does generosity actually look like? How will we know when we’ve been genuinely generous?
While there are countless examples of giving told throughout the Bible, two of them draw special commendation by Jesus himself. These two acts of generosity are so powerful that they impress the one who gave away his very life for the sake of others. Mark’s gospel tells both of these stories just two chapters apart – the story of the widow’s mite in Mark 12 and the story of Jesus’ anointing at Bethany in Mark 14.
The first exemplary act of generosity is of a woman who gave her last two coins as an offering at the temple. Jesus had encouraged his disciples to watch the givers as they made their contributions because he wanted them to learn to recognize real generosity. The wealthy people there were giving sums of money so large that it blew the disciples minds – they were obviously impressed. But in the middle of all the high rollers passed a widow who dropped something small into the plate without any notice or fanfare. The gift was notable to God, though – so much so that the Bible tells us exactly how much she gave: two copper coins (probably worth around $1 today). Jesus stopped everything for a teaching moment – generosity had just happened and the disciples didn’t even notice it. The wealthy had given out of their abundance but this widow had given out of her own need. She had given all that she had.
The second story of lavish giving seems on the surface to be very different. This time, a woman comes to Jesus in the middle of a dinner with his friends and disciples and pours expensive perfume on him. Her gift was so remarkable that the Bible also tells us exactly how much she gave – 300 denarii. A denarius was the pay for one day’s labor. She had just poured out almost a year’s worth of earnings (probably worth around $30,000 today). And once more, the disciples missed the moment. In fact, some of them criticized her gift – it was too lavish, too expensive. But Jesus again stopped the conversation to show them what generosity looks like. He said, “Leave her alone…She did what she could…” (Mark 14.6,8). Her gift, like the widow, was not just something she could do but everything she could do and it honored Christ.
So what is generosity? How can we be sure that we’re not just another high roller giving from our abundance but never truly sacrificing? How can we have an appreciation for true generosity that goes beyond that of the disciples? The best way is to look at generosity like Jesus did and, for him, it was simple: generosity means doing all we can.
This week, as we approach The Big Give and are challenged toward sacrificial generosity, let’s respond in the way that honors the One who gave all – let’s each do what we can.