Money Matters: So What? Or So That!

by Marilynn Chadwick

Are you growing in your faith merely to become a "deeper" disciple? I call this a "so what" faith. I believe Jesus is calling us to more. God's Word urges us to grow in our faith "so that" we'll give our lives away to the least and lost.

I hope our lessons from the Gospel of Luke will encourage us to reflect on the question, "Is my life a so what or a so that?" How can we make a difference in our world?

Remember how Jesus always noticed the least and the lost. So often the poor are invisible to us. We may have to ask the Holy Spirit to help us regain our sight to see those who need Jesus—they are all around us.

Or God may call us to speak out for someone who can't speak out for themselves. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, God's people have been called to side with the poor, speak out for them, and use our time, talents, and treasure to help.

Jesus affirmed the poor widow's sacrificial gift. 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" (Luke 21:1-4).

Do you see what happened here? In the race to be righteous, against all the rich leaders who wanted to appear holy, this poor widow won the prize. She won God's favor.

In a desire to learn more about the widow's sacrificial gift, I called my friend Angela. Her insights proved eye opening because she had experienced both great poverty and God's great provision. She read much more into the story because of those life experiences. Angela confided, "Years ago, I gave all I had to live on. I put my last $6 into the church offering." In a very short time, provision came from an unlikely source. The Lord gave me many times what I had given." She smiled, "You can't outgive God."

For Angela, like the poor widow in Luke's account, giving was an act of faith—tied to worship. This is a woman who knew Jesus as her provider, her Jehovah Jireh. She had seen God come through before and she trusted him with her life.

So what does that mean for you and for me? Are we to sell all we have and follow Jesus? Some believers do. I know a pastor's family who sold everything and moved as missionaries to Thailand.

The widow in Luke's story gave just two mites, the least coin. And she was the least in her community. But Jesus said she gave all. Remember, small things matter to God.

Give your time, your treasure, your love. As someone wisely said, "You can't do everything, but you can do something."