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As Jesus 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. \u201cTruly, I tell you,\u201d he said, \u201cthis 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\u201d (Luke 21:1-4).

A man who had become very wealthy was once asked to speak at the launch of a church fundraising campaign. In his conclusion, he mentioned that when he was young, he had pledged to give God 10% of everything he earned. He also recalled that the Sunday after he had earned his first paycheque the minister had preached on the opening words of Luke 21. As the offering plate went by that morning, he put that entire first paycheque into it. As he took his seat, the lady behind him leaned forward and whispered, \u201cI dare you to do it again.\u201d

I do not know if this story is true, but I did read it once and tucked it away in my story bank. It gets at the heart of Jesus\u2019 reflections on the widow\u2019s offering. But to get there, we need to do a little background.

Yesterday, Pastor Anthony reflected on the end of chapter 20, where Jesus berates religious show-offs. Jesus insists that God does not see things as we do. He does not count; he weighs. He does not count the coins we donate; he weighs the heart that gives. Jesus called this widow\u2019s gift the greatest of those that his disciples have been observing. What others gave came out of their excess. They would not miss what they had tossed into the temple offering. But this widow gave out of her poverty. She gave what little she had, even though she needed it to live on. Jesus called that real giving.

Jesus is not discouraging the wealthy from giving large amounts. He is challenging our hearts. Those wealthy would not miss what they had given, they gave showing off. As Jesus says in Matthew 6, that is all the reward they would get, \u201cthe praise of people.\u201d But the widow did not know if she would eat tomorrow. Her giving was an act of trust. Trust that God would care for her tomorrow.

That was the challenge given to our wealthy man. Would he trust God again?

Jesus is not telling us that we should give away everything we have. But he is asking us to allow the Holy Spirit to test our hearts. Why are we giving? To feel good about ourselves or as a gift to God? Do we ever give so that it hurts? Do we give so that we are deprived? Are we willing to take $50 for our weekly grocery budget, eating less costly food, so that someone else can buy groceries?

God weighs the heart. Where do our priorities lie? With sacrificial love or with satisfying our own cravings?

Jesus praises the widow because her attitude and action serve as an example of how believers should live. Jesus turns the tables of evaluation here. We tend to appreciate the amount of a gift, not necessarily the sacrifice that went into the giving. Notice Jesus uses a person on the fringe of society, a poor woman who would have been a nonperson culturally, to exemplify his kingdom ethic. God sees her gift as among the most significant. A seemingly poor gift was rich in what it cost and represented.

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How do we develop such an attitude of the heart? In 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 Paul writes of setting aside at the first of the week what we plan to give. What we give to God deserves priority. He should not receive our leftovers. As is all too common, the leftovers mysteriously shrink in size. On the other hand, giving to God that which is set aside from the first limits what we use for ourselves. It develops not only a healthy recognition that our resources belong to God, but it can also lead us to be more disciplined with what is left for us after we give.

And it helps us live in trust that God will provide for us from what is left.