Which would I rather be?

Mark 12:41-44

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Yesterday we heard about wealthy teachers of the law who like to be recognized as Godly but are far from it in their hearts. Now Jesus contrasts them with a widow who is the exact opposite in every way. It appears that she is giving almost nothing to God. In the first century, widows would be in desperate, hopeless poverty unless their families took care of them. Widows without family had the absolute lowest status in their incredibly status conscious culture. Who would want to be her?

But God sees things differently. ‘The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’  (1 Samuel 16:7) Jesus sees that she is the one who loves God with all her heart and with all her soul and with all her mind and with all her strength (Mark 12:30). She is the one, truly bearing God’s image in which she is made, and giving herself completely to God (Mark 12:16-17). She is the one who gets it right.

So, in our culture which loves wealth and celebrity just as much as Jesus’ culture, which would I rather be? Rich, well respected teacher of the law, or an impoverished, insignificant nobody? Against all sorts of instincts, I choose to be an insignificant nobody so long as I’m God’s insignificant nobody.

Father, today and every day, I want to affirm that I do love you with all my heart and soul and mind and strength. I do give my whole self you. I’m sorry that sometimes I let superficial things take your place. Please transform my heart and soul and mind so that I can love you with my whole being, and join you in loving people around me in the same way you love me.

Written by David Cornell