Defining "More"

Southeast Christian Church

Jan 19, 2023

If someone were to give you a hundred-dollar bill and ask you to give it away to someone in need, would that money be hard to give? It likely wouldn’t be difficult to give, because it wasn't your money. It was never yours to begin with. You were handed it and told what to do with it, which made things incredibly simple. You didn't have to feel any pressure or anxiety because you were told exactly what to do with it by the owner. This is the approach that Scripture has to money and to finances. It's not yours; it's all God's. It all belongs to him. You brought nothing into this world, and you can take nothing out of it.

God entrusts you with a certain amount of what he has while you're here on earth, and he tells you what to do with it. You don't have to feel a lot of anxiety or pressure around those things because he's told us to do, and we trust that the one who owns everything is going to take care of things.

In Luke 21, Jesus watches this widow make her offering, and he says that this woman has put in more than all the others. In these verses, we see that Jesus defines more, not by the portion, but by the proportion. We typically define more by the portion or by the number, and Jesus is more about the proportion. If you own everything, then it doesn't matter if it's a dollar or a million dollars, right? It's the proportion that makes it generous.

Jesus explains the others gave out of their extra, but the widow gave out of her need. The other people gave in such a way that they wouldn't even notice and it wouldn't change anything about their week, their month, or their life. Jesus commends the widow because she gave out of their need in a way that would certainly impact her life.

Reflection/Discussion Question: Why do you think it is difficult to see all money and possessions as God's, instead of our own?

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