“I won’t offer up
to the Lord my God . . . offerings that cost me nothing.” 2
Samuel 24:24b
For a gift to mean something to the recipient there must
be a cost involved, whether the cost is measured in dollars or thought or time.
If you’ve ever been the recipient of a thoughtful gift, you know that the
impact of another’s thoughtfulness far outweighs the financial cost. On the
other hand, an expensive gift that fails to consider the heart of the recipient
or is offered only to fulfill an obligation, or worse yet, to impress folks
other than the recipient, is not a sacrificial gift.
Last week, I was part of an eight person mission team
that traveled to El Salvador with Living Water International to drill a well in
a community without nearby access to clean water. The three women of our team,
with the help of Liz Trigueros, our LWI translator, taught hygiene lessons to
the women and children of the village so that once the well was complete, they
would know the importance of clean water and how to keep the water clean once
it was drawn from the well.
Spending four full days in the village, we developed
relationships, especially with some of the children. But even before we had time to let these relationships
grow and blossom, I experienced what for me was the most profound moment of the
week. One day one, we met people from the village and walked from house to
house to meet folks and to see how they lived. Carlos, the community leader,
gave us a tour of the village and a crowd of children accompanied us. One girl,
probably 12 years old, taught me about sacrificial giving.
Debora had two bracelets, one black and one green. Each
consisted of several elastic strings of beads tied together with a matching
ribbon. She untied the ribbons, divided the strands of beads and shared them
with the four women in our group. I felt as though I had received the widow’s
mite, for Debora gave us all she had to give.
While I have bracelets that involved a greater financial
outlay, and ones with sentiment and memory attached to them, I have no costlier
one than these four simple strands of green beads. I am grateful for and
humbled by this sacrificial gift of love. As I look at it and remember Debora,
I hear Jesus’ challenge to me, “Now go and do likewise.”
In the Common English Bible, the story about the poor
widow reads like this:
Looking up, Jesus
saw rich people throwing their gifts into the collection box for the temple
treasury. He also saw a poor widow throw in two small copper coins worth a
penny. He said, “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than them
all. All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her
hopeless poverty has given everything she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4
The rich put in their spare change, but the widow gave
everything she had. I cannot look at the bracelet on my arm without feeling the
conviction of my economic station. I, the rich, received from a poor girl, a
truly sacrificial gift. But I also am challenged to follow her example of
giving, to give generously and joyfully, to give without holding back, to give
as I have received from Debora and from God.
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