The Widow’s Mite

Have y’all ever been to an auction? My husband and I LOVE auctions. Probably too much. We have furnished (and over-furnished) our home with auctions and estate sales. The cool thing about an auction is that you never know how much an item will sell for. No doubt you’ve heard the expression, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

Occasionally we see something come up for bid that we assess to be a piece of junk, and while we sit quietly and wait for the next item, the price on said junk rises and rises and rises. That’s when we start whispering to each other. “What IS that thing? What did we miss? Where is the value in it?” because obviously, we weren’t savvy enough to see the significance or worth that another bidder saw.

Usually, after the sale, my husband goes back and speaks to the buyer (because we are nosy that way – please, no stories about curiosity and the cat…) and asks about the item. More often than not it’s a rare antique or something sentimental from a family sale. We failed to appreciate the merit or appeal, that the buyer saw. We were simply not willing to give as much as the other guy.

But that’s what is unique about an auction. The value of an item is based solely on what the collective crowd wants to pay for it. So you could have an item that sells for far less than its retail value (a bargain!), or much more than its retail value. I guess that’s the fun of it; you never know what will happen. It’s a reminder though, that the ultimate worth of a thing, is exclusively based on what somebody is willing to pay for it.

Lately, I have been thinking about what it means to give “all of me” to God. I’ve been going through the book Dangerous Prayers by Craig Groeschal. He talks about praying the prayers that will lead to your refinement and ultimately growing more intimate with God. I heard it said recently that often we are willing to give 98% of ourselves to God, but it’s that last 2% that we hold back. We cling to that sliver of ourselves that we don’t show ANYBODY because we think it’s too ugly and shameful to see the light of day. That resonated with me. I absolutely have things that I hide in the dark recesses of myself that I don’t want to admit to HAVING, much less dig out and GIVE to the Creator of the Universe. As if “ME” wasn’t bad enough already without that ugly 2%. But if you add in that 2%, it certainly doesn’t make things look any cleaner or more worthy. So I was thinking about what it looks like to God for me to give “all of me.”

I began to think about the story of the widow’s mite (Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4). In the story Jesus sees people giving their offerings at the temple. He saw wealthy people giving large amounts, but then He saw a widow give a “mite” or two small copper coins, worth less than a penny. But Jesus told his disciples that out of all the givers, the widow actually gave the MOST. The wealthy folks gave out of their surplus, or what was left over. They gave what they didn’t need. But the widow gave ALL SHE HAD.

ALL SHE HAD.

What if I gave ALL I HAVE? What if I gave ALL OF ME? I started wondering what my “mite” would look like. I imagined it would look a whole lot like the penny that got dug out of the seat of the family mini-van. Dirty, corroded, sticky, smelly. It would probably have some dried Coke or juice on it, a little dab of ketchup, piece of a French fry, and maybe have part of a dried gummy bear stuck to it – in short, not something you would really even want to put in your pocket to keep, let alone give to anybody.

The Word says that our righteousness – my righteousness – is as filthy rags. So here I am, offering up to God my “mite.” All of me. Everything I have. And it’s nasty. It’s sticky and dirty and corroded. It’s got dried up, molded, disgusting bits of my life stuck to it. But if you read the story of the widow’s mite, Jesus says that she gave the most because she DID give all that she had – and that’s what the Father wants. He wants my nasty, sticky, corroded “mite.” He wants ALL of me. Isaiah 61 says He gives us beauty for ashes.

And, like at an auction, my “mite” is worth as much as somebody is willing to give for it. It doesn’t matter the condition. It doesn’t matter that everybody else thinks it’s ragged and worthless. No matter WHAT it looks like (or smells like), the fact is that Jesus gave his very lifeblood to redeem “all of me.” He found it valuable enough to die for it. He saw worth. He paid a high price.

Lord, I want to give you ALL of me…even that last shameful 2%. And help me to see people (myself included) the way Jesus sees them. Help me to see the WORTH and the VALUE in me and the people around me. Let me be Your mouthpiece so that I can help people to see what they are REALLY worth in the eyes of God. And let me live a life that is WORTHY of the gospel!

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