1 Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. 2 And he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3-4 And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4 (English Standard Version)

Only four verses today, but a lot to think about. They come after what Jesus had just been saying about how the Scribes in those days liked to walk around in long robes and loved people’s greetings in the market-places. They also wanted the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at feasts. The gospel writer Matthew says this was true of the Pharisees too. Jesus warned His disciples, and the crowds: “The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so observe whatever they tell you - but not what they do! For they preach, but don't practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others.” (Matthew 23:2-5) Do you see a connection there with vs 1-2 of today's reading?

I suspect the rich people put their offerings into the box in a way that people saw them and saw how much they gave. It must have looked pretty impressive too. Now I'm just guessing here, but I suspect the poor widow didn't make a show of her giving. I wouldn't be surprised if she shuffled in very aware of her poverty, and dropped her two small coins into the box hoping no-one would notice how little it was compared to the big gifts of the wealthy. But look again in vs 3-4 how Jesus saw her act of giving to God's work.

Financially speaking, she gave everything she had. Those two copper coins were only the equivalent of two day's wages for a labourer. We're not told if she got them from some menial work she had done, or if they were from gifts of charity she had received. But she had nothing left as she made her way back to wherever she stayed. She would have to look to God for her next day's meal. And that's surely why the Lord was able to say that, from heaven's point of view, her small offering outweighed the gifts the wealthy had given out of their plenty.

This incident backs up what Jesus taught in what became known as 'The Sermon on the Mount.' One of the things Jesus said there was “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1)

That's a challenge even Christians need to take to heart and keep in mind. It's human nature to want to be noticed for any good things we may do. We want people to see us as 'good Christians' just as the Scribes and Pharisees wanted people to notice how religious they were. But we need to remember that human nature isn’t the same as it was before sin came into the world. Many of the things we think about ourselves (or want others to think about us) stem from pride. What really should matter to us is, what does God think of me? How does He see my acts of worship, my gifts to charity, and what I try to convey to people?

Jesus set the pattern for how we go about giving and our acts of kindness in the Sermon on the Mount when He said: “When you do good to other people, don’t hire a trumpeter to go in front of you - like those play-actors in the synagogues and streets who make sure that men admire them. Believe me, they have had all the reward they are going to get! No, when you give to charity, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be secret. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:2-4 From the J B Phillips paraphrase.)

I like to think that the widow did get food the next day. Jesus said “your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” But even if the next few days were tough going, she was not unnoticed by her heavenly Father. And it's better to have that than the praise of people.