Simply Jesus Pt. 27: “This Poor Widow Put in More Than All the Rest…”

My sister-in-law used to be an Emergency Room nurse here in Houston, TX. Roughly 10 years ago, she decided to leave that life behind and take her talents to the cushy surroundings of the Mozambican delta. You know, the land where crocodiles, hippos, rock monitor lizards and malaria-infested mosquitos roam.

Over the last few years she has started a primary health care school for the villagers. She also does frequent helicopter medical outreaches to remote places along the Zambezi River where people are rarely able to visit areas where they can receive medical treatment. 

Needless to say, Leanna Ward is kind of an inspiration. Why would an intelligent girl with a good-paying job in the prime of her life leave it all behind to put down her roots in one of the poorest countries in the world?

When I was a kid, I thought we were poor because I was comparing my family to the more wealthy families at my schools, and especially to celebrities on television. So, going to Swaziland, Africa, in 2004 and seeing real poverty was quite eye opening for me. At that time, Swaziland had the highest percentage of citizens living with AIDS in the world. Yet I encountered so many people who possessed grateful hearts. Their unshakable attitude of thanksgiving constantly rebuked my perception of the hand I had been dealt.

My three subsequent mission trips to Mozambique have produced similar effects within my heart and worldview. However, what is usually the most difficult to deal with, and at the same time most refreshing to my soul, is witnessing the overjoyed acts of hospitality carried out by the people there.

When one of the locals kills a chicken out of their own pen, then brings course after course to the table and closes the meal with a homemade cake, you can’t help but feel overwhelmed. That kind of generosity almost seems otherworldly. Actually, every time it’s happened, the Holy Spirit has directed my mind back to a famous scene in the Gospel of Mark.

And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” – Mark 12:41-44

Though that poor widow certainly went unnoticed by the crowds, she made quite an impression on the Lord. Jesus sees so much more than we do. He knows so much more than we do. And though the rich are often praised by the world for their trumpeted acts of supposed generosity, Jesus is often far more impressed by the faith of the poor.

Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage in the mid-third century, highlights this truth well in a commentary on the Marcan passage:

Consider in the Gospel the widow that … even amidst the difficulties and straits of poverty, casting two mites, which were all that she had into the treasury. … When the Lord observed and saw … considering not how much, but from how much she had given, He answered and said, “Truly I tell you that this widow has cast in more than all the contributors into the offerings of God. For they all put in out of their abundance … but she of her poverty has cast in all that she had to live on.” … Let the rich be ashamed of their poverty and unbelief. The widow, the widow needy in means, is found rich in works. – Cyprian 250CE, Volume 5, p. 838 [CD-ROM]

The poor widow put in two cents, and yet she put in more than all the rest. At the same time that she lost every earthly thing, she was one of the richest people in eternity. Though many with a worldly point of view may have thought her to be a fool, God acknowledged her as one of the wisest on earth.

Earlier I asked why my sister-in-law would leave behind a great career to be a full-time missionary in such a poor and dangerous place like the Mozambique delta. Maybe it’s to be in the midst of real wisdom. Maybe it’s to see true riches up close. Maybe it’s to live amongst a people who are full of faith in the King whose kingdom is not of this world.

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? – James 2:5

Click here to find out more about YWAM Marromeu in Mozambique.