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. 

Lord's Prayer Pt. 2 - Hallowed Be Your Name

Teaching the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer is a fun and challenging exercise whether you’re discussing the matter with adults or your 7-year-old daughter. This is especially true when you get to words like ‘hallowed’. Hallowed is just not a word that one hears in 2016. 

To help break down the concept of what it means to hallow God’s name, let me tell you a brief story. In 2004, I went to Africa for the first time. Our group from Houston Baptist University was doing AIDS education in various high schools in Swaziland. At that point, Swaziland had the highest AIDS prevalence rate in the world. It was heartbreaking.

One day, we had finished our daily presentations and were outside talking with the students. I remember one girl telling me how desperately she wanted to go to America. I asked her why, and what she said amazed me.

The picture of America she described seemed like it had been taken right out of a Britney Spears video. (I realize that is a dated reference, but this story occurred in 2004.) If you want America to have a good name with outsiders, and they have any semblance of a moral compass, you probably should keep them away from Britney Spears videos.

Anyway, I tried to tell her that America as a whole wasn’t like that, but she wouldn’t believe me. Even though America’s name was soiled in toxic waste in her mind, the depravity was appealing to her. Heartbreak upon heartbreak.

It made me think of Paul’s word to the Corinthians that Christians, “are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us (2 Corinthians 5:20).”

Before our team from HBU came to her school, those music videos were the only representation of America that girl had ever seen. It was as if America was making its appeal through Britney. However, far more than being representatives of the country of America, our team from HBU was there as ambassadors for the kingdom and family of God.

A kingdom whose laws and values are far richer than those of America. A kingdom whose King is infinitely better than any ruler who has sat in the White house. A kingdom whose citizens don’t seek first financial security and physical safety, but rather the King’s glory in every aspect of their lives. A kingdom that keeps growing because the name/character of the King is mirrored by His children.

What does it mean for us to hallow God’s name? Cyprian says it well. 

When we call God Father, we ought to act as God’s children; so that in the measure in which we find pleasure in considering God as a Father, He might also be able to find pleasure in us. Let us converse as temples of God, that it may be plain that God dwells in us. … “You are not your own; for you are bought with a great price. Glorify and bear about God in your body.” After this we say, “Hallowed be Thy name;” not that we wish for God that He may be hallowed by our prayers, but that we beseech of Him that His name may be hallowed in us. … Because He says, “Be holy, even as I am holy,” we ask and entreat, that we who were sanctified in baptism may continue in that which we have begun to be. And this we daily pray for; for we have need of daily sanctification. – Cyprian 250CE, Volume 5, p. 787-788 [CD-ROM] 

If we are God's children, we should seek to reflect our Father more and more purely so the world will love Him more than itself.