Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling His disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44
Third, develop a habit of giving things away. If you find that you are becoming attached to some possession, consider giving it to someone who needs it. I still remember the Christmas I decided that rather than buying or even making an item, I would give away something that meant a lot to me. My motive was selfish: I wanted to know the liberation that comes from even this simple act of voluntary poverty. The gift was a tenspeed bike. As I went to the person’s home to deliver the present, I remember singing with new meaning the worship chorus, “Freely, freely you have received; freely, freely give.” When my son Nathan was six years old he heard of a classmate who needed a lunch pail and asked me if he could give him his own lunch pail. Hallelujah! De-accumulate! Masses of things that are not needed complicate life. They must be sorted and stored and dusted and re-sorted and re-stored ad nauseam. Most of us could get rid of half our possessions without any serious sacrifice.
Richard Foster (b. 1942) in Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 91-92.
Imagine if God’s people adopted the trajectory of voluntary poverty. It’s the only kind of giving celebrated by Jesus but not popular by any means. Why not? Think about it.
Things promise us a better life and, in reality, they only complicate it as we amass them.
What if your son wanted to give away his lunch pail. What would you say? Our son said something like this to us and we noticed our first reaction was to stop the radical giving. We didn’t but that was our reaction.
Giving out of voluntary poverty is the richest kind of giving because it demonstrates complete trust in God.
What can you give away this week? As you do, tell yourself this this widely quoted saying, “Do your giving while you’re living so you are knowing where it is going.
The resources in your stewardship have been entrusted to you. My best advice: voluntary poverty. Give them away.