Working for a widow’s mite?
How do you feel about the organisation you work for? Are they asking a mite too much of you? Most of us feel like that sometimes.
There is a connection between that sense of injustice and the context of the widow's mite story, which is one of unfairness and exploitation.
It is no accident that the story is sandwiched between Jesus' rebuke of the teachers of the law and his prophecy of the coming destruction of the temple. Israel had laws that were supposed to protect widows and orphans from poverty, but the temple leaders had not followed them. They had allowed a rich/poor divide to develop; the temple had become a place where some people were ripped off. Jesus described the teachers of the law as 'devouring widows' houses.' That probably means they intimidated widows to make gifts beyond their means.
In this context of corruption and oppression, the widow makes her sacrificial offering and her trust in God is untarnished by the system in which she lives. That's what really impresses me. Her offering of everything she has is symbolic of her attitude of complete trust that God is in control.
Workplaces can be places of corruption where employees feel oppressed. When your organisation does not follow best practice, when your boss uses you, and your colleagues are less than supportive, how will you respond? Are you going to quietly withhold offering your best because you feel oppressed, or are you going to continue to trust God and put in your best effort? God is watching for faith just as Jesus sat watching all those bringing their offerings and singled out the widow.
The tiny value of her offering, coupled with Jesus' response - which might be paraphrased, 'Did you see that? It was huge!' - teaches me that our definition of significance may be very different to God's. We may measure significance by the job title, the performance evaluation, the pay, but God is measuring significance by looking at the heart. What he saw in the widow was a heart of faith so focused on him that it remained unspoilt by resentment, unafraid of oppression, and unpolluted by the unfair environment.
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