Michael Rankins' lesson on Sunday was called “Thanks Is Giving”, taken from Mark 12:41-44. This is the story about the poor widow who offered only two coins, which was all that she had. This, in fact, was more generous than the rich people who could easily have given more. Verse 43-44: “…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.” The message is that how we use our gifts shows whether we appreciate them.
There are many lessons about gratitude in the widow's story:
The widow's gift demonstrated her gratitude. God had given her this much; she was thankful to have even this small amount - her thankfulness was not limited by the size of what she had been given. What she did have to give, she freely gave. She did not simply stay home, praying, "Thank you, Lord, for these two copper coins". She took action and gave those two coins back.
An opposing story, one about ingratitude in action, is the Ungrateful Servant (Matt. 18:23-28). When his master graciously forgave his huge debt, this servant went out and found a man who owed him a few coins. He violently attacked the man, demanding he pay back what was owed. How callous, how evil, to have been treated so generously and then, rather than “pay it forward”, resort to cruelty and greed.
When we are blessed, it's important to give God the glory for all that we have, but after giving thanks, we mustn’t stop there. Scripture teaches us that true gratitude is expressed by action. When Jesus first invested his apostles with miraculous gifts, he said to them, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give" (Matthew 10:8). The same principle applies to the temporal gifts we are given. If we truly appreciate and are thankful for those gifts, we will give them as freely as they were given to us.
Michael gave us a few questions to ponder during this time of Thanksgiving:
Is our gratitude expressed in word only, or in action?
Do we look at our gifts and possessions and see only what they provide for ourselves, or do we see them as opportunities to "freely give"?
Do we clutch our gifts, our “two coins”, tightly or does our gratitude move us to give them up to the glory of God?
Let us live lives of gratitude in action. May we be beacons of hope to others, and live God’s peace and mercy in all aspects of our lives.
view more