Jesus looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:1-4)

Whenever I think about stewardship, I think of this story from the Gospel of Luke, sometimes called the widow’s mite. We live in a world that seems to value bigger and better, but sometimes the most powerful and generous gift is the one that is simple and small. 

When I was doing “Rev on the Roof” in September, one of the neighbours came by to visit. We had never met before, but they were curious about what was going on. Once we had chatted a little, they went home and grabbed 5 dollars in loonies and toonies – all they had at the time – and put it in my basket on the end of a rope (along with a granola bar for me) so that I could pull it up to the roof.  

We have had many generous donations to “Rev on the Roof,” and the roof project more generally, and I have been very moved by each of them, but this one, small gift was to me the most powerful of them all. 

We have all received gifts with which we have the ability to bless the world. Sometimes it is money, sometimes it is kind words, or time, or skills, or connections, or passions. Whatever it might be, let us be generous and faithful with all that God has given us. There is no offering that we can make that is too big or too small.  

Thanks be to God!


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