“I tell you the truth,” [Jesus] said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:3-4 NIV).

How serious, how committed to Christ’s Kingdom are we who claim to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ? Do we build up “treasures in heaven” that can never be destroyed, or do we build up riches on earth where “moths and rust” will destroy (Matthew 6:20)?

Our society, our culture, has become very caught up in serving the gods of the Devil. Today, our American culture tells us that these gods are more important than the God of the universe.

These false gods include the gods of gold (look at our Oval Office), the gods of wealth and money (how many betting places are there now in Lycoming County alone?), possessions, position, power, creed, hate, and revenge. It is not hard to find these gods and the monuments we are building to them in our society (look at the size of our homes and look at the huge, lavish, gold-plated banquet hall being built at our White House).

Where are we placing our faith? Our numbers at many of our churches continue to go down while our betting facilities are growing by leaps and bounds. The bets we place on our lotteries and our sports are outpacing what we give to God and His Kingdom. Our homes have become our “sanctuaries,” many of them now being larger than many of our churches.

And the widow out of her poverty put in two copper coins; she put in all she had to live on (v. 2). And her gift, small in size according to her society and ours, lives on in the annals of God.

In what are we placing our values? Are we choosing to so declare our allegiance to God that we are allowing God to direct our living and our giving?

Over the past several months, I have been fighting against a powerful and deadly form of cancer. During this battle, my wife and I have been challenged to not only renew but increase our faith in the salvation offered through Jesus Christ.

As we have celebrated more fully that gift of Christ, we have recognized that we need to increase our commitment and faith in living and sharing the “Good News” in the world around us.

To that end, we have examined our giving to God’s Kingdom. We have prayed to Jesus, asking Him to help us reflect the gift of Jesus more fully in our giving and our lifestyle.

We, like many followers of Jesus Christ, have received letters or notices from our denomination’s mission arm. They are trying to fill in the gap that has been created by the closing of USAid. Millions more of God’s poor children are suffering because of the loss of that aid from USAid.

And the widow, poor as she was, gave two copper coins, all she had to live on. What should we give?

With prayer and trust in God, we have chosen to give much more to our mission arm that reaches out to the poor here in our nation and throughout the world. Are we filling that gap caused by the closing of USAid? No, but we are trying to do what God is leading us to do. We also are giving more to our local mission groups that serve others locally in the name of Christ. Giving these gifts has filled our hearts more completely with Christ and his love.

Our ongoing prayer is that God will lead us and all God’s children to re-examine where we are placing God in the priorities of our lives.

One of the great examples Jesus showed us was that of the poor widow in the Gospel of Luke.

As we continue to strive to follow in the Footsteps of Jesus, may we live out the generosity of Christ and may we give with the abandonment of the poor widow who joyfully gave all she had to live on.

Pastor Bob Wallace, retired UMC minister