Have you ever been given something worth far more than you initially realised?
I was 15 years old, packing my bags to head home from a service trip in Fiji, when Paul came bounding up the path to the house I was staying. In his hand was a necklace with a Tabua, a single shined whale’s tooth, as its centerpiece. Paul was a local boy I met that week and we had become fast friends. He had helped us serve his community all week long, and had now come to say goodbye. Paul placed the necklace over my neck, explaining that he could not afford a real Tabua but had carved this replica out of wood, and engraved my Fijian name ‘Tevita’ onto it. I thanked him, said goodbye and finished packing my bag. I wore the necklace proudly right up until the moment my teacher and trip leader started screaming at me. ‘Where did you get that? You must return it at once!’ A few minutes of confused conversation later, she realised it wasn’t a real Tabua, calmed down, and all was right in the world again.
Except… I felt like my world had been tipped upside down. My teacher explained that a Tabua was the highest form of honor one could receive in Fijian culture and she had panicked because she thought I had somehow inherited a very rare and valuable family heirloom. Although not real, understanding the weight of what I had been given left me speechless. Paul could not afford to give much, but he had spent hours meticulously carving and shining what, for him, represented the highest form of honor he could give me, a Tabua. And in so doing, he placed a value and worth on my life that I have never forgotten.
As we head into this Christmas season, we find ourselves once again in the often mind-numbing (at least for me) process of making lists of people (I can’t forget Aunty Ruth this year), shopping (I wonder how many people I can get the same thing without them realising?), and wrapping gifts (sorry guys, you’ll know which gifts are from me because they all have the same paper – again). But what if we pause for a moment and consider the impact, purpose, and gain of our giving.
Cast your mind back with me to the streets of Jerusalem in bible times. The dusty roads. The smell of live animals. People milling around on foot. For every Jew, the temple was the main feature of the city. It was their place of worship and their point of interaction with God. And on this particular day, as you walk through the temple gates, you notice Jesus and his disciples near where the people give their offerings to God. As you watch, you see several Pharisees, people of the law, and local celebrities walk up to the place of offering and put on a show. Everyone is awed by the fact that they are giving $1000, $2000, $4000, $9000 dollars to the Lord. It’s like a competition – how much can you give?
Then seemingly out of nowhere a small hunched over woman, trying to look inconspicuous, darts out of the shadows and drops a couple small coins into the offering plate. She then melts back into the crowds of people, never to be seen again.
You are not the only one who has noticed the little lady slink in with her offering. There is a stir of activity around Jesus as He ushers His disciples near. Evidently He has something important to say. Moving closer, you are surprised by what you hear.
“Truly I tell you, 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.”
She didn’t have much that she could give, but she gave what she had. In doing so, she unknowingly placed a worth and honor on Jesus that He would never forget. The bible doesn’t tell us what happened to her after this, she fades out of the story just as quickly as she enters. But I can’t imagine she received much attention from society. She wouldn’t have been a person of great respect or influence, yet in her gift she gained honor from the God of the universe. And her story so impacted the disciples that they memorialised it forever in the Gospels. To someone with so little, imagine how much that would have meant. What she gave became all she had.
It’s no different for us today. What we choose to give may look very different, but it is in our giving that we truly gain. It’s in the time given for others that we find true friendship. It’s in the time given to God that we find true meaning and purpose for life. It’s in the use of our resources for the sake of another that we find true happiness and love for the world around us. What we give, truly, is all we have.
Maybe this year you find yourself finishing strong. Your finances are ahead, your energy abundant, and your relationships are better than ever. I challenge you to give with humility, to be sensitive to those around you, and to experience the joy of genuinely lifting others up.
Or perhaps this year you find yourself struggling. Things aren’t where you anticipated, the reserves are running low, and ‘flat’ would be a fitting word to describe how you’re feeling. I challenge you to give anyway, to learn firsthand the paradox that giving often fills us up, and to be filled again by the one who gave it all for you.
No matter where you find yourself today, I genuinely want to wish you a blessed Christmas. And I can’t wait to meet you soon!
Pastor Dave
Dave Toogood is currently packing up his belongings in the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia, and excited to be arriving here in January as our new Youth Pastor.