The Three Dollars History Lesson

And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.

A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent.

Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury [Temple treasury];

--Mark 12:41-43 (NASB)

Yesterday, during our early Sunday worship service announcement, our associate pastor said a homeless man who has frequented our church on weekdays, had asked the church secretary to tithe a dollar of his in this Sunday's collection. And on the previous Sunday service, the same man, through the assoicate pastor, had tithed two dollars.

This is the kind of life story that lends itself to an object lesson from the pulpit, with the lesson text drawn from, say, Mark 12:41-43. And many a generation of Christians have been chastened by these T3 genre sermons (time, talent, and treasure).

The salient characteristic of an object lesson sermon is it focuses on the tree (e.g. time, talent, treasure, or all three) and its place in the forest (the church body or the catholic church). Seldom does a topical sermon address the tree in relation to the keeper of the forest.

Case in point. At that moment of space and time when the poor widow gave her two coppers to the temple treasury, history was made. Unbeknownst to her and to every person past and present, she had a role in God's eternal decree. Aside from the lesson of faith giving from the heart, our finite mind cannot interpolate and extrapolate beyond what else God has put in motion in that instance (Isaiah 55:8). Be that as it may, faith giving from the heart has its place in His plan with far reaching consequences beyond comprehension. This young man's three-dollar offering was significant in God's plan at a moment of time and space.

Tithing has never been an issue with me, for I give gladly with a grateful heart.
The lesson I am learning from this homeless young man and his tithes has nothing to do with money. It is on something entirely different. His story or history has affected my meditation on the passage of Ephesians 1:11. Hence this post.

"in him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will."

Lesson and illumination. God ordains whatsoever comes to pass. The history of individuals is the history of the world. The history of the world is the autobiography of His own will.