"Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, 'Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.'" ~Luke 21:1-4 & Mark 12:41-44
Unless you live under a rock, you're aware that Christmas is next week. If you do live under a rock, I hope it's comfortable. Anyways, Christmas is the celebration of Christ's birth and the coming of our Savior into the world to reconcile us to God. It is a time for family and gift giving. Many have great joy in being able to share with others, trying their best to pick out the perfect gift for Christmas. It's also a time when churches and other groups within the community make a point to help the needy and give to those less fortunate. But have you ever encountered a situation where one of the needy you were serving wanted to serve you? What would you do in such a situation?
I personally encountered this when I was volunteering with Samaritan's Purse. There were trailer owners who would offer to go buy us coffee and donuts, and we would turn them down at times. It just seemed so hard to allow someone who had so little as it was to go out and buy for us when we knew that we had lunch in the truck and would have a warm meal provided back at the church. There was always a part of me that felt bad saying no, though. I felt as if I was denying that person in some way. It wasn't until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving that I actually allowed one of the least of these to serve me. We were working on a shed in a woman's yard and her neighbor, who was a Vietnam veteran with PTSD, offered me a bottle of water. Even though we had a case of water with us, something inside me told me that I should accept this offer because he was giving up something in order to help, and that's what community is all about. We can't deny the service of a member just because we feel guilt for receiving a gift.
God dispenses blessings and the ability to bless on everybody, and we must remember that we are all equal in his eyes, no matter how much or how little we have. The Scripture at the top of this post demonstrates that it is better to give out of your poverty rather than your wealth, so why would we want to stand in the way of the generosity of somebody that God has moved to bless us? A very moving story about a situation like this can be found in the book Weird by Craig Groeschel. He was on a missions trip with his family and his daughter, Mandy, really touched the people of the community. They wanted to bless her with a dress that they had made that would cost one month's wages. Pastor Groeschel offered to pay for it and wanted the translator to pass that message on. Instead, his translator stared at him and said, "Please, it would be very rude for you to rob them of the blessings they would like to give you and your family on behalf of God." Luckily Pastor Groeschel got the point and realized he was wrong to even suggest paying for the gift. As he said, "Mandy's dress reminds me still of how arrogant we can become to assume we need nothing from the poor."
Offering to pay for a gift from a friend is considered a slap in the face, so why would we consider doing that to someone else just because they are poor? Rather we should accept the gift with the upmost joy, completely understanding the sacrifice that is being made in order to offer up the generous gift. God moves certain people to give no matter what it costs them in the long run, so I believe that we all must recognize these gifts as blessings and accept them as such.
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