Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

sury."erality"all"giver"sions are many or few he has an obligation of stewardship. Not infrequently weread of people who have lived as paupers and theywere looked upon with abject pity. But when they died it wasdiscovered that they had money inbanks, or not trusting banks, wouldhave it stored away in an old trunk orbeneath the attic floor.But this widow was not that kind of aperson. Although she had little to giveshe was ready to bestow it upon someone whose need was greater than herown. Her gift was a sacrificial gift and atrue act of self-denial. Sometimes wehave "self-denial" offerings and it is debated whether those who give truly denythemselves. But there can be no doubtthat this woman gave a self-denial offering.3. She Gave in FaithThe widow probably didn't knowwhere she would get her next meal, butshe had trusted the Lord before and hadfound Him faithful. She had learnedto pray, "Give us this day our dailybread" and believed that the Lord wouldgrant her petition. The widow of Zarephathat the time of the great droughtin Israel used the last of her meal tobake a cake for the prophet Elijah. Andwe are told that the "jar of meal wastedfail."not, neither did the cruse of oilR. G. LeTourneau was heavily in debt.He felt led to pledge $5,000 to missions,believing that the Lord would enablehim to meet his pledge. He not only paidhis pledge but was able to pay off his indebtedness as well.A Sabbath School missionary of theNorthwest was trying to raise money fora church library. Money was scarce, butfinally a man said he would give $5that he had been saving to buy a swarmof bees. He would get along without thebees some way. Later in the week whenthe missionary called on the man, theman came running to tell him that uponreturning torn church he had found avery large swarm of bees over the doorof his house and that he had had to remove the bees before he could open thedoor.The Lord rewards those who give infaith, believing. The reward may not always be so spectacular as in the abovementioned cases, but one who gives outof a true heart is not unblessed by God.II. CHRIST'S OBSERVATIONSeeing the woman's spirit of love andself-denial, Jesus was led to exclaim,"Verily she hath cast in more than allthey that were casting into the trea1. God Is More Interested in the GiverThan the GiftThe woman had brought only two300mites. It would take five of them toequal a penny in our money. Shebrought two coins of little value but shebrought all. As Paul wrote to the people at Corinth, "Every man according ashe purposeth in his heart, so let himgive, not grudgingly or of necessity, forGod loveth a cheerful (II Cor.9:7). The members of the Macedonianchurch were among the poorest of theChristians but they were also among themost liberal. Paul speaks highly of themwhen he writes, "that in a great trialof affliction the abundance of their lib(II Cor. 8:2, 3).2. God Is Able to Multiply Small GiftsFive loaves and two small fishes wereall that a boy had to offer to Jesus. Buthe was able to multiply them and feed amultitude. The Kingdom is not dependent upon a few large gifts from therich but the many small gifts of thepoor. It is not always the amount ofseed sown that counts, but the qualityof the seed.Seeds sown in dry soil may not thrivebecause there is no moisture. But if thesoil is irrigated the seed will sprout andabound. Perhaps the reason we have notgotten larger returns on our investmentin the work of the kingdom is becausethe seed has not been sufficiently watered by prayer.3. God Still Sits over against theTreasuryAs Christ watched the people bringtheir gifts to the temple, so He looksdown upon men as they bring their giftstoday. He does not demand that we"cast inas the widow did, but Hedoes desire that our gifts shall be accompanied by the same sacrificial loveand devotion as the woman had. Thereal problem is not how much we shouldgive (we believe the tithe is required)but how little we can conscientiouslykeep for ourselves. We are entitled touse that which is necessary for the usualdemands of life. The real question is:How much may we take for ourselvesthat is over and above the necessities?Some people give in accordance withwhat others are giving. Let it never besaid that they did not give as much astheir neighbors. The rich man and thepoor man will pay the same amount fora sack of potatoes or a new automobile,but it does not follow that the rich manshould pay the same as the poor manfor the support of the church.The Lord loves those who give without thought of being seen by men.Twelve years ago a new Mennonitechurch was built at Croghan, New York.The contractor who built the church,and who was a member of the congregation, related that he was told tobuild a church. No effort was made toget subscriptions for a building fund.But when the church was completed thecongregation met to pay for the church.Blank slips of paper were passed out andeach one was asked to write on thepaper the amount he would subscribefor the church. No names were signed.When the slips were collected it wasfound that all except a very smallamount had been pledged. The pledgeswere paid directly to the contractor. Hewas the only one in the congregationthat knew what anyone had given. Buthe did not know about all the gifts, formany of them had been received by hissecretarynot to enter anyamounts received.and she had been instructednames beside theWe do not suggest that this planwould work in every congregation, butit is a fine example of giving heartilyunto the Lord and not to be seen of men.Thought Suggestions1. Should we have "Every MemberCanvasses"in our churches or shouldour giving be entirely upon a voluntarybasis?2. Is it a good thing to publish listsshowing the amount which each memberof the church contributes?3. To what extent is a poor man obligated to contribute to the Lord's work?4. If a rich man gives the tithe faithfully, will he have met all the demandsupon his stewardship?Prayer suggestion:Have all the prayers center in our giving. Pray that we may have the truespirit of liberality. Pray for the financialneeds of the local congregation; of Synod's Budget with its various departments. Pray for the deacons or trusteesadminister thethat they may faithfullyLord's money.W. M. S. DepartmentMrs. Ross Latimer. Editor.Prayer Hour. 1:00 P.M. MondaySynodicalTheme ARISE AND BUILDIn spite of many difficulties Miss RoseHuston prepared the temperance story"I will not Drink" from Mrs. Anna Mc-Kelvy's book, "TAUGHT OF THELORD"and 2000 copies were printed inJapanese in tract form. Her first orderfrom a high schoolasked for the entire 2000 copies. A second 2000 copieswere printed at once. These are beingused in the schools of Japan. Pray thatmuch will be accomplished through thisbook.COVENANTER WITNESS