Luke 20:32-21-37 Jesus is in the temple teaching and some Sadducees ask Jesus about marriage in Heaven. If a person marries again after their spouse dies then who are they married to in heaven? Jesus responds, "...those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the Resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage." (Luke 20:34) Those who have died are like angels and children of the Resurrection, and God sees them as alive in Him. Then Jesus responds to another question, "How can they say that the Messiah is David's son?...David thus calls him Lord; so how can he be his son." (Luke 20:41,44) To this Jesus responds that He is both the son of David (His human birth lineage) and David's Lord (the Son Of God). And sometime in the midst of this heady discussion Jesus glances over seeing rich people putting their money into the treasury and he notices a poor woman. Jesus sees the widow put two small copper coins into the treasury. He says, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on." (Luke 21:3-4) I remember one Christmas season I stood outside near a red kettle ringing a bell-- a Christmas tradition to raise money for an organization that feeds the hungry and gives them Gospel truth.
As people were coming into the store most folks would put their donations into the red kettle. I was concentrating on ringing the bell and saying thank you while my mother and father nearby stood supportive as they visited me from out of town. After we'd filled the kettle and turned it in my mother said, "Did you notice those women who put in such large amounts? They did not look like they could afford much and all had young children with them. They put in a lot while the others who were well dressed put in small amounts."
We cannot know by looking at a person how their heart is yet Jesus says actions are revealing. One time dad said that the Kingdom of God is the Kind-home where we serve Jesus. The home of generosity is within each of us. The home is an invisible covering of our Lord's traits that prompts us to be generous in all ways.
Jesus says that if you have two coats give one away, that when you love your neighbors you'll be watching for opportunities to give generously and humbly, and that to kindly turn the other cheek when someone is offensive is to act out of a generous heart. Generosity is an aspect of our faith in Jesus that prompts our care for others.
Instead of withdrawing to our homes and just thinking only of ourselves we are to not be weighed down by, "... the worries of life..." (Luke 21:34). We are alert to Holy Spirit prompting us to help others. At times the help is to stop and talk, for conversation is a help to those who are lonely. And other times it is to brush aside our judgements of others and give generously, responding to the need Jesus shows us.
Comments