The Miracle of 57 Cents

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “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.” (Luke 21:1-4)

Born in 1860, Hattie May Wiatt was a poor little girl who lived in urban Philadelphia. She wanted to attend Sunday School at the local church down the road from her home but was often unable because the small church couldn’t accommodate all the children that wished to attend. Each Sunday, the children were carefully counted as the entered into the building, leaving dozens of disappointed kids standing outside on the street. One Sunday as the pastor of the church was arriving he saw a pretty young girl, standing at the gate looking disappointed because the Sunday School rooms were already filled to overflowing. Nonetheless, he lifted her up onto his shoulders and carried her into the building. The next morning as he was walking to the church from his home, he met the little girl again as she was heading for school. As they met he said, “Hattie, we are going to have a larger Sunday School room some day.” She said in reply, “I hope you will. It is so crowded that I am afraid to go there alone.” He replied, “Well, when we get the money to build a new building we will build one large enough for all the little children to get in.” Little did he know how that chance conversation would impact not only his church but eventually the entire city of Philadelphia.

Two years later, little Hattie May died unexpectedly at age 8. The grief-stricken parents asked Pastor Conwell to attend to her funeral. Before the funeral, her mother gave the pastor a worn out leather bag containing 57 cents which Hattie May had been saving to make a contribution for the new building. Now up to that point there had been no effort by the congregation to move towards expanding their church facilities. Moved by the young girl’s desire, the pastor took the little girl’s offering and told the congregation they had received their first gift towards a new Sunday School building. He changed all the money into pennies and offered them for sale, so others could join Hattie May in the fulfillment of her vision. The pennies generated 250 dollars, which the church used to purchase a house for an expanded Sunday School. Meanwhile 54 people returned their pennies to Pastor Conwell which he framed and kept in his office. He challenged the church to begin to raise money for a new church building. A group was founded in the church called the “Wiatt’s Mite Society.” (instead of the Widow’s Mite) There was a newspaper article about Hattie Mae Wiatt’s pennies and a realtor in Philadelphia offered to sell the church a large piece of property - with a down payment of 54 cents and generous terms. Soon donors were sending the church donations from far and wide. Within five years, the little girl’s donation had increased to $250,000.00, a huge sum of money at the turn of the century. Today you can still visit Temple Baptist Church in Philadelphia which now has a seating capacity of 3,300 people. While you’re there you might also want to check out Temple University, a ministry started by that same congregation which now averages 35,000 enrollments per year. Oh, and by the way you might also want to drive past Temple University Hospital which was also started as a ministry from the same little Baptist Church. Isn’t it amazing how far 57 cents can stretch when given by faith into the hand of God? The passage above teaches us a few principles about biblical giving:

Jesus Is Watching What You Give - Giving is one of those sensitive topics which is often avoided in churches. Because of the abuse of scoundrels who pretend to be church leaders, many churches avoid the topic all together. Others consider it such a private matter; they say it shouldn’t be brought up at all because the offense factor is potentially so high. You might feel uncomfortable addressing the issue of giving, but the Bible isn’t. Like it or not – it’s a spiritual issue that occasionally needs our attention. Look again at the verses above. Of all the places Jesus could have been sitting, He intentionally stationed Himself across from the offering boxes so He could watch people giving their money. And He wasn’t just casually observing them. The original language literally says, “Jesus was staring intently, studying the people.” He was watching carefully what people were offering. Now He wasn’t really watching the “how much” of what people were giving. The issue for Jesus was “the heart behind what was being offered.”

When it comes to giving Jesus looks at the heart. He says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) God doesn’t need your money. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills -and by the way- He owns the hills too. God is interested in what you give because giving is an expression of your love. He doesn’t want your offering – He wants you.

Jesus Knows Your Tough Circumstances - Did you notice how much Jesus knew about this widow? He knew she was a widow–and a poor widow, at that. He knew she had given all the money she had. How did He know all that? Was Jesus just good at picking up clues about people? No. Jesus is God – He knew everything about her – and He knows everything about you and me, too. Isn’t it interesting that despite her circumstances, he doesn’t relieve her of the responsibility to give? Someone might say, “Why don’t we let all the rich people support the church? Why ask struggling people to tithe?” God says repeatedly if you honor Him with the first fruits of your wealth He will honor you. And here we are over two thousand years later and we still remember and honor those two copper coins given by this widow. Tough circumstances really are not a good excuse not to give to the Lord – more likely it is a test to see if our faith goes beyond our understanding of the balance sheet.

Jesus Understands The Value Of A Sacrifice - God uses a different value system than what we use. In His Kingdom, those who give the most may actually give the least…and those who give the least may actually give the most. What makes the difference? It depends on whether your gift is a sacrifice or not. Jesus appreciates the value of a sacrifice. Why? Because no one ever made a greater sacrifice than he did on the cross. Sometimes two copper coins can be a far greater expression of love than the person who effortlessly drops in a check from a fat checking account. After her generous offering the widow had to totally depend upon God to provide. While Scripture doesn’t reveal to us what happened to her after her sacrifice, my guess is when we see her in glory, she will have a wonderful testimony prepared telling how God was faithful in the midst of difficult circumstances.

You may not think you have much to give God–but just remember our poor widow, and remember Hattie May Wiatt! Remember, God doesn’t want your money. He wants you. He loves you so much Jesus was willing to be your sacrifice for sin. How do you respond to that kind of love? As the hymn says, “Love so amazing so divine; demands my soul, my life, my all!”

Live the Victorious Life,
PT