An offering with sole

What does it mean to give an offering to God? We are so tied to the idea of offerings from our wallets, that we see it as an obligatory task that we figure out mathematically in an attempt to meet the letter of the law, while engaging in an exercise of completely missing the point.

Consider Harry. Harry came to our church plant in the downtown of Port Colborne. He was a regular figure wandering around town, looking in bins – asking for change, and when he gathered enough, you might find Harry across the street at the Belmont Hotel. He would mutter to himself, and those that did not know Harry, and few did, would give him wide berth. For some reason, Harry would come in and quietly sit at that the back of the church some Sunday mornings. He would come mostly in the winter months. We were able to help Harry from time to time with a few dollars that enabled him to get a room and some food– at the Belmont -- to get out of the cold. We were not able to get to know Harry particularly well, but, it was not difficult to tell that this had not always been Harry’s life. Breaking through the confusion and oft repeat phrases was not easy. However, he had a way about him, the way he carried himself, the way he used words that give glimpses into perhaps another life.

When we gave him a few bucks he was always embarrassed, but appreciative. He always stated that one day he would give back an offering. One Sunday morning, Harry came into church carrying a plastic bag. One of our practices for collecting offering from time to time was people would come to the front and put their offering in the plate. Harry was one of those that morning. He stood quietly, waiting his turn – he was last. He carried his plastic bag to front, opened it and took out a pair of worn, but at one time expense pair of leather shoes. He placed them on the offering plate and walked back to his seat. And there they were, a pair of shoes sitting on the altar. Kind of an odd sight, accompanied by the glances that get shot to one another when things out of the ordinary occur.

After church Harry quickly approached me and said, “They were my good pair. Can you give them to someone who needs a good pair of shoes?” At that moment, something in me broke. That morning Harry had given his best – he had given something, that for him cost dearly, while I had given my carefully calculated portion for the maximum benefit of my tax return.

The Widow’s Offering

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.


43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)

Harry gave an incredible and valuable offering that morning that has continued to grow in the Kingdom of God. Harry died shortly after this event – but his offering that morning challenged me deeply and caused me, causes me still, to continue to question myself and others as to what is an acceptable offering we offer to God. Certainly our financial resource is part of that, but our offering is not the carefully calculated obligatory portion, but it is to be our heart, our mind our soul, our being. I think of the old hymn,

Take my life

1. Take my life and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days,

Let them flow in endless praise.

2. Take my hands and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

3. Take my voice and let me sing,

Always, only for my King.

Take my lips and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee.

4. Take my silver and my gold,

Not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect and use

Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

5. Take my will and make it Thine,

It shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart, it is Thine own,

It shall be Thy royal throne.

6. Take my love, my Lord, I pour

At Thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself and I will be

Ever, only, all for Thee.

Anyway, I was just thinking.

Neil