DESPERATE DEPENDENCE

Luke 21: 1-4

by Rev. Richard Jones

Luke 21:1-4 (ESV)
1  Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2  and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3  And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4  For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (ESV)
6  The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7  Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Psalm 50:7-15 (ESV)
7  “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. 8  Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. 9  I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. 10  For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. 11  I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. 12  “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. 13  Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? 14  Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, 15  and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

2 Corinthians 8:1-4 (ESV)
1  We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2  for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3  For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4  begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—

1 Corinthians 16:1-3 (ESV)
1  Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2  On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. 3  And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

Genesis 14:17-20 (ESV)
17  After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19  And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20  and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Deuteronomy 12:5-7 (ESV)
5  But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, 6  and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7  And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

Malachi 3:6-12 (ESV)
6  “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7  From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8  Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9  You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.