I have a riddle for you: "What do you have, until you realize that you have it, and then you don't have it?"

In our Clermont County, Ohio, Community Journal newspaper that gets thrown onto our driveway every once in a while, there is a column by Lou Guntzelman. He writes a religious column each issue. His article for April 27, 2011, on page B3 was titled: "The virtue we may have until we know we have it." He really nailed the topic of humility very well in his piece. Mr. Guntzelman wrote in part: "One of the reasons humility is so difficult for a human to possess is because our egos like to be seen as special and to stand out from everyone else. We enjoy being seen as the "best" or the "worst," rather than just an ordinary imperfect human being who sometimes makes mistakes."

The Temple Treasury

Let's examine just two or three verses from the book of Luke about humility. It's concerning an event that took place at the Temple in Jerusalem during Jesus' last week on earth.

Our story takes place in the week leading up to the Passover and Jesus' crucifixion. Many travelers came to Jerusalem for this biblical Holy Day season. During the time of Jesus, the Temple Mount was partitioned off in various segments, allowing only certain types of people into each area. The name "treasury" was specially given to the "Court of the Women." The Temple treasury is where all worshipers gave their tithes and offerings. Thirteen boxes, shaped like inverted megaphones or trumpets, lined the walls to receive the money. These thirteen chests were narrow at the mouth and wide at the bottom—shaped like trumpets.

The Widow's Two Mites

In this area of the treasury, the Court of the Women, Jesus took His disciples aside and taught them an important lesson. "He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury" (Luke 21:1). People came and went all day, apparently marching past the trumpets and depositing their money in what amounted to noisy offering plates. "And He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites" (verse 2).

One after another, rich people had paraded by and deposited large sums of money. By contrast, a destitute widow shuffled past a trumpet, perhaps hardly pausing as she slipped two small coins into the container and disappeared into the crowd. The widow threw in two small metal coins. They were all she had, and Jesus knew it.

What Can We Learn?

So, what's the lesson for us? What is the widow thinking at this time? Did anybody really care that she was pitching in her life savings?  "So He [Jesus] said, ‘Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had" (verses 3 and 4).

They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on. Jesus uttered a shocking comment on the meager offering of the widow. According to Him, the woman gave a better offering to God than the noisy offering of the rich people.

Most of all, Christ knew that the woman put in everything that she had—all she had to live on. It meant that what was most important in the offering was not in the amount of money, but what came from the heart of the woman. "She gave more than all of those rich people put together," Jesus tells them, and they look at Him in astonishment. "Two pennies versus thousands of dollars?" They don't say it, but they must think that Jesus is seriously mistaken.

Our Main Point

The widow who threw in the two mites, the two pennies, all that she had, into the Temple trumpet, into the treasury, was a truly humble woman. She gave up all she had for God. She gave up her whole livelihood. What about us? Are we leaving everything behind? Is there anything that comes between us and God?

The Latin word "humus" (which means soil, dust, dirt), is the root word of both the words "human" and "humility." Just like the humble, faithful widow, we too must give all for God. Notice these words earlier spoken by Jesus: "Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them…So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:25, 33).

In so many respects, this story of the widow and her tiny offering is a picture of what we are to become. Her story is so much more meaningful than that of the rich Jews loudly trumpeting their offerings. She is the one being exalted in the pages of our Bible. They are being forcefully humbled.

Jesus then reminds us: "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (verse 11). Because of our human nature, humility is an extremely slippery virtue. In the act of thinking we have it, we prove to ourselves we don't. Once a person thinks he is humble, it's very difficult to be humble!

For further reading about humility, visit our UCG.org website and do a simple search for "humility" in the search box. You will find articles, blogs and sermons on the topic to help you be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

So, what do you have, until you realize that you have it, and then you don't have it?