Most of us in 100 years will be forgotten on this side of glory. We will be dead and those who know us will also be dead. And our tombs, our graves will be just like the graves that you drive by every single day and give no thought to. Does that sober you? Does that reorient your thinking to what really should matter? That you'll be just like them. People will drive by your tombstone and give no thought of you. but only what you do for Christ will last. What do you want to be remembered by? What do you want people to say at your funeral? What do you want them to say about you? What do you want written on your tombstone? What do you want speakers to say? Not what will you tell them to say. I mean, what will they say of their own volition? Or better yet, what would God want to be said about you at your funeral? What's the best compliment someone can give you? I think the best compliment for all of us that this man or woman loved Christ and gave himself for the cause of Christ. He counted the cost of following Jesus and had an impact on many. Second to the work of the Holy Spirit, holiness and godliness. will have the most tremendous impact on men. And holiness and godliness is often described before it is defined. It is seen, it is caught. This morning, we're going to be examining a woman, a curious woman, a widow, a poor widow. who will force us to ask ourselves these kinds of questions. My prayer is that all of us will have a recalibration of living our lives accordingly and ask ourselves at all times, this one question, is this for the glory of God? The title of the sermon is A Question. But everybody here, if you're in Christ, must answer. This is the question. What remains? It is not what have you done. The question is this. What is left? What remains? May God open up our eyes this morning. Please turn to Luke chapter 21. What remains? That is the question. Luke 21 verse 1. Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. And he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she had to live on. Provided you a summary up to this point of what we've studied. Jesus has criticized the leadership in Jerusalem, right? We've spent much time examining this, re-examining this, and reminding ourselves of this. And his criticism is gonna, has and will get them all fired up, won't it? They wanna kill him, don't they? We saw this back in chapter 19, didn't we? Verse 47. And he was teaching daily in the temple, the chief priests, scribes, and principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him. But what held them back? The people. They're unprincipled men. We just sang, I'd rather have Jesus, right? I'd rather have Jesus than man's applause. And here they are, they'd rather have their treasures. They'd rather have their long tassels. They'd rather have their popularity. They'd rather have the praise of man than Jesus. Jesus has warned his disciples to be on guard against the leaven of the Pharisees. Now, those of you who cook or know anything about leavening, you know, a little leaven, Leaven's the whole lump, doesn't it? We need to be very careful that we don't get the germs, so to speak, of leaven in our heart. And Jesus warrants his disciples, he says, don't you imitate the Pharisees. And likewise, don't you imitate the scribes. Don't imitate the Sadducees. Watch out for them. Why? Because they can have an influence on you. Be on guard. Luke has already commented multiple times in terms of the interaction between Jesus and the leadership. And the bottom line is that the leadership in Jerusalem doesn't believe that John the Baptist's baptism was from heaven, do they? They believe that it was from where? From man, and that's the reason why they won't repent. And Jesus mainly criticized the scribes for their Ostentatious lifestyle, a pious pompification, as they parade around the palace, wearing clothes that projected success and opulence. They expected adulation, they demanded it, they expected to be seated next to the host, and the scribes loved to be seen by others. They were driven by external acknowledgement of a righteousness which few possessed. Here is your point of application. The Lord knows your heart. The Lord knows your heart. He knows your heart. He knows your heart. Friend, He knows your heart. If you forget anything this morning, it is this. He knows your heart. He cares about the weight of it. He cares about the transcript of it, not the translation out of it. Do you understand? He doesn't just care about what you do. He wants to know why you do it. He doesn't care about you merely doing. He wants you to be. Do you understand that? And it is easy to look at the scribe and the hypocrisy and shake their head and say, no wonder why our Lord destroyed, through the Romans, Jerusalem and the surrounding region in 70 AD for the third time, by the way. But if you think about it, We need to pause and reflect and ask ourselves, why do we do what we do? Have you ever asked yourself why you buy what you buy? Why you drive what you drive? The scribes and Pharisees are not rebuked for what they wore necessarily. They're rebuked for what? Why they wore it. God's not opposed to having nice things, but He is opposed to the motivation of it. Do you see? The heart, why you have what you have. Everybody here needs to make sure they're not acting like a male peacock. You know what a male peacock is, right? You know what it does. It's got those. And by the way, a male peacock, whenever you see the feathers, it wants to mate. And I'm not telling you to be like a male peacock in any way like that. But the whole point is that the male peacock, it's very showy, isn't it? It has its feathers, its grand feathers to be seen. Brilliant colors. But this has a spillover effect, doesn't it? Oftentimes, We can be flashy and showy. For what reason? To be seen by others. The scribe would never rejoice that another scribe was closer to the host than himself. Friend, we should be rejoicing. when God elevates a brother or sister in Christ. And praise God that the children of God are looking like the son of God for the glory of God. And I've seen, I've seen in my life, I'm sure as you've seen it, that when God chooses to elevate a man or a woman, the man or woman who thinks to himself or herself, yep, I'm all that. God brings low those who are prideful. But the man or woman, when elevated, simply gets out of the way and lets God do His thing. God keeps them there. Is that not true in your life? It works in every relationship. When you talk to someone about the gospel, or you win them to right thinking, and there's an arrogance about you, you know what happens to future interactions? Fall on dead hearts, don't they? You see how that works? God gives you success and you claim it on your own and then he humbles you. The mother or the father in terms of parenting are doing a really good job. They're at a good place and they start to almost puff up their chest And then God brings challenges, doesn't he? And he humbles the parent. And the golden thread throughout the whole thing is that God is the one that provides and governs everything. And we need to be a people who know that and who believe that and to give him the thanks for it. But you know, It also happens in marriage, doesn't it? The scribe in marriage. I wanna tell you about the scribe. The scribe in marriage begins to tally up all the ways that he or she is serving the other. That spouse, of course, is doing the right thing. I mean, he or she's the one who's just, I mean, not perfect, but close to it. doing all this and that and this and that and this and that, and he or she begins to tally and think that, well, well, I've just arrived. I've arrived. If only spouse, now, of course, wouldn't say it to the other, but it's beneath the surface. If only my other spouse was like this, but really what I'm thinking is if only he or she was like me, you see? Pharisee or the scribe will come close and say, thank you, God, that I am not like this tax collector. And the one who knows who he or she is before God will beat his or her own chest and say, have mercy on me, oh God. I am a sinner. You were to love your spouse despite all the shortcomings. Why? Because Jesus loves you in all of your shortcomings. I wish you believed that. Let's try that differently. Listen, I want you to think about this. You see less of your spouse's shortcoming than God has seen of all yours since you've been born. you know in small part, God knows everything and he still loves you. He has given himself for you and to you. And so when you give of yourself, whether it's in marriage or parenting or friendship or discipleship or whatever it is, when you give of yourself, it is a small portion of what God has given, not only for you, but to you. Do you see? He has not only died for you in faith, but he has entrusted himself to you. And the Holy Spirit is dwelling in a lot of stench right now. You understand? More stench than what you're dwelling with. And if God is patient with you, friend, you should be able to be patient with others. What am I saying? Your patience and long-suffering, whatever it is, toward whoever it is, it is small in comparison with God's patience toward you. You see. Holiness, all of us can be a vessel more suited for God, amen? Godliness, reverence, devotion, expressed horizontally, could be better. The Lord knows our heart, right? May we be a channel of grace and a people marked by repenting mercy. May we order our lives accordingly and walk in faith. That's the summary. Point number one, I want us to look at the content and the commentary in the court of women. So when I say content, I want to know what's going on. What's going on? Where is Jesus? And what is the court of the women? Point number one, the content and the court of the women. This is in verse one of chapter 21. And Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. that he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. Notice in verse one, Jesus looked up, do you see that? He saw, he saw, he's seeing. Now the text doesn't say, but we're informed by other sources that Jesus is in the court of the women. You're asking a good question. What is the Court of the Women? I'm glad you asked. I provided this on your outline. The Court of the Women is the place of worship where women and children were not permitted to go beyond. But it wasn't merely for just women and children. It was a central hub for various kinds of sacrifices. And there were 13 chests that were in the court of the women, although technically, if you wanna be technical, it was actually 11 in the court of the women plus two at gate Susan or Susan's gate, but we'll just say 13 if I say 11 and then two, just know that 11 plus two is 13 or 13. I don't wanna get overly technical, but I just wanted to let you know about that. Now, in order to arrive here, listen, in order to arrive here, Jesus and his disciples, they'd have to pass through what's called the Eastern Gate. And the Eastern Gate is actually the gate closest to where Jesus descended from Mount Olives. And so Jesus entered into Jerusalem, entered into the temple through the Eastern Gate, right? But then once he got past the Eastern Gate, then he arrived to the court of Gentiles. You remember what happened in the court of Gentiles? Our Lord got all fired up, didn't he? overthrown tables, driving out those who sold pigeons. He interrupted the Jerusalem stock market as we already examined. It took a nosedive. But once you get past the court of the Gentiles now, then you get past through the gates, Susan or Susan gates, now finally to the court of the women. And in the court of the women, there were 13 chests. And this was one of the locations where anyone could deposit their offerings. Now, technically, in light of the 13 chests, there were three categories. And I've provided these details on your outline. Now, all these offering containers of these 13 brass treasure chests, they're called shofaroths. That's where we get shofar from. What's a shofar? It's the what? The ram's horn. And the reason why it's called a shofaroth is because it's shaped in the likeness of a ram's horn. It was narrow at the top, and then as it worked toward the bottom, it got wider. And there were three categories of it, mandated offerings, those offerings left over from sacrifice and trespass, and I've provided that in your outline. Chests one and two for a half shekel tribute, mandated offerings, offerings for turtle doves, pigeons, wood, incense, golden vessels offerings, a leftover for sacrifice, sin, trespass bird, and then the Nazirite, the cleansed leper offering, and lastly for voluntary offerings. Now, the location of this, it's what's called the temple treasury. And the temple was a depository of wealth, okay? It's very important. And during Passover, it was the busiest time of the year. Thinking of an illustration, you can almost think of it like 15, 20 years ago, what it was like at the mall during Black Friday. Those younger kids, you have no idea what a mall is. It's okay. I'm kind of neutral about that one. That's okay. But yeah, you remember that, right? The Black Friday shopping, so to speak, right? You go out, there's hustling, there's bustling. You have to go to get this deal because it's only during this deal that it's offered, and it's just packed. Well, you can think of the Court of the Women and really the whole temple like this. It's a Black Friday, except it's not shopping. It's Black Friday offering, so to speak. And so during Passover, it was a very busy place. So that's the content. That's what's going on in the court of the women. But second, let's look at the commentary. in the court of the women. So when we're looking at the commentary, we're asking, what is Jesus saying as he's watching all of this? Now Mark, in the parallel account, he informs the reader, he informs us, we won't turn to it in chapter 12, that Jesus sat opposite from the court of the women or from the treasury, so to speak, and he observed, he watched how people were putting their money in the treasury. So many rich people were putting in large sums, and also, you can't tell in the text, but in Mark's parallel account, he's called his disciples to him. That is, Jesus is talking to his disciples. Look at chapter 20, verse 45. And in the hearing of all the people, he said to his, who? He's still talking to his disciples, do you understand? His focus is on his own. Luke informs us here that Jesus looked up. Was he looking down? Why is he looking up? The parallel account that I read from Matthew chapter 23, do you know what a woe is? A woe is a lament. A woe is not so much as righteous indignation, but it's grief, it's denunciation. And by the way, Jesus's woes in Matthew 23 places him within this timeframe. So it may have been after Jesus pronouncing his various woes that he's downcast, he's saddened. And so it may be perhaps that he looked up, he saw what was going on. Luke narrates this seeing. I've given you two things that he sees. He sees on one end, the rich putting their gifts in the freewill offering, but he also saw the poor widow. Do you see that? And by the way, When you see the word in verse two, he saw a poor widow put, you see it? And then in verse 21, Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting, it's the same root word. There are some theologians that argue, well, the rich were casting it in to make a big sound and this poor widow was just dropping it in. That's not, they both were putting it in. But this word for gift here is fascinating. It refers to the gratuitous nature of the gift. That is, the rich are giving to the temple. It's a free will. And the free will offering was used for the upkeep of the temple. In scripture, it is known as a praise or a votive offering. It is not a fulfillment of any vow. It's an offering from the overflow of the heart. And so what you have is you have the rich. and this poor widow both putting in the same chest. And by the way, each of these 13 brass chests that are shaped like a shofar, like a ram's horn, the Mishnah informs us that there were Hebrew letters above it that designated each specific offering. Now, what's fascinating is that in cases where the contribution was made for priestly service, the attending priest would examine the currency of the offering for its genuineness. He would direct the offer to the proper chest and verify it with its prescribed sacrifice. And all this was spoken aloud, by the way. All this was spoken aloud. by the attending priest. I can imagine the hush of the crowd, can't you? As the rich have rented the biggest U-Haul they can from wherever they sell U-Hauls from. He's got all kinds of servants dragging big chests of currency in. And then he gets a picture with the local news. You've seen it, haven't you? So-and-so donated. They're standing next to, on the front page of the Reading Eagle. He's standing next to a big check that he donated, smiling. You know, at certain hospitals, if you give enough money, you can have a whole room or hall donated to your name. But of course, they pay a lot of money. So here's the question. How does Jesus know what the poor widow gave? Look at verse two. He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. Notice it's specific. Do you see that? Luke does not comment on what the rich gave. but he only commented on what the poor widow gave. Now, here's the question. How did Jesus know? Three options. First, well, the attending priest said it out loud. Second, maybe he heard the reverberation, the sound of these small coins. I'll get to that in a second. Hit the bottom of the chest. Or third, Jesus was given omniscience, or Jesus was given access to the omniscience that he has always necessarily possessed. We aren't told specifically how, but Jesus here knows what this poor widow gave. I want you to notice as well, depending on your translation, the ESV says two small copper coins. Yours may say two lepta. Some of you, depending on your translations, may have two mites. The word lepta, it means peeled. It means fine. and it was worth very little. Some of your translations may say mite. Mite is actually derived from a French word which signifies a crumb or small morsel. Technically, the lepto was the smallest coin in circulation at the time, though it wasn't minted during Jesus' day. It was circulated between 100 and 75 BC during the reign of Alexander Janus. Basically, she had a $2 bill. $2 bill was minted from 1966 to 1976. I haven't seen too many of you with it. If you do, don't tell me, it doesn't really matter. But the whole point is that she had a $2 bill, so to speak. Technically, actually, due to inflation, I'm sure tomorrow may be a little bit different. But today, no, as of two days ago, it was $2.18. That's what she put in, $2.18. If you have a King James version, it may say mite. Now, if you want to be even more technical, the mite was the denomination that was used in the Netherlands where William Tyndale was working on his New Testament translation, and so he would have used in large parts of the currency of the day, and that's where you get mite from. Anyway, the whole point is that the lepto was the smallest denomination of money. To make it practical, one was equal to one 128th of what you would make or the average person would make in a day. But there were two of them. So this would be equivalent to one 64th of what you make in one day. But notice that it was all she had. Look at it, please. He saw a poor widow, verse two, put in two small copper coins, and notice as well in verse four, they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on. Do you see this? Now I need to ask, how old was she? How old was she? Was she in her 20s? Was she in her 30s? Did she have children? If she did, how old? Or how young? Is she 40, 50, 60? How old is she? We're not informed. There's one application of this, and it is this. God delights in free will offering that is without compulsion. This free will has a theme, and I'll come back to this later on, that isn't just with finances. It's with time, isn't it? It's with relationships. It's with one another, listen, with no strings attached. If you want to know what a free will offering is, this is what it is. It is a gift of finances, of time, of whatever it is, with no quid pro quo. No expectation of anything in return. It is an overflow of the heart, and I'm gonna argue in a second, that is thankful toward God. It is a heart that spills over in gratitude to God. Point number two, I want us to look at the contrast and the commitment in the court of the women. So let's have some fun. I want you to look at Jesus' commentary in verse three. And he said, truly, I tell you, this, notice how emphatic it is, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on. So notice that Jesus is making a statement. Do you see that? He is making a statement. So here's the question. Is Jesus commending the poor widow? What do you think about this? Is he commending this poor widow? Or is he condemning her? Don't answer yet. Wait till we're done. I wanna give you two positions. And I wanna show you which one I believe is correct. I'm gonna welcome you in. There are two implications. We know Jesus said as a fact, you see that? Fact. Rich gave. Fact, this woman gave two leptas. Fact, the woman gave all she had. Fact, fact, fact. So what? Let's look at this. One implication is this. This poor widow has been deceived. And she is contributing out of her free will offering to the collusion which we've already seen between the leadership in Rome. Do you see? He's not praising her. He's not saying you do likewise. She's contributing to a pagan system. What evidence is there of this? First, Jesus does not comment positively on her, at least so it seems. He's stating a fact. But now we have to ask the question contextually, what is going on, right? This text, listen, is sandwiched between several major events that we've looked at so far, isn't it? It's sandwiched, look at chapter 20, verse 45. And in the hearing of all the people, he said to his disciples, verse 46, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplace, best seats in the synagogue, place of honor at feasts, who devour who? No, you're not following along. Who devours who? Widows. Who's this text about? A widow, you see it. So those who argue that Jesus is not giving this woman as an example, he's saying she's part of the system. And then let's keep reading in verse five. And while some were speaking of the what? Temple, that's where they're at. How it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, ask for these things that you see, the days will come where there will not be left one stone upon another and will not be thrown down. Do you see that? So this text then is sandwiched between the problem with the religious leaders and the establishment and the fact that the temple will be destroyed and here this woman is in between giving to that. Do you see it? And additionally, they would argue that Luke is actually progressing from the outside of the temple in. Let's think about this. As soon as Jesus came into the temple, it was actually technically the next day, but when Jesus came into the temple, he came into the court of what? Gentiles. And he saw the collusion. What did he do? Overthrew everything. continue to pass through Susan's gates, gate Susan, now he gets to the court of women and he's seeing this poor widow do the very same thing. Just because she's poor, it doesn't mean anything. She got sucked in. She's like those poor, and I mean poor in terms of not financially, but those poor Christians, or perhaps pagans, who sow seeds. You know what I'm talking about. The health, wealth, and prosperity kind. The kind that gets sucked in to false pagan religion. So those who take this position will say, not only is the leadership compromised, but so is the poorest of the poor. And because the leadership and the poorest of the poorest compromised everybody or most people in between is. So Jesus is saying now, implicitly, don't imitate her. Fact, she got sucked in. Fact. So, I'll give you a summary. This is a sandwich. The bun, let's just say everyone here eats a sandwich with buns, okay? So the bun is the bitterness of the religious leaders towards Jesus. The lettuce is the leverage. that the Sadducees used toward the Jews who want to worship in the court of Gentiles. If you like pickles, it is the people-pleasing nature of them. Some of you like cheese, which is the cheese of collusion between the Jews and Romans. The meat is the meticulous hypocrisy of the religious leaders. And the bottom bun is the brazen refusal of the nation as a whole to hold to John's baptism of repentance. That's what they claim. So the widow has been swept into the same worship as the rich who associate with them. And they would argue this, friend, you can give all you want to something, but the act and the motive of the giving are useless if the object of the affection is unworthy. Do you understand that? So that's one position, that's one. doesn't matter what you give to or what you invest in, is the object of the affection worthy in God's sight. And those who would take this position would say, no, Jerusalem is compromised. Or the second position, and I've given this on your outline. This poor widow is worshiping Yahweh with a free will offering from the heart. The reason why this poor widow is here is because she stands in contrast Listen, with the scribes. That is, although this woman, listen, this woman has been devoured, presumably, by the scribes, yet she still worships God, no? She's been burned by the religious elite, but she still worships. She's taken advantage of, but she still worships. So she's included in here, not to affirm this, but set in contrast that despite the hypocrisy of the leadership in Israel, you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Do you see? Additionally, I want you to notice, this is important. Jesus does not rebuke the rich who are giving their gifts. Do you understand that? Why? because wealth is subjective. And who exactly are the rich? Rich are giving large gifts. What if someone's rich? Is that positive or negative? Well, it's neutral, isn't it? If you're poor, is that positive or negative? Depends the reason why and what poverty means. Jesus is stating this as a fact. The rich gave, fact. So what you have is you have the rich giving and you have the poorest widow or a poor widow giving. What am I convinced of? I think that this poor widow is an example of someone who's been taken advantage of by the scribes. Yet despite that, she works, worships Yahweh. And her gift, listen, though it appears to be small in the eyes of man, is more than all the gifts of the rich. This woman gave on another level. Now, I'm gonna tell you one of the main reasons why, other than what's in the text. I wanna know, how has Luke portrayed widows in his gospel? Do you understand? This is the importance of expositional preaching. This is why you can't just open up to one verse and come to a conclusion. This is why the whole compendium and snowballing effect of preaching through a particular book was helpful. And I wanna tell you, I want you to ask the question, self or Luke, how have you portrayed widows in your gospel? I mean, that'd be helpful, wouldn't it? Widows, or at least in terms of categories or individuals, is listed seven times. And out of the seven times that widows are mentioned, five out of the seven are positive and two are neutral. I provided you the widows here on your outline. Anna, the widows of Elijah, the widow of Zarephath, the widow of Nain, the widow of the parable of the unjust judge, those who are defrauded, which we saw last week, and the widow who deposited two small coins. Not only that, but our text this morning forms a bookend. Let's try it a different way. This poor widow is the counterpart to Anna in chapter two. Contextually, both episodes contain widows. The first is the victim of the rapacity of the scribes, and the second is sacrificially given. One group is taken from, the other is given. Now, let's be very clear. The temple is the arena of both corruption and worship. Do you see? So I want to give you a summary of verse 4. Jesus is using this poor widow as an object lesson of commitment and he demonstrates that despite the compromised position of the leadership there is at least one one woman. She's a woman. She's poor. She's a widow who worships Yahweh. She is commended. I want you to notice what he mentions in verse four. They all contributed out of their abundance. You see that? But she out of her poverty. Oh, friend. Listen. It is not. Listen, don't miss this. It is not what you give to God necessarily. It is what remains. Do you understand? Let me say that again. It is her participation that is being honored, not the amount given. You don't believe that. The rich gave listen out of their surplus. but they still had a surplus. She gave out of her poverty. Do you see? The object of generosity is just as important as the motive behind it. Others gave from their surplus, the widow gave from her need. I wanna give you three points of application. First is this, invest in the kingdom of God. Invest in the kingdom of God. Sam Houston was the seventh governor of Texas. As a matter of fact, he was the sixth governor of Tennessee. Sam Houston was actually the only governor who was ever governor of two different states. But Sam Houston, During those days, it was a Western expansion, so to speak, right? Cowboy days. Those rough riders, so to speak. And Sam Houston, he was known for his drinking, his gambling, and his swearing and fighting. He had a reputation. As a matter of fact, Sam Houston had a nickname. He was known as Big Drunk, till God saved him. He married a devout Baptist wife, and historians are unsure of when he was converted, or at least whether before he married her, perhaps after, but he withheld himself in many ways until he was finally baptized. And the pastor who baptized him told him, right before he was baptized, it was a small stream in a back country. He told the, the pastor told Sam Houston right as he was being baptized, he had said, remember, you know, your faith in Christ washes away all of your sin. And he said, he said, may God help the fish. And just before he was baptized, the pastor noticed he had his wallet in his back pocket. He said, Mr. Houston, take it out, it'll get wet. And he said, this is the part of me that needs to be baptized as well. There's something to that, isn't there? There's something to it. There's something to the man or woman who believes that. And all of it happens and goes on before an audience of one. No showmanship, no flaunting, before the eyes of God only. Financially investing in his kingdom. The second point of application is this. Be tired in the work, not of it. Be tired in the work, not of it. Before moving here, I was a varsity soccer head coach. And I was known by many things. But one of them is what happened at the end of nearly every game. Freshman parents, parents of freshmen, were always curious on why I used to run my players after the game. Whether they won or lost, They'd be running sprints and fartleks. And why did I run them? Because of what remained. One of the most frustrating scenes for me as a coach was to see players jogging off and running off of the field at the end of the game. Why are you running off the field at the end of the game? You should be cramping up, hopefully not collapsing, but close to it. Those who weren't running and working should be coming on and helping you off. Why are you running and jogging off the field smiling? I don't care how many goals you've scored. I don't care how long you've run. I don't care how many tackles you won. I don't care about all of that. Why are you running off of the field? What are you saving up for? You have more to give, don't you? You have more and you've robbed God and you've robbed your teammates. This is why you have to run after, not as discipline and punishment, because of what remains. There's a difference between being tired in the work and tired of it, isn't there? There's a big difference to being tired in it, but not of it. The one who walks off the field, who's tired in it, not of it. There should be constant fatigue in your life if you're tending to God's work. If you're not, what are you doing? Fatigue in all areas, but a good fatigue, laboring unto the kingdom. Some have no clue what it is to be exhausted on behalf of God's business. Few, so few know what it is to be tired in it. There are a lot who are tired of it, but few that are tired in it. It doesn't matter how much you've done. The question is, what is left? Do you see? It's not about how much you've done, why? Because God may have given you more endurance than someone else. It's not what have you done? It is what remains. Some of you do more than others. I'm not just talking about here Sunday morning. I'm talking about outside. Some of you do much more than others, but you know what? More remains in you. You see? What remains? What remains? Are you tired in the work? You're in good company. You're in good company with this widow. I want us to read, pay attention to what remains, verse four. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her what? What remains with her? You see. is given as an illustration. It doesn't matter what you do. It matters what remains. Some of you here give God the crumbs and you're worse than the rich. You're jogging and you're smiling. You come off the field at the end of the game and you've been walking the whole time. Brothers and sisters here are sprinting, pressing forward in God's kingdom. And they're exhausted in the work, not of it. They're pouring their hearts out in many ways. There's many here with no involvement. It's not even an issue of contribution and participation. There's a lot that remains. So, the question for you is this, how much remains in you? That's the point of the sermon. How much remains? How much remains? You're at a good place, listen. This has happened to me very few times. But you're in a good place if you have exerted everything that you can for the glory of God, and you lament that you can't give him more. That few, few, few, few have gotten to that point. Very few, very, very few. It's not what you do, it is what remains. Third point of application is this. Give yourself wholly unto God. If you're in Christ, God has given himself to you, has he not? Let me ask you this. What has remained on God's end? Huh? What's remained? He's given his best, has he not? He's given his best. Is he not worthy? But there's more. Have you prayed? What remains? Give it to God. Is your heart weighed down this morning? What remains? Give it to God. Is there any fear that is paralyzing you? What remains? Give it to God. Is there any way in which you're holding off being a blessing? What remains, give it to God. Give yourself wholly to God. It is not merely what is given. It is what remains. God, give us grace. Let us pray. Father, that is a question that all of us must answer. What remains? What remains as mothers, as fathers, as husband, as wife? What remains among friendships? What remains in our devotion to you? What remains in our service? What remains in our sacrifice? What is left? Realize, we confess that many of us are like Those players on the field who are sprinting off at the end of the game, who have more to give, not merely doing, but being. You work in the hearts of your people here. May we be a healthy body here, where members are contributing here according to their gifting, according to the way you've blessed them, And may we be a congregation and community outside. May you bless those who may be tired in the work, the refreshment of fatigue, and a good conscience that the good fight has been waged. May we be a people who are weary in the work, but not of it. Help us. We'll give you the thanks in Jesus' name. Amen.