Jesus reminds us of two ways of life: taking and giving. Some Christians miss the point here and think that Jesus is banning clergy clothing, public recognition, religious titles and long prayers. He is not making any such rules. But, religious pretense can be used as a cover up for sins like self-promotion and exploitation. This is contrasted with a poor and needy woman who gave extravagantly. Most of us are probably not so selfish but also not so giving. We are somewhere in the middle. We may know of cases of theft from the church or exploiting the poor. Most of us are not like that, and not too many of us are like the widow, who gave lavishly what she could not afford. So, where do we lie between these two extremes? Are we more givers than takers?
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