Poverty and praise
Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” (Luke 2:22-24).
At the beginning of the book of Leviticus, we find the laws of the burnt offering, which was the sacrifice given wholly to God. It begins with the largest sacrifice, a bull from the herd. Then we have the sacrifice of a sheep or goat from the flock. Finally, we have the sacrifice of a turtle dove or a pigeon. These sacrifices were a response of worship given by those who had much, enough or little. All of them were pleasing to God.
In Luke 2, Joseph and Mary came with the infant Jesus to the Temple to fulfil the law following childbirth, described in Leviticus 12. The woman’s offering was a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering. If she could not afford a lamb, she could bring two pigeons or two turtle doves, one for each offering. Joseph and Mary could not afford a lamb, so they brought two birds.
The child in their arms upheld the universe, yet His grace was displayed in poverty from His birth. There was no room in the inn at the beginning of the life of Christ. And there was no room for Him in the world at the end of His life. Throughout His life, Jesus knew poverty, and through it He manifested the richness of the love and grace of God. The Saviour never found poverty an obstacle to manifesting the heart of God, but the greatest means by which to express it. At Calvary He gave Himself so that we could know “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
He knew what it cost the widow to cast her two coins into the treasury whilst the rich cast in of their plenty. And He knew what it cost Mary when she broke her box of spikenard on Him whilst onlookers looked on mystified. He did not look on the largeness of the sacrifice but on the hearts of those who made those sacrifices. On the Passover night the Children of Israel had to sacrifice a male lamb of the first year. But when Samuel brought Israel back to God (1 Samuel 7), he offered a suckling lamb (v. 9). That tiny whole burnt offering expressed their poverty, but through it God demonstrated His power to save.
Revelation 5 describes the whole of creation worshipping Christ, the Lamb: “Blessing and honour and glory and power / Be to Him who sits on the throne, / And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” There are no exceptions to this act of worship. But today, Christ looks into our hearts for the response of pure worship to His love for us. He is not concerned if our worship is spoken silently in our hearts, inadequately through our words, or imperfectly in song. None of us can perfectly express His worthiness, and His priestly ministry takes care of these imperfections. Our poverty of thought or praise does not disappoint the Saviour. Just as our children’s first words bring delight to our hearts and we joy in their development, so our faltering words bring joy to His heart. May we not come hesitantly ?hesitatingly into the Lord’s presence this morning to remember the Saviour. Instead, like the widow, let us be ready to cast in what we have, and, like Mary, freely break open our hearts in praise and worship.
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms (Psalm 95:1-2).
