Jesus tells the story of a woman who no one noticed. She is obviously very poor. She is shuffling across the Temple grounds, and she drops two coins in the Temple collection box, not very much, not very impressive. Paraphrasing Max Lucado, this is a sweet story, but it is not an earth-shattering story. It doesn’t come close to the heroes of faith who made these spectacular sacrifices and did these big things for God. Maybe Jesus told the story precisely because it isn’t dramatic, spectacular, or revolutionary. Here is a woman who no one notices. In the world she lives in, she is a blur in a crowd of faces, but she is a faithful blur. She is an inconspicuous lover of God. She doesn’t care if she is noticed. She cares that God is noticed. Whether she understands it or not, Jesus knew that Christianity shows itself most powerfully in the unnoticed life, in the inconspicuous servants, and the unrecognized saints. The most powerful sacrifices made for God are the tiny sacrifices that are made that no one else knows. But God knows. The most powerful goodness in the world comes from the tiny acts of love, mercy, and kindness that ordinary folks do everyday. Whatever small things you do for others and for the Lord wins the applause of the angels of heaven.
– Dr. Tim Thompson