A friend of mine who serves a congregation in downtown Philadelphia shared this story with me recently, and I thought it worth passing along to all of you.

In his church, on the fifth Sunday of every month, they collect a special hunger offering. It is during the singing of the final hymn, and those who wish to contribute are invited to come forward and place their offerings in a basket on the communion table. They take half of the money and send it off to various global mision programs for hunger relief, and the other half they give to local agencies to feed people right there in the heart of Philadelphia.

They have been doing this for about ten years, and according to my friend, the offerings are always a huge success. Last year alone they raised close to $50,000! “We are very proud of this offering,” he told me—and rightfully so.

However, one Sunday during the taking of that offering, as the final hymn was being sung and the people were streaming forward, a woman nobody knew began to move quietly down the center aisle. From the way that she was dressed, it was quickly apparent to the congregation that she had either spent the night out on the streets or in one of the homeless shelters.

People started whispering to one another, “This is the kind of person we’re taking the offering for. Is she really going to make an offering herself?”

Indeed, she did. When she got to the table, she stopped and made the best offering of all. She folded her hands and she prayed.

My friend told me that, in a sense, it was a wake up call for the congregation, because it helped to remind them that they weren’t just collecting money for the hungry. They were making an offering to God. In effect, they were giving their loaves and fishes to the Master, who would then multiply their gifts in miraculous ways.

After all, it’s not what we do that is important … it’s what God can do through us!