WHY HE TOOK THE TWO PENNIES

John D. Rockefeller was the richest man in the world. In today’s valuation, he was worth billions. On a voyage by ship across the Atlantic to Europe, this man who was deemed the monstrous, reclusive ogre of business, gregariously engaged with and entertained fellow voyagers. The night of the captain’s dinner, Rockefeller dressed in a harlequin’s outfit and delighted children with his antics. One of the young boys impressed by Rockefeller’s entertainment, while chatting with the tycoon on a subsequent afternoon up on deck, reached on impulse into his pocket and took out two pennies. He handed them to Rockefeller and insisted he take them. The richest-man-in-the-world, with greater wealth than many nations, very seriously took the two coins and put them in his own pocket. He then reached down, picked up the lad in his arms, stood, and looked out silently, contemplatively across the ocean. Constantly today, I hear and read from student and professor, from theologian and philosopher, from liberal “Christian” and new atheist, that God, if He exists, is petulant and petty to demand humanity’s worship, praise, adoration, and love. They ask, “What kind of narcissistic, psychotic sociopath is God to desire our affection and attention---to not just desire it, but demand it?” They just don’t get it. They see God’s demand of our complete love and allegiance, His insistence that we worship Him alone, as evidence of His deficiency. They see it as His NEEDING our devoted adoration. They just don’t get it. God is complete and whole. He is self-sufficient. He doesn’t need our worship. He needs nothing from us. Nothing we could give Him, however much, would add anything, not even minutely to Him. Nothing we would withhold from Him would leave Him deficient of anything. Simply put, God does not need our love, worship, or praise. He needs nothing from us. At all. Think about the heartwarming story above. Why is it heartwarming? Because the child gave his two pennies—a lot for a kid in those days? Perhaps. But really, it’s moving because the millionaire graciously took the two pennies. Only the malevolent mind would say Rockefeller took the pennies because he greedily wanted more money and would stoop miserly to snatch the child’s copper. Only the ignorant mind would think that Rockefeller took the pennies because he needed them. He didn’t. What would two pennies mean to a man of millions? They would be indiscernible. No, Rockefeller didn’t take the pennies for his own sake. He took them for the sake of the child. It meant something to the child to give them, and he would not offend, injure, or disappoint him. It was good for the child to give unselfishly. The child’s heart was in his gift. There are many other answers to the above-mentioned assault on God’s character and nature because He demands that we worship Him and Him alone. But, this story of a millionaire and a boy’s two pennies is enough to totally debunk its foolish claim. God needs our worship no more than Rockefeller needed the boy’s pennies. God insists we worship Him, not for His sake, but for ours. It does Him no good. It does us tremendous good. God delights in our worship, not because we give it because He has commanded it, but because we willfully, affectionately, offer it to Him. He will take it. And when He has accepted it, He will stoop down, put His arms around us, and embrace us with the love, grace, and mercy of His presence. Two pennies for His arms around you is a small price to pay.