In the gospel
reading for the weekend of November 7th and 8th, we learn that the religious
leaders in Jesus’ day had a very interesting practice regarding offerings. When
it was time to take up a collection, apparently the people paraded up in front
of the crowd one-by-one and put in their donations so everyone could see
exactly how much was contributed. Whoa, talk about peer pressure.
I
prefer our current offering system where you write “$200” in big numbers on the
outside of the collection envelope while putting a five dollar bill inside.
(I’m just kidding! We really don’t worry too much about showing off to our
fellow parishioners. Of course, when April 15th rolls around each year, some
folks have a curious habit of telling the IRS that five bucks times 52 weeks
equals four grand.)
The
Bible says, “Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put
in two small coins worth a few cents.” Jesus pointed this out to his disciples
and said, “This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the
treasury.”
We
know from the Gospels that Jesus’ disciples did not exactly graduate Summa
Cum Laude form Jerusalem University. (I think Peter attended JU for a
couple of years on a football scholarship, but went back to the fishing
business after hurting his knee.) But even the disciples could do the math and
realized that a few cents was nothing compared to hundreds of shekels.
Jesus
went on to explain what he meant. “[The rich people] have contributed from
their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.”
In
mankind’s eyes, it’s the bottom line that counts. If a church started a
fund-raising program, and one person donated five bucks while another person
donated a million dollars, guess who would get a banquet in his honor and a
building named after him? (Hint: it ain’t Five Dollar Freddy.)
With
human beings, the amount donated is all that counts—even if the million-dollar
benefactor was Bill Gates (which would be like me tossing a dime into the tip
jar at Dunkin Donuts), while Five Dollar Freddy lived in a van down by the
river. But in God’s eyes, it’s not quite the same. God doesn’t count what we
donate, He counts what’s left in our wallet AFTER we donate.
Surveys
show the average Catholic in America gives about one-percent of his income to
the church, while the average Protestant gives about two-percent. Can you
imagine what would happen if Christians suddenly started giving at the level
commanded in Scripture, the 10-percent tithe?
And
if all Christians started tithing, there would be another wonderful benefit:
unbelievers would be amazed by the Christians’ commitment to the faith—and
maybe even drawn toward it—as opposed to now, where unbelievers perceive
Christians as lukewarm and hypocritical about religion, and have no interest in
exploring the faith.
If
you really want to know what’s important to a person, look at his checkbook or
credit card statement. Many people don’t hesitate to spend tons of money on frivolous
things, but when it comes to donating to the church, they suddenly act like
they’re getting a root canal without Novocain.
God
wants only one thing from us: our undivided faith in Him. When we have a faith
that is vibrant and active, we won’t hesitate to share our time and talent and,
yes, our treasure with the Lord and His people.
This
is a good week to prayerfully ponder how we are using our resources. We should
analyze exactly how we are spending our money and our time. Are we rendering
unto Caesar? Are we rendering unto God? Or are we mostly rendering unto
ourselves?
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