The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, November 12th: 1 Kings 17:10-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44)

IS GOD IMPRESSED WITH OUR GIVING?

In this week’s gospel reading, 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 donation 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 about four grand. Must be the “new math.”)

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 thousands 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 cardboard box down an alley. 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 that 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 Catholic giving suddenly jumped up to the Protestant level? Parishes would be able to pay off debt, fix leaky roofs and creaky pews, and have enough money left over to start a soup kitchen or crisis pregnancy center.

Can you imagine what would happen if both Catholics and Protestants suddenly started giving at the level commanded in Scripture, the 10-percent tithe? One thing is sure, the government could finally get out of the welfare business, and true charity could be used to help people improve their lives rather than soulless government programs that condemn people to a lifetime of poverty.

There would be another wonderful benefit if all Christians tithed: unbelievers would be amazed by Christians’ commitment to their faith—and maybe even drawn toward it—as opposed to now, where unbelievers perceive Christians as lukewarm and hypocritical about their faith.

If you really want to know what’s important to a person, look at his checkbook. Many people don’t hesitate to spend tons of money on clothing, vacations, big-screen TVs, cigarettes, beer, cars, trips to the casino, etc., but act like they’re getting a root canal without Novocain when it’s time to donate to the church.

Another way to determine what’s important to a person is to look at how he spends his time. In this area we’re all equal—Bill Gates and Five Dollar Freddy, and you and me. We all have 24 hours a day and seven days a week, no more, no less.

My guess is, most people waste an awful lot of precious time each week. Wouldn’t it be nice if we took some of those hours spent, say, watching stupid TV shows or mindlessly surfing the Internet or gossiping about others, and instead donated them to God?

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 invest our time and treasure into the Kingdom of God.

This is a good week to prayerfully ponder how we are using our resources. We should try to analyze exactly how we are spending our time and our money. We should ask ourselves: What does Jesus think about our giving practices? In His eyes, are we merely contributing from our surplus, or are we, like the poor widow, contributing all we have?

©2006