I have always been intrigued by this portion in the Bible and sometimes amused by how some Pastors interpret it. It is the portion which says “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury”. Further down this verse, Jesus commended the poor widow who gave all she had into the treasury – a commendation that led to the famous ‘ widow ’s mite’.
It is probably easy to explain why many Pastors have decided to limit Jesus’ commendation to the percentage of the widow’s earnings that went into the coffers of the Church. It is convenient of course, not to say beneficial, for men of God to so limit. I choose to see it in a wider context. I see it as self-denial, as discipline, that is not just for the Church. This is possibly because of my background.
Students of Igbobi College in the 50s, 60s and possibly 70s would remember that the school had a Self-Denial Fund (S.D.F) which made it mandatory for boarding students to take an amount out of their weekly pocket money for the poor and needy. This self-denial, this awareness for the needs of the poor has since stayed with me as it has many Old Igbobians. So, whenever I read this portion of the Bible, I see Jesus not only endorsing self-denial but encouraging its compliance.
I am of the school of thought which believes that wealth, like many other endowments, is a gift from God to be held in trust by men. Any of these gifts, including power and positions, can be taken away at any time and not necessarily by death. Young people close to me know that I urge them to de-emphasize wealth as a measuring rod for success.
Otherwise, there would be very little difference between them and those rich illiterates who boast of the number of containers they have at the wharf. It is a strange doctrine to them because we live in a society which puts so much premium on wealth however acquired. My mentors, and they are very few, are people who have refused to be defined by material acquisitions. They have put what they have – intellect, position, knowledge, power, influence and yes money – at the disposition of others. This is because an evolved mind belongs to a person who puts himself, and his God-given gifts, at the service of others. By contrast, those I hold in utter contempt, are those who flaunt wealth or material acquisitions. It is even worse if that wealth is ill-gotten as it often is.
Several decades ago, in 1979 I think, I interviewed B.C. Lee, the founder of the Samsung Group. He was at that time the richest man in South-East Asia with an art museum estimated in excess of a billion dollars at a time when a billion was worth every cent. South Korea on the other hand, was a very poor country at the time.
Accusations of child labour were rife. I couldn’t resist asking him if he ever felt embarrassed by his wealth whenever he saw the poor and the wretched on the streets. Today, over four decades later, it is the same question I would ask the Bishop who boasted to his congregation that God had blessed him so much that he could afford to change planes the way others change bicycles. Does his wealth ever embarrass him when he glides in luxury to his church in Ogun State? This man’s church has branches all over the world but its expansive headquarter is cited among the poor so he could not have escaped being confronted by poverty. Poverty is what he would breathe on ground before his planes taxi off into the rarefied air. And anywhere he goes to in the country, he would breathe poverty because over 70%.
of the populace now lives on less than a dollar per day.To flaunt wealth under any guise in such a country is unconscionable and ungodly.
Another General Overseer (G.O) once said his planes were necessary so he could reach his many parishioners around the world. He needed the planes, he said, to convert and nourish souls. He should be reminded that the Catholic Church has over a billion parishioners in remote areas of the world. It is also about the richest church in the world yet it does not own a single jet. Its wealth has been used over the years to impact the world – in research, education, science and health. It is instructive that during the period of persecution, a Roman Emperor once asked a Bishop to go and bring him all the treasures of the Church. The Bishop asked for just two days. On the third day, he presented the poor and the ragged and said ‘these, Your Eminence, are the treasures of the church’. Of course he was promptly executed. But his blood and that of many like him, have preserved and nourished the church into what it is today.
The religious leaders in Nigeria believe, and have led their congregants to believe that wealth is a sign of God’s favour and that poverty is a sin as if the rich are being compensated for being sinless. This salves their conscience as they put money and the wealthy on a pedestal. They obviously no longer believe that the poor are the treasures of the Church. Or that God in all scriptures, has a special affinity for the poor. They forget that money is a gift, for which the wealthy will account. I call it passing the money test. Unfortunately, many would fail the money test because they cannot ‘deny ’ themselves to bring hope and comfort to those in need.
I will leave readers with this true story. A military man returned triumphantly from the field of battle. On his way home on a bitterly cold and windy evening, he saw a destitute lying by the street exposed and shivering from the cold. This man in an act of compassion, used his sword to cut his flowing military cloak in two. He used one half to cover the shivering destitute and draped the other half round his own shoulders. That night, Jesus appeared to him in a dream wearing the cloak he had used to cover the destitute.
The military man had gone on to found the first monastery in France. He is a saint in the Catholic Church today. This is the kind of sacrifice, of self-denial that Jesus demands. It is the ‘widow’s mite’ that He commends. Just as Jesus sat and watched as people put money in the treasury, He is still watching today to gauge our level of self-denial towards the needy. Remember when I was hungry you gave me food? thirsty you gave me drink? The day of stewardship will surely come when we will all give account of the talents we have been bestowed.
The story of Lazarus and the Rich Man is also there for those who wish to learn.
