Why Being Rich is Really Unfortunate - Today's Bible Verse Explained / Homily - Saint Luke 21:1-4

By Tony Joe:

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 21:1-4

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. 

He said, "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood."

Today's Bible Verse Explained / Homily - Saint Luke 21:1-4

It was once while travelling by train that I really understood this Bible verse.

It was early morning and I was travelling with a close friend of mine to a nearby city where we worked.

A poor old man, who was obviously sick, approached the commuters and started requesting for alms.

While some of them ignored and shooed him away, a few others gave small coins to him.

I was sad, as with the kind of money he was getting, it would have taken an hour of begging to just have a proper breakfast.

I looked at my friend, and he too seemed upset, even though he didn't say a word.

Even people with obviously nice and well-paying jobs were being unnecessarily stingy.

So, when the old man came near me, after making sure that nobody could see what I was giving, I inserted what was enough for a breakfast into his shirt pocket.

He was happy, but understanding my discreet gesture, didn't take out the notes I had stuffed in his pocket.

Still, some of the passengers might have understood what had happened, and for a moment an evil pride invaded my small heart.

But my smugness at my own generosity didn't last long.

His immediate need met, the poor man was turning to leave, but my friend took his arm, and placed in his open palm a note that was ten times of what I had given, closed it, and urged the man gently to go away from there fast - supposedly to have his breakfast soon - but really to avoid anybody from seeing his foolishly large help!

I was shocked and lodged a quiet protest with my friend - "You are being foolish, you know."

His reply to me back then, I wouldn't forget for a lifetime, and which explained to me the real meaning of today's Gospel verse.

"Tony, did your alms hurt you? No, I suppose. But my alms hurt me."

"That's what I meant too," I snapped back without thinking.

It took a few moments for what he said to sink into my thick head.

After allowing me that time, my friend added, "Haven't you read how Jesus valued the poor widow's offering? Our help should hurt ourselves, otherwise it is no help."

Incidentally, my friend was not a Christian, but a spiritual seeker who had read the Gospels more times than many Christians.

And in today's Gospel verse, my friend had met a God who weighed our good acts on a different scale.

What the poor widow offered was smaller than we imagine. Bible scholars tell us that most probably the copper coin she put in was 1/128th of a denarius which was offered as a day's wages back then.

She offered two coins, so that makes it 1/64th of a denarius.

This is nothing in comparison to what the Sadducees, Pharisees, and other rich community members used to give the Temple, which was usually at least one-tenth of all their revenues in both cash and kind. And they used to do it in a pompous, noticeable way.

In fact, most of them in the Temple that day, including may be Christ's followers too, would have laughed silently at the poor widow's two copper coins.

Why should she bother, they would have asked in their hearts mockingly.

After all, this was Jerusalem Temple, arguably one of the mightiest temples of that time. Someone offering or not offering tiny donations like two copper coins didn't matter at all for the Jerusalem Temple.

But for God, it mattered. It mattered so much so that not only did Jesus notice it, but He used her as an eternal example to convey to the future generations, what matters before God when it comes to offerings.

Note what he says - "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood." 

To really understand this, we should contemplate on what is so unfortunate about being poor. It is not only that they have not enough money to carry out their daily needs.

More important is that they can't offer anything meaningful to their neighbours, or to the Church, or to the nearby school, or to the government, or to the society of which they are a part.

Or so, the world thinks, and so the world makes the poor think of themselves!

Even the opinions of poor people are not taken seriously by the society, as by definition, the poor people have been failures in life.

Jesus changes all that through a fast lesson, by revealing that what matters to God is totally different.

What matters to God is only the level of sacrifice, and by teaching that secret, Christ made it a level playing field for the rich and the poor.

On a closer look, we understand that it is not even a level playing field - but a field intentionally made favourable to the poor.

Because, everyone realizes which is more challenging at a practical level - a poor man parting with half of his money or a rich man parting with half his wealth!   

Even if a poor man parts with his full money for a worthy cause, a typical rich guy wouldn't part with even 20% of his wealth for a worthy cause!

Until Jesus said these game-changing words, the rich used to feel smug at their offerings to God - offerings given from obscene surpluses, offerings that never hurt the givers.  

There is also a hidden warning for the rich in this incident. 

Those in pursuit of great riches should realize that they are making it tougher for themselves to please God - because they would have to give more and more to the poor to satisfy God's standard for measuring offerings, as reflected in another Gospel verse - Mark 10:21-24, in which Jesus answers a rich man who had diligently kept all the core commandments, but wanted to know how to inherit eternal life:

"Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”"