As the
year gradually comes to an end, and given that this is usually a period of
harvest thanksgiving, the church today by its selection of readings wants us to
reflect deeply on our offering to God. Why do we do offering at all in church? And
when we offer, what should be our mind-set towards our giving? Does the size of
our offering matter to God? How do we know when we have offered well and how
can we be sure to receive blessing from what we offer?
The following
points gathered from our readings may serve as yardsticks so to say or
characteristics with which we can tell if our offering is worth the effort and
acceptable to God.
1., SIZE
IS NOT THE SAME THING AS VALUE.
It is very
easy for us as humans to get carried away with size based on the fact that our
sense of judgement is usually based on external appearance. Today’s readings
makes us understand that God is not moved by size, rather he considers value.
The size of your offertory may be very big, it may even be more than everybody
else but if it is “nothing” to you based on what you have, then know that it is
nothing to God.
To know
the actual value of your offering, then compare what you offer with what you
have kept for yourself. If all you have is a hundred naira for instance, then
offering three naira in church may seem like a big amount to you but to God, it
is of little or no value since what you have kept for yourself is far far greater
than what you are giving.
The widow
in today’s Gospel passage gave the smallest when compared to what others were
giving as offertory but given that that was all she had to live on, her “small”
offertory was of a magnificent value to God to the extent that she caught the
attention of Jesus. Calling his disciples to himself, Jesus said: “Amen, I say
to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors… for they
have all given out of their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty has given
ALL she had, her whole livelihood.”
No one can
deceive God. He is not carried away by size, what he seeks is value. If your
offertory does not take anything from you, then it probably doesn’t take
anything from God to you. A comedian once told a story of a man who went to
church one day and the pastor said: “Sow a seed that will provoke God.” So, the
man got up and handed over the key of his car to the pastor. The moment he did
that, there was thanksgiving and jubilation on the altar, the pastor prayed
profusely for him and showered him with so many encomiums little did he know
that the car the man had offered was his greatest headache. The man actually
wanted to provoke God because the car with its many problems kept provoking him
every day. The following day, the pastor called the man and begged him to come
and collect his car back with immediate alacrity. This is an example of an
offertory that may appear big in size but it is actually nothing in value. Dear
friends, do not provoke God with your offering lest he becomes angry with you.
2.,THE
OFFERTORY BAG IS NOT A DUSTBIN.
Sometimes,
as a result of our lack of understanding, there is this tendency to offer only
that which we consider useless to us. We search through our wallets and look
for the worst looking naira note or even a naira note that has run out of
circulation. Some people even squeeze it to a point when one can no longer
detect the amount any longer. If you talk with the people handling our
offertory at times, you will be shocked at that people use for offertory.
For Jesus
to have decided to sit in the temple facing the treasury where people were
offering their contributions, it shows that God is interested in what we give.
And it is nothing short of an insult when we deliberately decide to turn the
offertory bag into a dustbin throwing away what we no longer need. And truly,
when decide to insult God, we only end up putting ourselves in disfavour with
him just like Cain.
3., THE
OFFERING IS A PRAYER OF SACRIFICE.
Many
people do not know that their offering is a form of prayer in itself. Before
the era of money, people sought God’s attention by making sacrifices. They would
select an animal from their flock, slaughter it and while burning it or
sprinkling its blood, they would present their intentions in prayer to God. In the
second reading this morning, we are told that as high priest, Christ offered
his own very blood before God in a sanctuary not made by human hands and by so
doing, presented a prayer request to God. This prayer was that our sins may be
taken away and humanity as a whole would be saved.
In the
same way, when we present our offering to God, we should do so in the context
of offering a particular prayer or certain prayers to God. It is not as if we
are trading with God or trying to buy his blessings. Far from it. No amount of
money can bribe God. Instead, the offertory is an act of worship, a sign of our
dependence on the power of God for sustenance in life. Just like Abraham was
willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac, we too should recognise that everything
we have comes from God and therefore nothing is too much to use as a sacrifice
to him.
The prayer
that follows immediately after our offertory and just at the beginning of the
Eucharistic prayer helps us put this in proper context. It says: Pray,
brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty
Father. And we respond: May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the
praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church.
4., THE
OFFERTORY IS AN OUTWARD EXPRESSION OF OUR FAITH.
In our
first reading today, we encounter a widow who gave from the little meal she had
to the hungry prophet based on her faith that the promise made to her by the
prophet will be fulfilled. She was almost reluctant because according to her,
she was only gathering sticks to prepare this last meal for herself and her son
that they may eat it and die but Elijah said: “The jar of flour shall not go
empty, nor the jug of oil run dry.” It was not clear to her how this would be
possible but she believed and truly, it came to pass to pass that her jar of
flour was never depleted throughout an entire year of famine.
Our offertory
is not a thing of compulsion. If you strongly believe that by doing offering or
contributing in the church, you are wasting your money, then please always
remain in your seat when others are coming out. If that strong conviction is
not there, if faith in God’s providence is lacking in you, it would be better
to simply remain in your seat rather than offer a faithless offertory.
Faith makes
us understand that even though that which we offer is all we have, God will
never allow us become beggars as a result. Our jar of flour will never go
empty. Wherever we get the money from, we will never experience shortage. She
kept pouring from the same jar of flour daily to feed the prophet but it wasn’t
reducing. A miracle was happening each time she gave. A miracle happens too
each time we give. We may not see it physically but it is real all the same.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, my offertory be pleasing to your sight always. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Sunday.
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