For Love of Money--by Linden Malki

Money has been part of human social and political interaction since about 3000BC, in Mesopotamia.  We find it in the earliest Old Testament stories, as already an accepted part of trade and politics. And it was already being mentioned as a way of developing dominance of one kingdom or society over another--as Joseph used the market for  grain that had been stored against the predicted famine to acquire not only the livestock of Egypt but also money from not only the Egyptians but their neighbors as well.  Coins, as distinctive and specified units of money made from gold, silver and copper, appear in the very early Roman republic, around 650BC. The acquisition and holding "money" has been a preoccupation of most members of human societies  ever since.  The Roman Empire at its beginning in 44BC already a well developed "modern" economy based on standardized coinage. We also notice that there was also a range of poverty and wealth based on family influence and status. We also notice that it was not unknown for high-status families to have disabled or elderly members who were ignored.                     

We know the story--Jesus and his followers were at the Temple in Jerusalem, watching the parade of the most wealthy and snooty making a show out of the "generosity" in their offerings. He also notices a widow, dressed modestly or possibly threadbare, unobtrusively dropping two of the smallest possible coins into the offering box. He quietly mentions to his disciples that her offering, although minimal in the eyes of the world, was actually the most prized in the eyes of God, as it was everything she had and she was willing to offer it to God.  He had also made a public statement that the richest and most apparently pious of the religious had a tradition of claiming that what ought to have been used to take of their older relatives were classed as "dedicated to the Temple", and therefore retained in their custody.   In general, Jesus was scathing in his teaching about the grasping attitudes of the rich about money in contrast to those who were generous.



This reminds us of the story of Elijah, who met a woman during a famine that had only flour and oil for one last meal for her son and herself. Elijah asked her to make him one as well, and told her that God would see that the flour and oil would feed the three of them until the famine was over.  We see similar contrasts between the story of the rich young man, who refused to sell his wealth to follow Jesus, and the "Good Samaritan" who put out his own money to pay the expenses of the Jewish victim of theft and beating on the Jericho road.  Over and over we read of those who destroy themselves by their selfish attitude and greed, and those who generously give to others and even God. We read of Judas,who criticized the use of the expensive oil to anoint Jesus before His crucifixion, being concerned about the cost of the oil (and the possibility that he could skim some of it for himself). We live in a world with a inordinate attitude about money and how to get it, when Jesus' attitude was what it could do for God's people in our generous hands.