This morning’s gospel we hear two stories connected together. The first is Jesus’ criticism of religious scribes, perhaps Pharisees or some functionaries of the Temple. They wear long robes, demand they be greeted with respect, and have the best seats of honor in the synagogue or at a banquet. Jesus say, “They devour widow’s houses, and for the sake of appearance say long prayers.” Hear Jesus’ criticism, “They will receive the greater condemnation.” In the first story, Jesus addresses religious hypocrisy.

Over the years, I have heard so many sermons on how Jesus praises the poor widow who gave her two copper coins worth a penny to the treasury over the many rich people who gave large sums. Her gift is insignificant but to God her contribution is valued because God has seen her heart and what she has contributed. She has given all her life savings.

But I want to come back to the story of the widow’s contribution. There is another way to view this story.

The Didache, meaning Teaching (of the Twelve Apostles) a Christian text from the 2nd century CE, gives some criteria for determining the legitimacy of a genuine religious person:

Now about the apostles and prophets: Act in line with gospel precept. Welcome every apostles on arriving, as if he were the Lord. But he must not stay beyond one day, In case of necessity, however, the next day too. If he stays three days, he is a false prophet. On departing, an apostle must not accept anything save sufficient food to carry him till his next lodging. If he asks for money, he is a false prophet.

The term apostle is loosely used in the 2nd century for one “sent on a mission.” Paul was not one of the twelve apostles, and yet he called himself an apostle. Prophets and apostles were held esteem, and they were welcomed by various communities, and they were accorded leadership roles in Christian worship. They were also worthy of financial support in the form of assistance.
But the Didache was very aware that Jesus instructed his disciples to go out two by two and they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff– no bread, no bag, no money in their belt.

What would happen today if we evaluated televangelists as authentic Christians from this text? I can think of the Georgia Minister of a megachurch who maintained that he needed a 65 million dollar check, or Joel Olstein who has an 11 million dollar home. Or the hundreds of millions of dollars each year Pat Robertson makes from the millions who watch his Christian Broadcast Network and contribute to him from their fixed incomes. “You should see the thousands of social-security checks that are sent over to CBN, (Christian Broadcast Network)” one former employee told Newsweek. The Christian Broadcast Network receives notation of nearly $300 million dollars, and those donations do not go to feed the poor and homeless.

Or how Catholic German Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst spend $42 million renovating his episcopal residence and spending $20,000 alone a bathtub? 1.1 million dollars went for landscaping and fountains. The bishop of bling was removed by Pope Francis I.

Or two ministers at the former MCC church, Glory Tabernacle Christian Center where the Pastor has BMW and the Associate Pastor a Mercedes? The ostentatiousness of religious leaders is certainly problematic to me but also to Jesus. Do religious leaders need more money, plush residences, or high-priced cars than the people are called to serve? How many the above examples and others would fail the criteria of the Didache instructions on dealing with itinerant prophets and apostles?

Christian communities have valued spiritual leaders through the millennia, and there have been leaders and churches that have grown wealthy from the business of religion, selling salvation.

Conscious of these Christian leaders, I look at the story of the widow’s contribution, and I see another conclusion from Jesus that has often been overlooked by years of sermons on this passage. We have made Christianity a salvation religion, forgetting the valuable message of Jesus has abut God’s companionship of empowerment (reign of God)?

Jesus points how the Temple administration preys upon the piety of the vulnerable and the poor, extracting monies that the poor cannot afford to pay. Jesus commends the devotional piety of the poor of giving their all to God. This is commendable for the genuine gift of the poor, but what Jesus condemns is the pressure of the Temple or church administration “devouring” the meager savings of the poor. They pressure the poor to contribute not what they can afford but on what they need to survive upon.

Let me read how this scripture is sadly alive:

A viewer wrote Pat Robertson that she and her husband have been tithing for many years, as they “both love the Lord and give willingly and our tithe is over 10 percent.”

But she noted that, “we never have an extra penny after our monthly bills are paid.”

“Our old car just broke down and we had to borrow money to fix it,” she said. “We both need dental work, but we can’t afford it. I constantly have to use our credit card to pay for medical needs … What could we be doing wrong?”

Robertson showed zero concern for the fact that she could barely pay her medical bills, because the obvious solution is for her to “ask God to show you some ways of making money.”

“There are many ways of making money, even at 80 years old. You know, you can get on the telephone and people are hiring … there are all kinds of things you can do. For example, you may have a bunch of junk lying around in your garage that you can sell on eBay, and get some money that way,” he said.

He then chided her for complaining about her bills. http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/pat_robertson_tells_80_year_old_tithing

Here is an example of what Jesus describes a religious person “who devours the houses of widows.”

The above examples illustrate how the religion of Jesus confronted the greed of religious leaders, taking advantage of the poor then, and still now the church leaders of our time pressure people with the notion of salvation. The salvation business of churches has long been used to oppress people, to mute silence of the very poor over the wealthy, and the wealthy and the religious leaders conspire to get wealthy. Maybe Robertson should send some of his personal wealth to help the 80 year old woman or television empire of 300 million dollars could spare some to help viewers. But no, he tells her to get a job at 80 years old so she can pay tithes to him in the name of Jesus. What would Jesus do? Overturn the Christian Broadcast Network as the new Temple. .

Now do not get me wrong, I do think clergy and church leaders should be paid a fair and equitable wage. It is the exploitation and the outrageous salaries and extravagant living that Jesus would object.

In our own society, capitalism has been made into a religion that the very wealthy export. It has impacted Christianity in the negative.

Let me give you a couple of examples: Prosperity Christianity preaches a gospel about tithing and giving more, and that God will reward true faith with financial blessings. This preached by many evangelists. What happens when something bad happens? You lack true faith. Poor people live on the streets because they have lacked true faith. This is double-victimization of the poor. True faith is rewarded with great financial blessings. Televangelists model extravagant wealth selling this idea of prosperity intertwined with salvation.

Other versions are: The more generous you give, the more God will reward you in heaven. I consider this another version of the medieval practice of selling indulgences. It plays on the fears of pious.

This practice of pressuring vulnerable people for monies is the practice that Jesus is critical in today’s scripture. I read today’s gospel as an instruction to his disciples. Jesus warns his disciples with the widow’s giving beyond anything she afford. On another occasion, he bluntly says, “You cannot serve God and mammon,” the Aramaic word for money. He is right. Greed and the gospel cannot co-exist.

I read recently about a group of 40 Catholic bishops on November 16, 1965 while the Vatican II was being held. They gathered in an ancient Christian underground basilica, the catacombs of St. Flavia Domitilla to celebrate a mass. The church marked the location where two Roman soldiers were executed for converting to Christianity, and it connects to 10 miles of catacombs under Rome. One of the concerns of Pope John the XXIII was to make service of the poor a key part of revitalization of the Catholic Church. I loved John XXIII.

Some 40 progressive bishops and cardinals from Europe and Latin America world gathered secretly and signed a commitment, named the “Pact of the Catacombs.” They committed themselves to “try to live according to the ordinary manner of our people in all that concerns housing, food, means of transport, and related matters.” They vowed to renounce fancy vestment, personal possessions and titles. They were commitment to make the church of the poor for the poor. The manifesto read:

We will seek collaborators in ministry so that we can be animators according to the Spirit rather than dominators according to the world; we will try to make ourselves as humanly present and welcoming as possible; and we will show ourselves to be open to all, no matter what their beliefs. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pact-of-the-catacombs_563930c3e4b0307f2cab1c23

One of the signers was one of my college heroes, Dom Helder Camara, the Brazilian Archbishop of the slums of Recife. I was introduced to his writings in 1968 in a philosophy class taught by a French atheist and existentialist philosopher. Archbishop Camara deeply felt the gospel call of Jesus to live in service to care for the poor and the homeless. Archbishop Camara once said, “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist.” It is okay to feed the poor, but you step on dangerous ground when you ask “why are they poor?” The wealthy are committed to keep the minimum wage to sub standard as they make even greater wealth. It depends on keeping people poor.

The bishops who signed the Pact of Catacombs kept this underground for years. They feared that openness would result in being labeled as communists by wealthy Catholics and bishops. It was dangerous to mention this document in the Catholic Church or in public until Francis was elected pope. One signatories of the document was a former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who assassinated by the military and wealthy for his commitment to the poor.

Francis has lived the dream of the Pact of the Catacombs, a “poor church, for the poor.” Before he was elected pope, he as cardinal and Archbishop of Buenos Aires did not have a car and driver as most Catholic bishops, he used public transportation. He lived in an apartment and did his own cooking. Next to rare among Catholic bishops.

Francis has shunned the extravagant papal garments or the red Prada shoes of Benedict XVI. He decided not to live in the elegant papal apartment in the Vatican but lives in a room in the Vatican guesthouse. He has open the Vatican for 40 homeless men from Rome to eat, bathe, and be sheltered. This is a first in Vatican history.

Jesus’ instruction to care for the poor is one of the central practices of the Christian church. Beware of the greedy religious leaders who “devour the homes of widows.”