And He looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. Luke 21:1
American businessman Warren Buffett is reported to be worth some 70 billion dollars, and he is known as the most successful investor of modern times. He is reportedly not stingy with his money when he finds a cause he likes, and has given huge amounts to a variety of charities. In fact, he claims that when he dies, at least half of his money will go to charities. Shortly after he had donated more than two billion dollars to a particular cause, someone asked him why he did it. His reply, ‘There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way.’ It sounds like Warren Buffet has not taken the time to read his Bible. Not only is there just one way to get to Heaven, but giving away money is not it. But Warren Buffett is not alone in his mistaken belief that a place in Heaven can be bought with earthly money, as our text points out.
The Lord Jesus knows exactly – to the very penny – how much Warren Buffett has given to the good cause. But even if he were to give everything he has, and were to obtain Bill Gates’ 127 billion dollars and give that too, He would still come up short of the ticket price for a one-way ticket to the Pearly Gates station. As Christians, you and I have our tickets guaranteed. But we didn’t have to pay for them. We could never have paid for them. Someone else did, though. How precious to us that our Lord and Saviour purchased our redemption in drops of His own most precious blood at Calvary! His death was the purchase price for our tickets to Glory, and those tickets were eternally guaranteed when we trusted in Him as our Saviour. We received, as a free gift, that which Warren Buffett, and many others, have spent billions trying to obtain.
Our text tells us that the gifts that the rich men cast into the treasury were carefully noted by the Lord Jesus. He saw even more; He saw the reason why those men gave their gifts. Some, no doubt, gave sincerely fulfilling the tithe requirements of their religion. Other save so that the people around them could see how generous they were. But in some of their minds, there was the idea that God would see those gifts and give them credit toward a home in Heaven. What would make those men, and Warren Buffett too, think that they could buy their way to Glory? They no doubt knew how money works in this world. Money can buy pleasure, popularity, and power. It can grease the wheels toward pretty much everything that people want to do and have and be. True, it can be put to evil purposes, but it can also be used for great good. Money given in times of great disasters has saved countless lives and relieved untold misery. It is a necessary component of our society, and we would all like to have a little more of it. And maybe the reason we don’t have more of it is that God can’t trust us to handle any more without harm to ourselves or others.
In his response to Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8, Peter provided the following answer to Warren Buffett, the rich Jews of Jesus’ day, and so many more: Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. No, money is not the currency of Heaven, and will buy nothing there, no matter how much. -Jim MacIntosh