The pharisee in the gospel story gets a bad rap. What exactly does he do wrong? “I fast twice a week.” Fasting is actually a good thing. It clears the mind and forces us to think less about our own physical needs as a way of opening us to a more spirit filled experience. “I give a tenth of all my income.” Giving 10% of your income is known as tithing and is the notion of giving back to God in thanks for the many blessings God has given to us. If you are wondering, yes, this sermon is about giving. But before many of
you tune me out, let me just say that later in the sermon I will offer you several reasons NOT to tithe. I thought that might get your attention.
In Malachi we hear God tell us “Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams.” God blesses us richly, and when we give back to God in gratitude, God promises to shower us with even more abundance than we ever thought possible.
A couple of weeks ago I shared with you our story of tithing. At the risk of being repetitive, Jen and I began as people who put $5 in the plate when we attended service. This gradually increased to making a pledge, and even grew to $25 a week. Not bad, but when I consider our income at the time, I am embarrassed at how small that was. We didn’t give more because we had never been asked to give more. Then our rector preached a sermon on tithing, or as he put it, proportional giving. Rather than give a set dollar amount, he encouraged us to give a percentage of our income. He quoted
Malachi and helped us see giving not as a chore, but a way of offering thanks. This struck a chord, and we started at 3%. That was a significant jump from $25 a week, but we committed ourselves to it for at least a year. Surprisingly, we found it easier than we expected. We also found that the sacrifices in having less disposable income were not as much as we thought they would be. Each year we tried to increase our percentage as we worked toward our goal of 10%. We finally got there when I took the job as your priest.
Through your generosity, the church pays me a salary of $86,000. To some of you that may seem a lot, to others it may seem a little, but that is the number. So, for Jen and me, the pledge process is very simple. 10% of $86,000 is $8,600 so that is our pledge.
What I find truly amazing though is this; 90% of what I used to make is a great deal more than 100% of what I currently make. Back in the day, offering 10% of that number seemed completely unrealistic, yet today, we live on 90% of a much lower number. But rather than feeling deprived, we find that tithing back to God in recognition of all our blessings has been a freeing experience. Yes, we have had to adapt our lifestyle a bit. We don’t spend extravagantly on ourselves as we once did. But we find that we don’t miss that. God has richly blessed us and by turning our money back to God, it increases the sense of confidence that God has us well in hand.
Now as I promised, let me tell you some reasons why you should not tithe. 1) You should not tithe if you are tying to earn your way into heaven. Tithing does not get you a first-class ticket to heaven and you there is no special boarding line at the pearly gates for tithers. 2) You should not tithe if you are trying to buy favor from God. Remember the scripture that says, “Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice”. 3) You should not tithe if you are looking for the approval of others, as a way of demonstrating your superiority. We do not give out t-shirts that say, “ask me about my tithe”. That was the problem with the pharisee in the gospel story. He was fasting and tithing, both of which are good things. But it wasn’t what he was doing, it was why he was doing it that got him into trouble. The pharisee was doing these things to lord them over others, as a way of making himself superior to them. If
that is your goal, then tithing is not for you. Remember Jesus’ admonition that “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
So why then should you tithe? Because God has gifted you richly. Whether you have a lot or a little, God created you, loves you and has showered you with abundant blessings. A tithe is a way of giving back to God in gratitude for all that you have been given and is a way of offering God the first fruits of your labor. It is a serious way of demonstrating gratitude and the sacrificial nature is meant to keep our gratitude uppermost in our hearts and minds. Each time you want to spend money on yourself but don’t because of your tithe, you are reminded of the sacrifice you are making to give back to God.
We are in the midst of our stewardship campaign, and it would be tempting to think that is why I am offering this sermon. It is not. Let me tell you a secret. Stewardship is not at all about the church’s need to receive. Rather it is about our need to give, and to give sacrificially. For in doing this, we tangibly acknowledge the relationship of gratitude we seek with God.
A few weeks ago, we read the gospel passage where Jesus tells us that you cannot love God and money. But we decided that it is perfectly possible to love God and use money. When we keep this in mind, tithing becomes a natural outgrowth. We use a proportion of our money as a tangible expression of our love for God, and in so doing, we remind ourselves that money is not to be loved, but to be used. Used to give back to God, used to remind us of our sacrifice, and used to keep us from falling back into the
worldly view that we are to love money more than anything else. For as Jesus tells us, where your treasure is, there your heart is also. So my friends, where is your treasure?
