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"Consider Tithing"
A Sermon preached by Dr. Laird J. Stuart
19 October 2008
Deuteronomy 14:1-2, 22-23; II Corinthians 9:6-10
At the beginning of the movie "Appaloosa" a voice says that there are always foreseen and unforeseen circumstances and that often we end up living in the unforeseen circumstances. It could be a commentary on our very uncertain times.
A member of this congregation expressed concern the other day because her investments have lost so much value and she is not sure how much income from those investments she can count on. Another member spoke of getting up early one morning, going to the computer, and looking again at his investments, realizing again his plans for retirement had to change. Yet another member spoke about compiling a list of people to be laid off from his company based on income projections for next year. Then there was the member who spoke of a sharp drop in income because the year-end bonus would be so much smaller. Someone else spoke of a house he has up for sale and there have been no offers at all.
These uncertain times are hitting us in so many ways.
This week I came across a comment by Oscar Wilde. He said, "I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability." Then there is Mark Twain who said, "…you have to remember man was created at the end of week."
One of the lessons we are learning these days is one of life’s basic lessons. We do not choose the times we live in. We do not choose when there will be a Bull Market or a Bear Market. We do not choose when a doctor tells us we have cancer or some other illness. We do not choose when we will get laid off. We do not choose when we will get an offer from another company in another city. We do not choose when we will fall in love. We do not choose when God may call us to something new. We make all kinds of choices that influence to one degree or another what will happen in our lives, but there are so many circumstances that just happen, so many settings in which we simply find ourselves whether we want to be there or not, whether we know how we got there or not.
I sometimes hear young couples talking about how they want to be sure they have the financial resources they need before they have a child, and I want to say that so much of the time that you are a parent you will not be prepared for what happens. We do not always have the time to get emotionally all ready for the stresses of chemo and radiation therapy. We do not always have the time to study some issue before it is time for us to stand up to it and take a stand.
More often than we want to admit it, the times choose us.
In such times it becomes very clear to us that there are some areas where we need to make good choices.
We need to choose our own attitude. We can do this. I often think of this exchange that was retold to me by a friend. One person asked a friend, "How are you doing?" The friend answered, "Okay, under the circumstances." The first person than asked, "What are you doing under the circumstances?" It is the attitude we choose and nurture that will lead us to stay under the circumstances or rise up and challenge them as best we can.
We also need to choose our relationships. It is important in difficult times to know who you want to be part of your life. You need to choose carefully the people you believe you can trust; the people you believe will offer good guidance and reliable support.
Along with the attitude we choose and the relationships we choose, it is important to choose your commitments. In times like this you need to know what your core commitments are going to be. Maybe you need to be more selective and maybe, as graciously as possible, you need to let go of some commitments that are not essential to you and your life.
For all the people who have joined Calvary Presbyterian Church one of those commitments is to support this congregation in its witness for Jesus Christ. Part of that commitment is to make a financial commitment each year.
There must be at least one of you who is thinking right now, "I can’t believe he is going to ask for money with everything that is going on in our economy!" Sisters and Brothers in Christ, I am.
Each and every year at this time, in boom times and bad times, this church, we together, say to each other it is time to make a commitment to Calvary. It is time to make a pledge: specifically a financial pledge for the coming year’s mission, ministries and maintenance.
One of the questions that comes up all the time, in all kinds of times, not just challenging and unsettled times is: what is an acceptable gift?
The biblical standard is a tithe. Ten percent. It is mentioned a number of times in the Old Testament. That may well be beyond what many people can consider these times, but it is important to look at why God calls us toward a tithe.
It is explained in our lesson from Deuteronomy. The People of God were to bring to God a tenth of their harvest. What strikes people who read this text or hear it is that the people are then told to have a festival, a celebration with their tithe. The question that arises is why would God want people to bring God a tithe if God is just going to give it back to them?
The point God is making here is quite simple: God wants the people to remember that it is because of God that they have the earth which produces their harvest, it is because of God that they had their Promised Land, and it is because of God they had the talents to plant and harvest their crops. God wants people to honor God for the gift of life and the gift of the earth’s providence. The passage from Deuteronomy begins by reminding the people God chose them. God chose to love them, to lead them to their promised land, and to place under their lives an abundant earth.
God knows that when our gift to God or anyone is casual we barely think about it. But when we are challenged to give a significant gift it calls us to re-examine all that we have. For people of faith, re-examining all that we have leads us to re-consider all that God has given to us and provided for us.
God wants to lead us toward that thanksgiving so that our faith will be grounded in thanksgiving and so that in all times and places we will turn to God for God’s providence.
And when the text says this way the people will learn to "fear" God, it is one of many places in the bible where the word "fear" means to revere, to remember, to honor.
A tithe is a tenth of your produce or for those of us who are not farmers, a tenth of our income. In a wonderful Focus on Mission two Sundays ago, Brenna Randolph put this matter of a tithe in perspective. She pointed out that when we go to a restaurant, we will leave a tip of fifteen percent or more. When we give God a tithe of ten percent it suggests we are not happy with God’s service!
The most conservative and literal interpretation of a tithe is ten percent of everything. Some people back off of that interpretation to consider a tithe to be ten percent of all of their active income. Some people back off of that interpretation and consider a tithe to be ten percent of their income after taxes. Some people go on to suggest that a tithe can be for all their charitable contributions, not just what they give to the church.
No matter how you define at tithe, it is clear many people are not tithing. Several years ago Michael Durall came to Calvary to talk about stewardship. In his book Creating Congregations of Generous People he notes that in 1967 people who gave charitable gifts on average gave 2.1% of their income to charity; all types of charities. In 1997 people were giving less. In 1997, thirty years later, people gave on average 1.6% of their income to charity.
So what is an acceptable gift?
From time to time at Calvary Presbyterian Church we have suggested various benchmarks. For several years we suggested using four percent as a guideline for your giving to Calvary. It was suggested as a guideline to aim for possibly over several years. We also said as clearly as we could that if you were giving more than four percent you were not supposed to give less. We also pointed out that once you got to four percent, you could keep going and growing into your stewardship and generosity.
Another benchmark is the average pledge. The average pledge to this congregation last year was $2,858.76.
Other benchmarks that have been suggested from time to time are: give each week what you would spend for a dinner out for yourself or for however many people are represented by your pledge or give to the church the same amount you would spend for gas each week. We have also suggested that we each consider making to Calvary Presbyterian Church the charitable contribution that is first and biggest in our charitable giving. Think what would happen if people gave to their communities of faith, whatever their faith was, the same or more than they gave to political campaigns!
The reason why I think using percentages is so helpful is because percentages are inherently fair. This is what Jesus was pointing to when he spoke so highly of the widow giving her small coin. It was not much but compared to what she had, it was so much.
Percentages are inherently fair. The bible calls us toward ten percent. Along the way 4% is a good interim goal.
Then there is Paul, calling us away from specific percentages and benchmarks to something else that is important. Paul tells us that each of us has to make our own decision. It should be made in full awareness of everything God has given to us. It should be made in full gratitude for everything God has given to us. This is what the Stewardship Mission Team has been telling us. As we grow into our stewardship, we are to lead our own selves through a sort of guided reflection. We begin by awakening to God’s gifts to us.
The first step is to simply "Respond Gratefully." At Mt. Hermon last weekend we were encouraged to cultivate a spirit of gratitude. This is what the Stewardship Mission Team is calling us to do. From that sense of gratitude we are called to share, and to share abundantly. We are called to give willingly. We are called to make an intentional commitment, not casual or easy. And finally, we are called to consider tithing, to consider tithing for the very same reason both texts put before us: out of gratitude to God for God’s gifts to us.
What Paul tells us points to a key ingredient in an acceptable gift. The truly acceptable gift, the spiritually acceptable gift to God is the one that has your heart in it. As Paul puts it, God loves a cheerful giver.
Some gifts simply come from our hands. We hand over something. We hand over a gift that we barely notice. It is loose change for us. It will not effect how we live. Some gifts simply come from our hands. But the gifts that have the greatest impact on others and on ourselves as we give them are the gifts that come from our heart.
In three weeks we will celebrate Stewardship Sunday. We will bring our pledge cards forward and place them in baskets here in our chancel. The pledge cards will be in our hands. But the pledges that will be the most significant and the pledges that will be acceptable to us and to God are those that come from our heart.
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