What are we really giving Him?

Leviticus 27:28-34
Matthew 23:23
Mark 12:41-44

One of the most difficult topics for pastors to discuss or to preach about is tithing. Too many pastors are acutely aware that if the subject matter is not handled delicately, many persons will have guilt heaped upon guilt in recognizing that they truly do not give what they should. The guilt heaped upon guilt is coming to this realization while up to the neck in debt. The truth of the worshipful nature of tithing comes stabbing into the heart, and the “guilty” person cannot see a way out because of the blindness of debt.

When my wife and I were just starting out together, we attended a large church in which there was the senior pastor and a younger associate. It happened that the younger associate was usually the celebrant of the Mass, but nearly monthly (it seemed) the senior pastor would show up only to reprimand the congregation about their lack of giving. When money was tight for my wife and me, we felt about “this big” when we walked out of the church. It may have been even more so for my wife whose father was a very intentional and dedicated giver. So we walked out of church many Sundays with my wife feeling pretty badly and me just plain angry.

Looking back on those rebukes from the senior pastor, I can remember very little Scripture reference to why what we gave mattered beyond paying the light bills at the church. In fact, at least for what little I knew, the congregation had very little to say about how the money was spent. It all belonged to the diocese. In this context, then, it almost seemed as though the bishop told our pastor that his church was not living up to expectations, so he had better kick a few cans!

I doubt that’s true, but who knows? We as a Church don’t share a common understanding of what tithing actually means beyond the legal definition. For instance there are some who will debate about whether one should give 10% of the gross or 10% of the net, reasoning that it would not be fair to pay a percentage of an income we will, for all practical purposes, never see.

Talk about missing the mark! These types of discussions are not even worthy of theological or doctrinal consideration.

The last thing folks want to talk about in church is money. It is a depressing topic, and it is almost as divisive as any “hot button” social issue because attitudes about money vary in a congregation of any size. One pastor seemed to believe that the differences in financial perspective had more generational tones and this may be true to a degree, but I am more inclined to suggest that our attitudes about money have everything to do with how we were raised, how carefully our parents taught us about financial management and giving, and our own experiences. Folks from my own grandmother’s generation, for instance, survived the Great Depression and WWII. They knew what it was like to be unsure of “tomorrow”, so they had a tendency to horde.

This is not to condemn an entire generation at all because, truth be told, it might be better said that we learned more not about money but about FAITH and COMMUNITY, things that are truly important, during those hard times. Either way, the attitudes about money from similar experiences are acquired honestly and not necessarily by any sense of greed.

We are certainly called to be responsible with what we are given and we must always be mindful that EVERYTHING we have is the Lord God’s gift to us. And as it is said so often and so well, “what we do with what we have is our gift to Him.” A prevailing attitude about money, however, might underscore an understanding of our possessions, including cash, in whether we are either BLESSED with it or ENTRUSTED with it. There is a huge difference between the two, and our understanding of those differences will have everything to do with how we respond with what we have AND what we believe about the type of response our giving may evoke.

Our response, then, has everything to do with what we understand about the whole purpose of tithing to begin with. Are we doing nothing more than simply pooling our money so that we can pay the utilities and insurance on the building? And if we are hording the money for a “rainy day”, how hard does it have to rain before we stick a crowbar in the wallet and let go of some of it?

Our United Methodist system of apportionments is a very good teaching mechanism for what we are called to do with our money. Though I am aware that there are some items that many disagree with, especially with those leaders who are a little more politically outspoken than they ought to be, but there are many items which work toward the mission and ministry of the WORLD-WIDE church. And that is really who we are and what we do, isn’t it?

The Leviticus statement, “A tithe of everything … belongs to the Lord” is a teaching from the Torah which addresses a reality about what we should know and what we should do. The problem with this statement is that it LEGALLY compels tithing, and there are too many scriptural references that deal with the Lord’s attitude toward those who give to Him only because they HAVE to.

Matthew’s reference deals with this matter further. Jesus is blasting away at the Pharisees – the TEACHERS of the Law which seems to compel tithing – about how they LEGALLY give their tithe but fail in other matters such as “justice, mercy, and faithfulness”, but He also does not let them off the hook by suggesting that faithfulness is a matter of making a choice between one or the other.

Our giving should be personified by Jesus’ lesson to His followers from Mark. It is not enough to give only from our abundance, our wealth, what we have to “spare” at the time. Rather, our giving must come with an attachment but no strings. Giving “till it hurts” is a testimony not only of our faithfulness to biblical teachings but also speaks to our level of trust. Are we so afraid of tomorrow that we would withhold an extra dollar from the Lord expecting – or at least hoping - that He will understand? The widow gave her ALL and yet her gift had very little to do with money.

Read this section of Mark again while remembering that widows in that society, in that culture, did not typically own property and had little – if any – means. Hear the poor widow say, while dropping “all she had” into the temple treasury, “Lord, I need YOU more than I need this, and I do truly trust You with my life.”

“Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”