September 18, 2011
Proper 20A
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Tag: Stewardship
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Sermon at Church of the Good Shepherd ~ September 18, 2011
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The Spiritual Discipline of Tithing
Occasionally, I am asked about tithing. Since we are entering the season when churches traditionally emphasize faithful stewardship, I thought it might be helpful to share a few thoughts on the subject here.
A “tithe” is 10% of something. Tithing has meant several things throughout history, including tribute, tax, and charitable contribution. Years ago, my wife and I came to understand the tithe as a spiritual discipline, by which we acknowledge that everything belongs to our Creator and our role is that of stewards. The discipline of tithing helps us maintain a healthy relation-ship with our possessions. As we see in the teachings of Jesus, if we are possessed by our possessions, we aren’t truly free and if possessions harm relationships with our neighbors, they undermine God’s vision of a world where people live in peace. As a priest, one of the most important things I can do for the spiritual health of those given into my care is to help them have a right relationship with possessions.
When we give the first 10% to God, we are reminded that everything we have, whether spent, saved, or given away, is a sacred trust from God. Each time we write a check to the Church for the tithe, we are reminded to be faithful stewards of the remaining 90%. We are also reminded that Jesus Christ doesn’t ask us for a small portion of our loyalty – he asks for 100%, "our selves, our souls and bodies."
Because we are unapologetically committed to the mission to which God is calling the Episcopal Church, that is where we bring God’s tithe. Other organizations have many different ways to solicit and raise funds to sustain them. The Church has us. Most secular organizations, governments, community chests, and businesses cannot contribute to overtly religious communities. We consider additional charitable giving to be an “offering.” God’s tithe and our offerings equal about 20% of our gross household income. By the standards of most of the world, the lifestyle sustained by the remaining 80% is luxurious.
Once we saw the difference this discipline could make in our lives and in Christ’s ongoing mission, we set out to work toward the goal of tithing. With God’s help, we modified our spending and saving patterns so we could step up each year toward a tithe. Then, we continued to take steps that would allow us to make offerings beyond the tithe.
I commend the discipline of tithing to you. Try it and discover for yourself how blessings flow in as treasures flow out. It will give new meaning to phrases found in the baptismal liturgy, such as placing our “whole trust in God’s grace and love.” It will change the way you understand our Lord’s summary of the Law, to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and our neighbor as we love ourselves.
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Having a Right Relationship with God – And Our Stuff
The Canons of The Episcopal Church list thirteen specific duties of Rectors and Priests-in-Charge. Among those thirteen duties is the duty “to ensure that all persons are instructed concerning Christian stewardship, including: reverence for the creation and the right use of God’s gifts; generous and consistent offering of time, talent, and treasure for the mission and ministry of the Church at home and abroad; the biblical standard of the tithe for financial stewardship; and the responsibility of all persons to make a will as prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer” (Canon III.9.5.a.2).
My performance of this duty has never required a canon as motivation! As far as I am concerned, the ability to be stewards is a gift of God that distinguishes human beings from all other creatures. It is a privilege to exercise that gift as an expression of faith in the Creator. There’s no more important priestly work than that of helping those given into our care to develop a healthy relationship with their possessions.
Our Lord had the same conviction. More than half of his sayings concern possessions. He wanted to liberate people from bondage and knew that our possessions have a way of possessing us. If you don't think you've given your possessions power over you, take a moment and consider how you've felt about them – or the loss of them – during the last couple of years. Jesus mission was to restore us to unity with God and one another, so he spent a lot of time helping people sort out their relationship with whatever estranges us – mainly, our possessions. He has entrusted that mission to us.
The invitation to make an annual "pledge" to God for the work of the Church is an opportunity to take a step toward healing our relationship with our possessions. We are invited to make a new commitment concerning what we will give to God, in acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty over our stuff.
One expression of stewardship is to practice tithing, the ancient biblical custom of returning to God one-tenth of what God has entrusted to us. Gay and I learned to tithe from the clergy who taught us in our childhood and from our parents. We do not regard tithing as a law or obligation, but as a spiritual discipline that helps us maintain a healthy relationship with our possessions so that they will have less interference in our relationships, so that we will be free to be stewards. To us, it is a precious vocation and we commend it to you as you consider your stewardship decision. We grew into tithing by starting with a percentage we could live with and then adjusting our lives so we could add at least 1% annually until we reached 10%. We now regard that tithe as God’s. Amazingly, the remaining 90% has always been enough.
Whatever we have, whether spent or saved or given away, is a sacred trust from God. We believe the least we can do is return the first portion of it – for us, a tithe – to God who has entrusted 100% of it to us to invest it in those things that further God’s ongoing Creation. We invite you to join us.
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Are you ready to give?
A friend of mine, when he was a clergyman in a downtown church, was confronted one day by a street person who was seeking assistance. My friend observed that the man was wearing only one shoe. “I see that you’ve lost a shoe,” said my friend. “No,” the man replied with a cheery, toothless smile, “I found one!”
My friend said he learned a valuable lesson that day from an unexpected teacher. Things are not always as they appear. Sometimes we tend to notice what is not there instead of what is. It’s a matter of perspective. Faithful stewardship requires a perspective that is focused on what is rather than what is not, on abundance rather than scarcity. That is why St. Paul held up the generosity of the poor and persecuted Macedonians as an example to the more affluent Corinthians. He counseled them, “…if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what one has not” (II Cor. 8:12).
God doesn’t expect us to give out of what we don’t have, but from the resources God has provided. God has certainly been generous with us. Shouldn’t we in turn be generous with God? Of course! All we need now is the readiness to follow through on that belief.
Many churches are asking members to make new stewardship commitments at this time of year. Our church's Commitment Sunday is November 7. Wherever you may be, I invite you to give prayerful consideration to the stewardship commitment you will make to God for the coming year. Christian stewardship is not about the Church’s need to receive but about each Christian’s need to give. When we are dealing with our need to give to God, we are probing one of the most sensitive areas of our spirituality. Money comes between people and God more often than anything else. That is why prayer has to precede decisions about giving.
As you pray, first ask God to remind you how much you have received. Next, ask God to grant you the readiness to give from that abundance. Then, ask for a clear, honest assessment of your priorities. After you have answers to these requests, you will find it easier to decide how much to give.
None of us ever fulfilled our destiny or achieved anything great by focusing on what we can’t do. Let the extent of our gifts reflect a perspective that sees an abundance of possibilities and resources. When the readiness is there, God can accomplish amazing things through us.
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When it really matters, we discipline ourselves.
When something really matters, we discipline ourselves to take care of it.
- In relationships that matter, we make time for others, stay in touch, remember birthdays, give gifts.
- In work that matters, we arrive on time, do our best, take pride in the product or service, maintain loyalty.
- In regard to the environment, we conserve natural resources, refrain from polluting, use recycled materials.
- In regard to family, we show up for meals, we contribute, we encourage each other, we protect, we provide, we help each other grow physically, spiritually, and intellectually.
- In athletic competition, we wear team logos and apparel, attend games, tune in for broadcasts, cheer without restraint, and, if we're on the team, we show up for practice, train, and do our part for the team.
- In regard to our health, we maintain an exercise routine, get plenty of rest, avoid foods and other substances that are harmful, have regular checkups.
Why are we willing to discipline ourselves? Because these things matter and we are human beings. Humans have this amazing ability to take care of what's important. Christians call it "stewardship." We believe we were given this ability by our Creator in the very beginning.
It is often easy to discipline ourselves. But sometimes it is difficult. When we experience the difficulty, it is an opportunity to fully engage the gift of stewardship that other creatures do not have. Other creatures are limited mostly by instinct and conditioning. Humans are not. Humans have the ability to create something new, to act with purpose, to agree or disagree, to decide how to respond, to have complex two-way communication with each other and with the Creator. To be "only human" is to be the crowning glory of God's creation! To be "only human" is to be a member of the only race that has the vocation and privilege of stewardship.
I recently officiated at the funeral of a gentleman from our church. He was a top-flight accountant, churchman, family man, and community leader throughout his long life. On the way home from the cemetery, his family shared a photocopy of a card they found in his wallet. The card contained this prayer:
O Heavenly Father, who by Thy Son Jesus Christ hast taught us that all our possessions are a trust from Thee: Help me to be a faithful steward of my time, my talents, and my wealth, and gladly consecrate to Thy service all that Thou hast given me; and may I have grace to give myself to Thee. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
By this prayer, this man disciplined himself to be not just a steward, but a faithful one.
Let us take inventory of all that has been entrusted to us, especially those things that matter most. Then, let us ask God to help us be disciplined in how generously and faithfully we take care of this sacred trust.
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In this day and age, is gluttony still a sin?
Sarah Henning, the Features Editor for the Lawrence Journal-World, asked me to respond to a question for "Faith Forum," which is a weekly Saturday column in which two local religious figures share their views on a topic. The topic for this week is "In this day and age, is gluttony still a sin?" I suppose the question is related to the season of Lent. Here is my response:
If sin is seeking our own will instead of God’s will, thereby distorting our relationship with God, others, and creation itself, and gluttony is overconsumption of the gifts God provides, then in light of what we now know about the impacts of overconsumption, there is more reason than ever to consider gluttony a sin.
The biblical revelation makes us conscious that we were intended to have a dynamic relationship with our Creator. The privilege of stewardship is a vocation given to no other creature. Caring for creation involves consideration for the needs of others. When my overconsumption (gluttony) results in a shortage of the necessities of life for others whom God also created and loves, my relationship with God, other people, and creation is distorted.
As much as 64% of the adult U.S. population is overweight. One-third are obese. The chief causes are simple: eating more food than the body needs, drinking too much alcohol, and getting too little exercise. The impact on healthcare alone is startling. Studies indicate that increases in the prevalence of obesity in the U.S. accounts for 12% of the growth in health spending.
Our appetites are enormous in a world where people are starving. The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed, and one-third is starving. During the time you’ve been reading this, at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year.
This condition is a distortion of God’s vision. To live my life in a gluttonous way contributes to the perpetuation of the distortion. So, yes, gluttony is still a sin. Since I’m 20 lb. overweight, I’m among the sinners and need to repent. Better stewardship of the body God has given me expresses love for God and for my neighbor.
P.S. The following sources were helpful to me in preparing my response and I commend them to others who are exploring the relationship between gluttony, obesity, and world hunger.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention