Over the summer, our messages have focused on practices of faith. We have heard about healing, testimony, fasting, and sabbath keeping. This morning, we are turning to tithing, a practice that is part of both Christianity and other world religions. How we spend our time, our talents, and treasure testifies to where our faith and our hearts lie.
Jesus talked about money – a lot. But, if you look at the list of scripture passages that we focus on in our worship services, you may not realize how often Jesus talked about money and resources. We will now turn to one of the stories we hear more often, as it is found in several of our Gospels…the story of the “Widow’s Mite.”
Listen now to the word of God as it is found in Mark chapter 12 verses 41 through 44:
Scripture Mark 12:41-44
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.
42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen
Let us pray….
Message Tithing
Tithing is a controversial subject….or at least a controversial subject in churches like Trinity.
We have been raised in a culture that teaches us to feel uncomfortable talking about money…. if you research topics that are taboo to bring up at both dinner parties and in the workplace, one of the biggest topics to avoid is our “personal finances.” People don’t talk about their personal finances with their friends, their family members, and even their children – when I was a kid, it felt like my parent’s response to every request was “We can’t afford that.” But, there was never clarity about what we could afford – bubble gum and new bikes were in the same boat. Money and our personal finances are often awkward subjects for us to talk about.
Long, long ago, in Old Testament times, religious Jewish people were required to give offerings to the priests. Required – it was not optional. The people were primarily nomadic herdsmen or farmers, so they annually gave a tenth of their produce, herds or flocks to the priests….When the priests received these gifts, they were required to redistribute them – they supported the families of religious workers, immigrants, widows and orphans with the offerings. They were both used to finance and maintain the worship life of the people of Israel, and also provide for people who did not have enough resources to support themselves.
How Christians handle tithing and supporting people in need differs depending on the type of Christian church and their history. Some Christian congregations and expressions are very clear about the requirements of tithing. LDS members, for example, have an annual “Tithing Declaration” meeting with a representative of their church where they go over their offerings and prove they have given 10 percent of their income that year.
Sometimes, part of becoming a member of a church or denomination is to agree to give an annual tithe. Tithing traditionally has been to give 10 percent of your income to the church….before we all had incomes that came to us in currency, congregational members sometimes gave 10 percent of their trade to the church…farmers gave produce or meat, carpenters gave objects they built, dressmakers gave clothing for the pastor’s family or impoverished people to wear. People gave a percentage of what they created to the church.
In our church, and in churches like ours, the amount we tithe is very personal. Because we are a people who are very private about money and resources, we have traditionally seen the commitment of how much money to tithe as a commitment between an individual person and God. But, when we read scriptures like the story of the widow’s mite we are reminded that we are commanded and encouraged by our generous God to be generous in return. We have to look at how much money we earn, consider our necessary expenses, and then consider how much we are able to give. For some of us, it would be no big deal to give 10 percent of our annual income to the church – we may have more than enough resources to cover our necessary expenses and 10 percent may not be a painful gift…in that case, perhaps we should give more than 10 percent. For others in this congregation, we may be relying on a very limited income and struggling to cover our basic needs. For those of us in that boat, God isn’t asking for us to take food out of our mouths or our children’s mouths to support the church. We are commanded to give what we are able to give, but not so much that we can’t cover our necessary expenses.
Why should we tithe? Why would we tithe? We are not obligated, forced to tithe like the Jewish people of Old testament days. We are not part of a church that requires our members to tithe. So, why would we choose to give our resources to the church?
We choose to give to Trinity because we believe in the mission of our church. We are self-sustaining – the people who participate in our church are financially responsible for all that we do. We are the ones who keep the lights on and the piano tuned and the lawns mowed and the air-conditioning running. We believe that God has called us, the people of Trinity, to bring a message of hope and love and support to the people of the wider Skippack community. We are enriched and encouraged by the worship services we participate in in this beautiful sanctuary. We support the theology and beliefs we hold dear and share with the other people who are part of our church. We believe in the power of prayer, and we are strengthened and encouraged by the prayers of the people of Trinity. We work to welcome our friends and neighbors and the wider community to join us both here in worship and to work together outside in our community. We collaborate with others believers to support the work of the Daily Bread Food Pantry and Every Good Gift’s ministry to young, single mothers. We love our church and we cheerfully support the mission of Trinity.
Although how much we give is a personal choice, we are encouraged to give as an expression of love for both God and for our special church. How we use our money demonstrates what we value and what we love. We love God and love our church – therefore, let us give as an expression of that love.
Amen.
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