A Call to Stewardship - Deut 14: 22-29

This is the sermon topic that preachers hate to have come up and that people don’t really enjoy listening to. Tithing. But today I want us to set aside what we know about tithing an re-envision it.

The memory is both hazy and crystal clear. I was six years old and I rooted through my desk for a stray envelope that came with my stationary set. Holding my pencil in that awkward position that most children do, like a crayon just too big for my fingers, I write in big letters across the front Michelle B. I put a dollar of my two-dollar allowance the envelope, licked it shut and took it out to the kitchen table where I handed it to my dad. I told him it was my envelope just like his. His look – shocked and proud all at the same time. With that a life long process began.

To give and bless like the hearts of children. Why is it that our smallest ones are the biggest givers? $1.00 may not seem like much, but it was 50 percent of what I had. And I still remember my Sunday School kids who rooted around each week for their own change to put into the church bank, instead of asking their parents for it. Or other children who would exchange their gifts and toys with other kids and adults, a wooden block still sits on my parents’ kitchen windowsill as that reminder. Why is it that children can give, but as adults, well as adults it just doesn’t seem right any more.

It’s like our rational thinking gets in the way. We need to pay the bills first. Then put some money into savings. And if there is any money left in the end, well then we’ll give to God’s work through the church. On one hand it seems logical and on the other it speaks of our grave misunderstanding of tithing.

At the same time, maybe our misunderstanding of tithing comes from the fact that the Bible itself has lots of conflicting things to say about it – but today I want to focus in one image of tithing presented in the book of Deutornomity. Tithing is about celebrating. When is the last time you heard that, brothers and sisters?

You are to tithe all of your produce – all of your fruits, year after year. But where does that tithe go? To you and to the community. Once a year all of the people of Israel would come together for a celebration in Jerusalem. They would fill satchels with their produce, the first of their wheat and barley and the best of their figs and farm goods, and would pile them high on the backs of donkeys and begin the journey to Jerusalem. For some the journey was short, but for others it was too far to bring their offering. So they were instructed to sell their tithe and bring the money to the city. Once there, they could buy whatever they wanted for the celebration – wine, meat, cheese, bread. Those who brought their offering and those who brought money and bought items for the celebration in the city come together and share, rejoicing in God.

Those who did not have much, still attended the party, for it was for them too. The priests, the orphans, the widows, those who did not have income of their own, came and ate with those who had abundance, for the economy of God is nothing short of abundance. Ever.

In fact, once every three years, the tithe didn’t go to a celebration for everyone, but just for the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows. For they need to be satisfied as well.

Last week I was in Ohio with a group of young seminary students from the United Methodist Church. At the close of our time together, we went to visit a Methodist Church start in Columbus called the Church for all People. The church started out as a free store, where all were welcomed and no one had to prove that they qualified for aid before they could shop. Each family was given a shopping card that allowed them to come in throughout the month and get what they need. Oh and the coffee was always hot. Out of this free store, came a community that worships every day the free store is open, as well as on Sundays. A church was formed. And out of that church came a re-development corporation that is fixing people’s homes in Columbus in neighborhoods that others deemed to be undeliverable and bought condemned properties to turn into affordable housing.

When we met with the lead pastor he explained the three basic principles of the church and all the out reach it does in the city of Columbus: All are welcome because God loves all just as they are. All are to be received with hospitality into this place of hope. And the third, well the third is what really got my attention: God’s Divine Economy is one of abundance therefore; you can see abundance in every community if you just look.

The questions most churches are asking today is how we can have more and what do we need, but the Church for All people asks how have we been blessed already. The free store has been open since 1999 and never once, in all of those years, have the shelves been empty. Those times when they were afraid they would run out, on slots of donations would come in. Times that they were concerned about the grand nature of their vision to create affordable housing, grant money would be received. God provides for the big visions when they are about transforming the Kingdom.

So what does all of this have to do about tithing? Well at the church for all people, only 20% of those who attend are deemed to be middle class or above. The majority would fall into the category of poor, and for some their address is ever changing from one street corner to the next. Yet, this church raised the funds for its own church building. They came together to help build the first affordable housing duplex. Because they embraced the idea that God’s economy is all about abundance. While others would look at them and see how little they had, they looked at themselves and saw only how God had blessed them. They got it. Tithing is about coming together to celebrate. And they wanted to celebrate with the city of Columbus.

What do we envision this church doing for State College? Where is God leading us that we only respond to with “well we don’t have enough yet”? How are we taking care of those whose moms and dads are gone, whose spouses have passed, those who aren’t from this city, this state, or even this country? Are we really about celebrating God’s goodness with all of those around us? Because if we are, 10% doesn’t seem like this unattainable or useless goal. Is it going to be hard for some people? Yes. It requires us to live inside of our means and buck the system that tells us more is better. For others it’s going to mean being more responsible with finances or planning ahead. And for others, it’s going to be rethinking the disciplines around money to write the tithe check first instead of last.

I can already imagine some of the kick back this sermon is going to get – yes, I know that not all of us can litgitametyly afford 10%, but maybe you can give 1% or 2 %. And yes, God wants our talents and time too, but notice that the tithe is speaking about as being separate. It is not one or another. Money or time. Tithe or other gift to the church. It’s both, and. And that brothers and sisters is not a message that we all want to hear. And that’s okay, because you are still welcomed at the celebration too. However, just because getting our finances right and getting our priorities on track is hard does not mean that we should give into the excuses. Because often all they do is block the vision for the community and the celebration. We are blessed by God. Do you believe that? Now how are we going to live out the celebration of that blessing? Amen.