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The Money Thing by The Rev. Hartshorn Murphy I recently had an absolutely fascinating conversation with a clergy colleague about giving in the Church. He is in a tough situation. His parish has a substantial endowment which provides the lion's share of their annual budget. For this reason, stewardship education has always been difficult because people have the tendency to wonder why the church needs their money when they can just "take it out of the endowment." But with the stock market sharply down now − and for the foreseeable future − the need to reach his people with a message about stewardship is crucial. I shared with him our practice here at St. A's of encouraging people to give proportionately (to set aside a percentage of their income to return to God for God's use) with a goal of the tithe (the practice of giving 10% of one's income to God's work). He shared with me that he had always been reluctant to preach about tithing (although his family had long practiced it) because, as he put it: "how can we be legalistic about the biblical tithe (Deuteronomy 26) and not be legalistic about prohibitions about homosexuality (Leviticus 18:22)? This was my response. When our Church preaches the tithe, although it clearly is based on biblical precedence, it is not about that alone. The General Convention has twice reaffirmed the tithe, for Episcopalians, as the "minimum standard of giving." As such; the giving of 10% is both a goal and a benchmark. For some, as a goal to strive for, it causes us to reexamine constantly our priorities and the management of our resources. For many people, especially young people, credit card debt is an impediment to generosity. Those who have mortgaged their future by intemperate living in the present (choosing to purchase on credit those things we are unwilling to save for and luxuries redefined as essentials) discover that the biblical injunction to tithe stands in judgment over a consumerist lifestyle. The first step toward tithing, for some, may be to set a goal of being debt free in a reasonable and short timeframe. As a benchmark, the tithe reminds us that God generously invites us to live gracefully on 90% of what He has given us. In response to this insight, the tithe as benchmark is a guidepost, the navigator's "financial north star" in the stormy sea of economic life. For some, the tithe is way too insubstantial. Giving back to God should be something that we feel. The language the Church has historically used here is "sacrificial giving." (Think here of Jesus on Calvary: "Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the Cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace…" BCP pg. 101). Giving should pinch a bit. As pastors, we are always amazed when people call the church office to inquire "what did I pledge last year?" It's hard to imagine someone calling their daughter's school, for example, and asking: "what was the tuition again?" When one accepts the principle of proportionate giving, the issue is not what one pledged last year but rather "what percentage of what God has invested in me this year will I return to him as I move toward (or beyond) the tithing benchmark?" My colleague was reassured by my answer. For us as Anglicans, authority is a "3 legged stool" of scripture, tradition (church teaching) and reason. Tithing meets all three: it is grounded in biblical teaching and New Testament precedence, it is established by General Convention resolution binding on all Episcopalians and it is reasonable as a goal. What it is not, I reminded my colleague, is law. The principle of grace − unlike Mormon tradition in which the tithe is proclaimed and compulsory - means that we as Christians make decisions about how we respond to God's gracious invitation to generosity under the banner of grace (defined as: "there is nothing that you can do which will make God love you more and there is nothing that you can do (or fail to do) which will make God love you less.") This is not about earning anything. Rather, it is about our own spiritual growth. Simply put − once we get serious about giving is when we will grow spiritually for we need to give more than the Church needs to get. (It is a paradox.) The stickier place for me in our consultation was over whether or not the Church is the place where God's work is being done. To say it plainly: when we are asked to "give back 10% to God's work," is the Church solely the place where that work is being carried out? It's on one hand a question born out of a certain cynicism. Church scandals, misappropriation of funds, poor management, clergy sexual misconduct and child abuse, the heresy of the "prosperity gospel" − all this and more has meant that the Church, as an institution, has often fallen short of its high calling. "Beyond its doors", non-church Christian aid workers often exhibit a more obviously Christ-like demeanor and face. Those engaged in the ministry of charity seem more worthy of our gifts. But this is all relatively new. In a former age, no one would suggest that the Church was not the place where God's spirit dwells. And so although the institutional Church - and its leaders − has far too often brought shame to the cause of Christ, nevertheless, Mother Church remains that wonderful and sacred mystery, the mystical Body of Christ in the world. Its failings belong to all of us as constituted members -clergy and lay, all four orders of ministers. And yet, while the scandals wound us all, each congregation must be surely judged by its membership. The crucial question must then be: "When I give myself as fully as I can and open my heart, mind, will and imagination to worship, teaching, fellowship and service as experienced at St. A's, is this a place where I am encountered by the Spirit of God and in that encounter, is my life transformed by the grace and love of God?" If that is true for you, then although we would never claim that this is the only place where God's work is being done, it clearly, for many, is the central place where we meet Christ − in word, song, sacrament and community. And in thanksgiving for that grace-filled gift, I would give my all if I could but will be content with this journey toward (and beyond) the tithe. Copyright © 2008 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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