October 30, 2011
Money & Stuff Part 3, The Tithe - Genesis 28:10-22
Pastor: Luke Maybry
DownloadI lived in Texas as a bachelor for about nine months before I married. For almost all of that time, I was an engaged bachelor, but a bachelor nonetheless. One Sunday I went to Church, alone naturally. That particular Sunday, the Church had a lunch following worship. So I went to the lunch. While I was at the lunch, I ran into a girl about my age. She had just graduated from Texas A&M, and her sister I believe was currently at A&M. She was a fairly attractive girl, and I could tell, at the risk of bragging, that she thought that I was a fairly attractive guy. She introduced me to her mother, and her mother thought I was nice. Her sister liked me. What wasn’t to like? She then asked me over to dinner, and her house, maybe next Saturday night, she said. I told her that was fine. In fact, that was perfect, because my fiancé just happened to be coming in that Friday and I was sure that she would love to meet my new friend from church. Needless to say, she never mentioned that invitation again.
Is it possible to be engaged, or even married, and never mention it? Is it possible for me to go through the whole live-long day and never mention the fact that I am a married man, and not just that, but that I am married to a particular person? That’s partly why we wear wedding rings. Wedding rings distinguish us. They make an announcement to the world and to ourselves that we are married. I have worn this ring every day since November 13, 1999. I take it off only for two reasons, to swim and to play with it sometimes. That’s it. Otherwise, it stays on the ring finger of my left hand. I remember the day after I got this ring, on November 14, 1999, that I stared at my hand the whole way to our honeymoon. It was so new then, but I’ll have to tell you that I still stare at it often. It reminds me that I am married to Leah Robertson, and that is always a good and helpful and necessary reminder. Or, most technically, it is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace signifying unto us (and me) the uniting of this man (me) and this woman (my wife).”
This story out of Genesis 28 is one of my very favorite stories in Scripture. Jacob is a rascal. He steals his brother’s birth right. He rips his father off. He runs and runs and runs away. He does all that he can to shun God. And yet one night, while he is fleeing his brother’s wrath, he beds down and God catches up to him. Finally, after years and years, God gets Jacob, and even wrestles him and wins. If you have any Calvinist bone in your body, if you think it’s all about God and not us, this is a great passage. Jacob does everything he can to escape, but God gets him. God told him that God would bless him, that God would be with him everywhere he went. Jacob had no say in the matter. God had named him and claimed him for his very own, in spite of everything else. Jacob responded to all that God had done in two ways. First, he set up an altar to the Lord, and he named in Bethel (or house of God). Secondly, he decided that whatever God had blessed him with, that he would tithe it back to God. 10% would go back.
There is no indication that Jacob ever kept that promise. In fact, if his past is any indicator, he probably did not. This also is not the first that we hear of tithing. Abraham started the tithe when God saved him from the Sodomites in Genesis 14. The concept of the tithe runs throughout the entire Torah. You can read more specifically about it in Numbers 18, Leviticus 27, and Deuteronomy 14. Some of the specifics are not very clear. Why 10%? Before taxes or after taxes? Weekly or monthly? Can you split it, say 5% to Church and 5% to charity? That’s not all clear to me. And maybe more importantly, what’s the return, man? Surely God doesn’t expect us to give 10% for nothing, does he?
What does seem clear to me, though, is that we have already received the return. The tithe is always a response to God’s grace. Tithing in the Bible comes from the core theological belief that God is sovereign and good. God has given us an abundance, and no matter what, God will take care of us. “Where will our help come,” asks the Psalmist. “Our help comes from the Lord,” he responds. No matter what. So, I can give some back, even as much as 10%, and maybe even more. And maybe the reason to tithe is a like wearing a wedding ring. Maybe we need it more than God does.
I am puzzled when I read in the Bible, such as in this passage, about what God specifically does with money. God does not need our money. God’s Church, however, does. This Church does. You have given generously in the past. I will be the first to say that much of what you give is not very glamorously spent. For example, if you’ve been around here at all this week, you’ve seen that we got a new roof, which we desperately needed. Roofs are not very inspiring, are they? Roofs do not change lives. But what goes on under that roof does change lives. We’ve got preschools, scouting programs, Bible studies, worship, music rehearsals, weddings, funerals, and more community events than I can count. No organization does more for this community than the Church. I believe that. And the Church would have a hard time being the Church without a roof. I believe that, too.
I am also fully convinced that this Church has more opportunities for ministry than it has ever had. That may be saying a lot, but I believe it. We are surrounded by lots and lots and lots of people, many of whom do not go to Church anywhere even though they can walk to this one. I do believe that in the next year or so, we are going to have to get really serious about reaching them somehow, and that will take a concerted effort on our part. That will make for some difficult decisions for us. It will also mean that we devote some money to it. We’re sitting on top of a goldmine. But it will take some effort to tap into it, and some money. God’s Church needs you top give your money.
But more than anything, you need you to give your money. You need to be reminded of who and whose you are. You can do that in a myriad of ways. You can show up to Church, you can pray, you can read your Bible, you can go to Bible studies, you can get involved in the community. But I can’t think of a better way for you to remember who and whose you are than by giving up 10% of the money with which God has blessed you. Jacob responded to Gods’ covenant, to God’s almost obsessive pursuit of him, by a tithe. God has pursued you, too, and God has reached you. God has saved you in Christ Jesus. You need a friendly reminder of that. You need a wedding ring, to so speak. I used to put a cross in my pocket so that every time I put my hand in there, I would be reminded of God’s love for me. Yet after a while, it just became one more thing jingling around in there. 10% would be much more effective. This Church needs you to do that. But more than that, you need it, too.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
