August 10, 2013
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What do you give to God who has everything?
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
10 Hear the word of the Sovereign, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Sovereign; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
12 When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more;
13 bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. 14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.18 Come now, let us argue it out, says the Sovereign: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Sovereign has spoken.
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered the one faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, God has prepared a city for them.
Luke 12:32-40
Fear not little flock, for it has pleased your heavenly parent to give you the monarchy.
Sell what you own and give the money to poorer people. Make purses for yourselves that don’t wear out—treasures that won’t fail you in heaven, where thieves can’t steal and moths don’t destroy. For wherever your treasure is, that is where your heart will be.
Be dressed and ready, and keep your lamps lit. Be like the household staff awaiting the owner’s return from a wedding, so that when the owner arrives and knocks, you’ll open the door without delay. It will go well with those staff members whom the owner finds wide awake upon returning. I tell you the absolute truth, the owner will put on an apron, seat them at table and proceed to wait on them. Should the owner happen to come at midnight, or before sunrise, and find them prepared, it will go well with them.
Understand this: no homeowner who knew when a thief was coming would have let the thief break in! So be on guard—the Promised One will come when least expected.
End of sacred texts
Why do we tithe? Why do we give anything to the church or to God? God has everything; God surely doesn’t wait anxiously each week to see if enough will come in to cover expenses. I have heard stewardship sermons that seem to suggest this is exactly what God does. That God is waiting to see if God’s people will give enough so God’s work can be done on earth. I have similarly heard it preached that God has no hands but our hands, and God has no feet but our feet. The image, if taken literally is of a Divine quadriplegic sitting helplessly waiting for someone to act in behalf of God. I find these images at best troubling and at worst blasphemous. God is not destitute and God is not helpless. When we suggest our giving or our service is required by God, we elevate ourselves to equality or even superiority to God. No, God does not need anything from us.
Why then do we give? Why did God put such emphasis on tithing? To understand why God commands us to tithe, we need to consider what we believe about any of God’s commands. Some believe God is a tyrant bent on blind obedience from us. For these folks, the reason God demands a tithe is because God can. Others believe God is the ultimate wet blanket and God’s rules are meant to take all joy out of our lives. For them, the tithe is just a way to make sure we don’t have enough income to have any fun. And others believe God is all about rewards and punishments and tithing is a system by which those rewarded give back to keep the rewards coming and those who are punished are punished even more by taking from what little they have. I believe God is all about love, justice, and peace and therefore I believe God’s commands are intended to guide us lovingly toward lives of justice and peace.
God commands us to tithe because God knows how important it is for us to give. Giving has actually been demonstrated to raise a person’s sense of well-being and self-image. Persons with depression are less depressed if they give to or do something for another. God wants us to feel the joy that comes from giving to improve the world. We give to the church because it is about the tasks doing justice and seeking peace. We give to the church so the church survives to tell others about God’s plan for this earth and for all that inhabit it. We should give out of the real expectation that the church is making a difference, a positive difference in the community and the world. If we give out of a sense of obligation, or in an attempt to purchase God’s favor, our giving is not only futile, God does not honor it. Isaiah shares with us God’s rant about those who come to the temple and make their sacrifices and then go out in the world and exploit the poor and the aliens. Their sacrifice is rejected by God because it does not come out of an understanding of God or any desire to please God. God desire from us a surrendered spirit seeking ways to serve God to bring about God’s dominion on earth. Obedience is greater than sacrifice. 1 Samuel 15:22
The mark of the faithful is their willingness to follow God’s guidance without knowing how it will come out. The reading from Hebrews tells us that many have died without seeing the outcome of their faithfulness to God. Faith means we don’t demand proof, faith means we trust even when the evidence suggests we cannot succeed. It is easy for us to weary in giving and working for a world of justice and peace, but our faith requires that we do not weary in doing good. Jesus tells us we are to be about the business of God our Sovereign because we never know when God will call us into account. I have heard witty persons translate this passage into, ”Jesus is coming, look busy!” I do not believe this passage is meant to relate to the second coming of the Christ, or even the day of our death or rapture. I read the passage as a simple comparison to those who work for another and how pleased the employer is when he or she learns they can trust the employee to do the work without constant supervision. God wants our faith and our commitment to God’s purposes to become so strong that we labor for them not because we know God is watching, but because we want to bring about a world of justice and peace. We work not even to gain our pay or earn a better mansion in glory, we work because we believe in the work we are doing. We give to the church not out of obligation but because we believe in what the church is doing.
What do I give to a God who has everything? I give faithful service and a surrendered will. Amen.
