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Most of us struggle
continually with the question of what it is that
we should give to God. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in
his book "Studies In The Sermon On The Mount"
(Eerdmans, 1959), tells a humorous story that
helps to illustrate that struggle. “It is the
story of a farmer who one day went happily and
with great joy in his heart to report to his wife
and family that their best cow had given birth to
twin calves, one red and one white. And he said,
‘You know I have suddenly had a feeling and
impulse that we must dedicate one of these calves
to the Lord. We will bring them up together, and
when the time comes we will sell one and keep the
proceeds, and we will sell the other and give the
proceeds to the Lord's work.’ His wife asked him
which he was going to dedicate to the Lord. ‘There
is no need to bother about that now,’ he replied,
‘we will treat them both in the same way, and when
the time comes we will do as I say.’ And off he
went. In a few months the man entered his kitchen
looking very miserable and unhappy. When his wife
asked him what was troubling him, he answered, ‘I
have bad news to give you. The Lord's calf is
dead.’ ‘But’, she said, ‘you had not decided which
was to be the Lord's calf.’ ‘Oh yes,’ he said; ‘I
had always decided it was to be the white one, and
it is the white one that has died. The Lord's calf
is dead.”
Lloyd-Jones goes on
to observe, “We may laugh at that story, but God
forbid that we should be laughing at ourselves. It
is always the Lord's calf that dies. When money
becomes difficult, the first thing we economize on
is our contribution to God's work. It is always
the first thing to go. Perhaps we must not say
‘always’, for that would be unfair; but with so
many it is the first thing, and the things we
really like are the last to go. ‘We cannot serve
God and mammon.’ These things tend to come between
us and God, and our attitude to them ultimately
determines our relationship to God.”
In 1997, the 72nd
General Convention of the Episcopal Church
affirmed “the tithe as the minimum standard of
individual giving for Episcopalians.” Easier said
than done for many of us. Recognizing that, the
Deputies and Bishops affirmed that they themselves
were either tithing or would adopt a plan for
tithing within the next three years.
It is not because
God needs our money that the tithe is so
important. He tells us “For I desire steadfast
love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God
rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6) It is
what our giving of money says about our
relationship with God that is important.
Yet, as in all
aspects of our Christian journey, in our growing
in Christ, many are challenged in trying to
achieve the tithe. Mammon, treasure, has long been
one of the most seductive entrapments of the
spirit of humans. It may take a plan to gradually
achieve the tithe over the course of a few years.
Such a plan, though, is in itself a loving
commitment.
With Lent upon us,
perhaps a helpful individual discipline through
the season would be to pray and meditate on how to
achieve tithing if you are not already doing so. |
