The Tithe That Binds

Let’s be honest: whenever someone, especially the preacher-type, mentions the word “tithe”, especially around the time of the Every Member Canvas, the hackles go up and we begin to shudder in the depth of our being, especially if we do not tithe. It is not so much that we do not believe in the tithe. After all, it is biblical. Jesus certainly thought it was a good idea if not a direct command. He told the Pharisees as much (Matthew 23:23 ); and if he told them, he told us.

     My wife and I tithe. We have all our married life. It has been no financial hardship on us because we have been and are very blessed. We’ve always had more than we needed. Those who tithe their income will attest to this truth. But let’s not go there because the truth is that the financial tithe is really not the tithe that binds. It may be biblical and it may be important for the life of the church, but it is most certainly not what binds us to the church nor even what makes the church the church.

     As difficult as it is sometimes for us to part with our hard-earned dollars, doing so is relatively easy. After all, it’s only money. Seriously: it is only money. Money, as important as it is in this world, is so impersonal. To be sure, it is a symbol of who we are and of our willingness to share some of who we are with our parish and with the wider community. And, yes, sometimes, because of personal circumstances, all we can do is give of our financial resources, even tithe, as a way of being part of and binding ourselves to our personal faith community.

     But the real tithe that binds us to our church, to Christ Church , (or to any group for that matter) truly is not our money. It is our personal involvement, the giving of our time and talent. In fact it is easier to tithe our treasure than it is to tithe our time and talent. My little calculator tells me that a tithe of our time is almost seventeen hours a week! That’s a lot of time! We would have to be retired to give of that much of our time. To factor in talent with the time might mean only eight hours a week – one day – which is doable, which many, many already are doing and many even doing and giving more.

     The point, and not to belabor it, and as we have all discovered whenever we give of our time and talent, is that we give to what is important to us. Moreover, that to which we give becomes even more important in proportion to how much of ourselves we give to it. That is true of our financial giving as well.

     The tithe that binds? Is it not in fulfilling Matthew 25…and all that jazz? It is each of us individually and all of us together being ready and willing to share our time and talent and, yes, even our treasure, to serve our Lord wherever we are especially with and for those who most need us. Whenever we give of ourselves, give of our time, share the gifts and talents with which God has blessed us, and do so with our fellow parishioners in fulfilling Matthew 25…and all that jazz, we are binding ourselves to this community of faith. We truly are.

     This is not Every Member Canvas time but summer is a good time for each of us to reflect on how much of our time we are giving to the life and ministry of Christ Church. Even a tithe of a tithe, an hour or two a week, will do wonders for our faith and for us personally. It will work wonders in our community and in our world. It will bind us closer together. We will make new friends, find the love and support we all desire and need, and discover, if we have not done so already, just what a great family of faith this is that we call Christ Episcopal Church.         WJP