The Trouble with Tithing...

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 22nd 2006
Stewardship Season
“Give Thanks… Sing Praise… Declare God’s Steadfast Love!”
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“The Trouble with Tithing”
Deuteronomy 14:22-29

Every year about this time, we throw around the word: Stewardship. One of the risks of doing this is that we might begin to believe that Stewardship only has to do with planning our budget for the coming year. This is unfortunate because stewardship is really so much more. In fact, stewardship is the belief that we have and all that we are is a gift from God, and that we are responsible for caring for and using these gifts in ways that give glory to God.
In other words, when we talk about stewardship we must include our entire lives. Now having said that, today we are going to focus on the spiritual practice of tithing.

I think it is safe to assume that when most people hear the word tithe they think of it as a religious word. However, that has not always been the case. For the community of Israel, the word tithe would have been understood as a tax. The tithe-tax was always the first ten percent of the entire yearly harvest which was paid to the ruling elite. So, originally, tithing had nothing to do with religious practice, it was simply a form of taxation.
When God commands the people to pay the yearly tithe-tax, they had yet to enter the Promised Land. At that point, they were still on the journey from the slavery of Egypt. Just as they are heading into the land, for a life free from the heavy hand of the Egyptian empire, God tells them they will face another tax. At first, this could not have seemed like good news. However, God takes this age old practice of taxation and radically redefines it.
Before they even enter the Promised Land, the community of believers is reminded that they did not earn this land. It was a gift from God. As such, they are not free to use this gift in any way they choose, it comes with specific responsibilities and expectations. Written into the fabric of the tithe-tax for God is the overt concern for the public management and equitable distribution of resources.
When God commands that a tithe be paid, it is not to be used to enrich the ruling elite. God commands that the tithe be paid so that there is enough for the most vulnerable in society. Notice that the first thing the community is to do with the tithe is to have a party! “Spend the money for whatever you wish--oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your household rejoicing together.” God commands the people to celebrate the abundance in grand fashion.
Unlike other societies where the tithe-tax goes to support only those at the top God makes sure that all are included in the celebration. “As for the Levites resident in your towns, do not neglect them, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you.” So God expects that the tithe will still be gathered and that it will be celebrated and shared by everyone in the society. This really turns the tithe-tax on its head. The entire community will share in the abundance of the society including the resident aliens, (immigrants), widows and orphans.
But, beyond the annual celebration, God requires that every three years the tithe is to stay in the community.
Every third year you shall bring out the full tithe of your produce for that year, and store it within your towns; the Levites, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you, as well as the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, may come and eat their fill so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work that you undertake.
So, the tithe is given back to the community so that those who are most vulnerable in society will be supported. God makes it abundantly clear that a society which withholds this support from the needy will not be blessed by God. It is this practice from which the Christian community looks to, or should, as a guide for its practice of tithing.
While we clearly do not live in the same sort of society as the original hearers of these commands, the practice of tithing still has its place. In our day there are both some very real positives and some very real problems with the practice of tithing. Tithing can be a very healthy spiritual practice which helps to center our life and ground our faith. When it becomes a regular practice it ceases to become something we do only when we feel like it. It is also positive because it done in proportion to the gifts we have received. Presbyterian Pastor Al Winn says that tithing confronts us with this important question: “What proportion can I return for God’s work in order to signify and symbolize and confess before everyone that all I am and all I have come from God?” Tithing can also be a positive practice because it allows us to set God’s work as the priority since it comes off the top instead of from whatever happens to be left over.
With that being said, there are also some problems with tithing which we must acknowledge. As with many practices, tithing can become legalistic and as a result it can be an impediment to spiritual growth. Another fact is that nowhere in the New Testament is the number ten or practice of tithing laid out as requirement. In fact, Jesus only talks about tithing twice and it is not very positive. In both instances, Jesus challenges the self-righteous who use the practice of tithing to lord it over others and who could, and should, give more than the tithe. Whenever Paul appeals to others to give he always makes sure to mention that we give out of freedom and joy, not from requirement. In the New Testament, ten percent giving is never a requirement.
Another problem with the tithe or ten percent as the hard and fast rule is that it is a flat tax. Flat taxes, while looking fair, actually place a higher obligation upon people on the lower end of the economic spectrum. (It is interesting to note however, that studies of giving show that: poor people give more of a percentage of their money than those who are wealthy.) The setting a uniform percentage also does not take into account the reality of things like; children in college, having to care for aging parents, medical expenses or other debts. For some people of faith, ten percent is simply not a reality. However, that being said, there are others who, because of ability and circumstances are able to give twenty or thirty percent. So, if there was a hard and fast rule for tithing it would have to be this: Give as God has gifted you to give whether it is one percent, five, ten, twenty, thirty, or more.
I want to end with a few more words from Al Winn, in a sermon he gave on tithing. In his conclusion he said: “I hope that we raise the budget next year, the General Assemblies budget, the Synods budget, the Presbyteries budget, and the local church budget from which all others come. But that is not a matter of eternal importance.” What is a matter of eternal importance, I believe, is that we, individually and collectively, embrace a posture towards life which says this: God is the source or our lives. All that we have and all that we are is a gift from God and we are thankful. I believe that as we embrace this simple truth, in all areas of our lives, we will be radically transformed. We will be transformed witnesses to God’s abundance, sustenance, and love for all people. We will be people who can truly: Give thanks, Sings praise, and Declare God’s Steadfast! Amen.