So much of our Lord’s teaching presents us with a paradox.
• The first will be last and the last will be first.
• Those who seek to save their lives will lose it.
• Those who lose their lives for His sake will save it.
Jesus’ teaching about money is no less paradoxical.
• Those who rely upon material wealth and comfort for significance and security will be left lacking. (Lk. 16:19-31)
• Those who seek first to give will receive beyond measure. (Matt. 19:29; Mk. 10: 29-30)

The place of faith in our lives ties all of these teachings together. The central question of our lives is the question that our Stewardship Committee challenges each of us to ask. What are you leaning on? On what do I rely for assurance that my life is significant and secure? Disciples of Jesus Christ lean on Jesus himself.

Last month, we discussed what it means to lean on God, and I mentioned briefly that the Biblical standard of the tithe helps us to do that in our financial lives. This month I want to explore this with you in more depth and help you with practical strategies for arriving at the tithe.

Let me begin with a homework assignment that I gave your Stewardship Committee. Please go home and rework your budget. Make it a simple, one-page document.

Begin with your anticipated income. Normally, we would move to our non-negotiable expenses, for example, our mortgage, utilities, and the like. In other words, we move first to provide for our own security.

If this is how we approach giving, what we give will always be leftovers, not our very best. We will give literally as a second thought, not as a first impulse.

A tithing budget presents us with another one of our Lord’s paradoxes. In such a budget our first expenditure is to give money away. Before we spend a nickel on our own care, we return 10% of our income to the God who has so richly provided for us.

Initially, this may raise your blood pressure or give you heartburn. But once you try it—and especially once you develop the habit of budgeting in this way—some surprising things happen.
• You discover how generous and reliable God is toward you.
• Your gratitude meter rises.
• Your anxieties diminish.
• You begin to experience having not only enough, but more than enough.

Tithing is not just something we do. It’s someone we become. Tithers experience themselves as provided for by God Himself. We look for the value we can add to any situation, the good we can do, and the joy we can share.

Some have arrived at tithing. Thank you for your example, and I encourage you to keep growing. Remember that the tithe is the minimum standard and let the Lord guide you in enlarging your generosity.

Many are new to tithing. It may feel like a tax or membership dues at this point. I understand this very well. I’ve been there myself.

But now I understand it as part of the life of Christian discipleship, like Bible study, worship, and service to the poor. It’s a way of following Jesus so that he can make me into who I truly am.

So how do you get to the tithe? Start by being a proportional giver. Do the budgeting exercise outlined above. Instead of starting at 10%, just write in what you actually give and figure the percentage.

Thank God for the generosity he has created in you and ask him to enlarge the generosity of your heart. Commit with him in prayer to grow your pledge by a set amount each year (e.g., one or two percent) until you have reached the tithe.

God created our financial lives, just as surely as he created our family lives, work lives, and leisure lives. His wisdom guides us in every dimension of our lives, and we are always happier and more secure when we lean on his wisdom.

Please pray for God’s guidance in your financial life as you prepare to make your pledge to St. Mark’s Cathedral this year. As paradoxical as it may seem, giving is the Lord’s path to receiving beyond measure.