Sermon: Stewardship (Transfiguration Sunday), March 3, 2019

When Phil and I were first married, I was on internship

and he was in his first call as a mission developer.

We lived on Long Island, New York—the dodgy end,

some might say.

I distinctly remember walking across the Hempstead Turnpike,

past the White Castle that sat on the wedge where 3 streets came together, to get to the bank to add me as an official person on the checking account.

We had talked about sharing finances,

having one joint checking and one joint savings account.

We admitted we didn’t know a whole lot about

adulting and money,

and were glad for the parsonage so we didn’t have to worry about housing.

And we agreed, with no hesitation, that we would tithe—

10% of my income to my church, 10% of his income to his.

There were many factors that allowed us to do this.

We lived in a parsonage, so had no mortgage or rent.

We had both graduated with only $3,000 in loans.

And we were both very frugal Midwesterners.

The quantity going into the offering plate wasn’t all that much,

I suppose, but our commitment was big.

We have maintained tithing as a spiritual practice

for 28 years now.

Money is talked about in many places in the Bible,

especially by Jesus.

Tithing, giving the first 10% of your goods,

rather than the leftover,

is mentioned throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.

But I don’t tithe because it’s a commandment—

God knows, there are many commandments I don’t keep—

I’m wearing rayon, cotton, and satin today,

and I have a tattoo, for example. 

There are two things that really motivate me

to this kind of generosity, specifically in the church.

I give additionally to organizations and agencies in the community,

but I give a full tithe to the church first.

Giving my offering to the church is a spiritual practice for me

because first, it is a way I strive to align my life

with God’s vision for how the world is supposed to work.

God calls us to give an offering of the first fruits,

the top 10%, in gratitude for this life God has given us.

This goes all the way back to Cain and Abel,

the first people in the world who lived outside the garden of Eden and did some work from which they could make an offering.

Now, we know that story didn’t turn out so well,

which is perhaps a warning about how our thoughts about money and reward can shape us for good or ill.

But God does invite us to remember that

all we have and all we are come from God in the first place,

so we take time, week after week,

to turn ourselves over to God

and say thanks for what the week has brought us.

That offering came in the form of sheep or crops or fasting

in those old stories.

For us it might be cash or time or energy or ideas.

What have we received as a gift from God,

which we now give 10% back to say thanks?

It’s like the return on the investment God has made in us,

which we now turn back to God.

God created the world in a rhythm: 6 days to work, the 7th to rest;

6 years to be indebted or indentured, the 7^th you are free;

6 years to plant crops, the 7^th to lie fallow.

This turning back to God each week with 10% of what I have

is a rhythm that keeps me in tune with God’s creation.

The second reason I commit to a tithe is a sense of belonging to

something larger than myself.

When I participate in this generosity through the church,

the body of Christ on earth,

God can do things with all of this together that I,

or any one of us, could not do alone.

I don’t have the resources—money, time, knowledge—

to do many of the things we can do together as the church.

It’s like a drop of rain in a river that runs to the ocean—

all of them added together make an impact.

With my offering, I’m part of campus ministry here in Eau Claire,

and campus ministry across the country.

My participation in an offering supports

new congregations across our synod

and missionaries doing medical, educational, and advocacy work across the globe.

Water wells are dug and remote villages are fed

and children go to school inside a building with books

and elderly people live in community with good food

and medical attention;

ministry leaders are trained

and scientists get degrees and

Lutheran values are voiced on Capitol Hill,

all because I give, and you give, and we give together,

an offering.

We belong to something larger than ourselves,

and what God can, will, and does do through the church, 

with all of us together, is endless and life changing.

Today is Transfiguration Sunday.

Jesus goes up to a mountain with some disciples,

who witnessed the appearance of Moses and Elijah

as Jesus was transfigured before them.

On that mountain God brought all the pieces together,

so they could see what God is about in Jesus—

the law, the prophets, all that God has done before

revealed in a new way in Jesus.

When we look at the things God points us to,

we see Jesus more clearly.

And when we look at Jesus, we see what God wants us to see:

the love of God made real in a way we can’t miss;

the promise of God come true in the new life we have in Christ. 

Seeing Jesus takes practice—

for me, being intentional about tithing

keeps me looking in the right direction,

which is why it’s a spiritual practice.

Through this generosity, I practice living in this world

the way God calls me to live,

being part of this bigger thing God is doing.

That’s my story. You each have your own.

I hope you will try intentional percentage giving

as a spiritual practice,

and I pray it will be transformative,

as you see what God is doing for the world in Jesus. Amen.