Stewardship
God and Our Money.
by Gary H.
When you think about your finances do you have a good feeling or a bad feeling? Do you think about how much you have or how much you don't have? Do you give it any spiritual thought? Has it ever dawned on you that maybe you need to give? Or maybe you need to give more? Let's look at what God says, what He promises. God keeps His promises so I want to know what I can expect if I am obedient to God. Now if I am disobedient, I can expect not to be blessed. The third chapter of Proverbs 5-10, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce so your silos shall be filled with plenty and your vats and barrels overflow. What an awesome promise from God. So, when I read that passage, I think, according to that, I shouldn’t be worried about finances. If I do exactly as God says to do. I have to decide, does He keep His word, or He doesn’t. Is God telling the truth? Yes, He is telling the truth. Oftentimes we’re in financial problems because we simply disobeyed God. He is not going to challenge us to do something that is not for our best benefit.
I want us to think for just a moment, when you consider your finances, consider the basic teachings of scripture, and the very first one is this, Psalm 50: 12-15, for the world is mine and all it contains. That settles the issue to some degree. Everything that exists, God controls. Now a lot of people think it is theirs, “it’s my money”. This is mine to do with it as I choose. That’s not what the bible teaches. The bible teaches that God is the One who owns it all. And He has given us the privilege of being caretakers of it, managers of it, stewards of it but not owners. There is a difference. To recognize that what you have belongs to God, came from God, and you say, “I worked 40 hrs. for that last week. Well, you could have been without a job.
And so, when we consider the basic teachings of scripture, about giving, the question is, are we a tither of our income? This passage from Malachi 3:8-12, He says, will a man rob God, yet you’re robbing me, but you say, how have I robbed you? In tithes and offerings. Then He says bring the whole tithe, 10 percent into the storehouse, so that there will be food in my house. Test me, God is saying. Put me to the test, God says. If I’ll not open for you the windows of heaven, pour out for you a blessing that overflows. The purpose of His blessing us, is to prove to us, that He blessed us. Then He says, I will rebuke the devourer for you, so he’ll not destroy the fruits of the ground.
What is He saying? He is saying, look, I am the source of everything, my requirement is that you give a tenth of your income back to me for three reasons. Primarily, 1) to provide for the work of the Lord. 2) Secondly, to provide for the needs of others, and 3) thirdly to prove His faithfulness. In other words, one of the reasons God requires us to give is He wants to prove to us His faithfulness. That if I give, He is going to give back. If I give, He is going to give me more. And to prove to us, God says that if I give, He is going to give back. If I give, He is going to give more. God proves that He is everything He says He is. Some will say, “well I give enough”. What is enough? Enough starts at ten percent. Some of us will say, in this day and time, God does not expect me to give one tenth of my income to Him. God asks a tenth to prove Himself to you. Give Him a tenth and watch what He does. It isn’t that God can't operate without us, it is that He’s given us this awesome privilege of working with God so that He can prove He is who He says He is. He says we are to give cheerfully.
Now 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give, not reluctantly, or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things and at all times having all that you need. You will abound in every good work.
My personal testament tithing:
I had never personally tithed. My parents, being good Catholics had shown me how, but as I grew and left the nest, I discarded things that seemed irrelevant to me. I made decent money but could never get ahead. It seemed like as soon as I gathered a few dollars, it would quickly disappear. Frustrating me.
Then one morning I happened to view a Christian show that I hold in high regard and fell in love with the living word. This Christian show explained tithing to me in a clear way. And just as I had done when I knew God’s will and grace, I was motivated to spread this good news so all my loved ones would also tithe and see the amazing benefits. As soon as it was shown to me in scripture, I was certain I was given true advice. From that day forward, I tell you, God proved over and over to me how He was showering me with rivers of blessings. This is the reason I want to share this with all of my good parishioners.
Give it a try, I implore you, not for the good of the church, or the good of the diocese, although this also will help St. Hilary’s and the diocese, but so you all can experience the amazing way God blesses those who give back to Him.