November 21, 2010 | 8:00 a.m.

Bringing First Fruits

Victoria G. Curtiss
Associate Pastor

Psalm 100
Deuteronomy 26:1–13

All plenty which is not my God
is poverty to me.

St. Augustine

Martin Luther said, “There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, of the mind, and of the purse.” Of the three, we Americans may find the conversion of the purse to be the most difficult.

If a chart were drawn of the giving pattern at Fourth Presbyterian Church, it would look like a hockey stick: fairly flat all year until the month of December, when it takes a sharp upturn. I’d like to think this reflects people having fulfilled their pledges throughout the year and deciding to give even more at year end. But more likely, people are waiting to see how their finances come out at year end and then decide what to give to the church. This might be called “Giving God the leftovers.”

People of faith have been taught to reverse that order. We are called to give our “first fruits.” In Deuteronomy, we read that the Hebrew people were instructed that right after they enter, possess, and settle on the land God promised them, before they do anything else, they should go out and pick fruit from the ground and take it to the priest. Not just a few fruit, but 10 percent of the whole harvest. Ten percent is a tithe, a significant amount. And after the priest has placed the fruit in front of the altar as an offering, the giver is to recite aloud how God had come to the aid of the people, bringing them out from slavery and into freedom in a land flowing with milk and honey. And then the worshipers will have a party celebrating God’s bounty.

The instructions continue: every third year, the tithe is to be distributed to the priests, who are dependent on the people’s offering for their living, and to the aliens, who are without a home, and to the orphans and widows, who have no way of providing for themselves, so that no one will go hungry and all can eat.

I was taught in my confirmation class as a high school student that giving a tithe, or 10 percent of what God has given to us, is what Christians are expected to do. So I did, starting with my babysitting money. And I have never stopped. I know from the beginning of the year what I plan to give away and do so all year long. I give 5 percent to whatever church I serve and at least another 5 percent to mission. It is an act of gratitude, acknowledging that God has given abundantly to me. It is an act of trust that God will provide what I need. And I experience a lot of freedom and joy in being able to give to others in need and support efforts I believe in. That joy and freedom is what I have heard other tithers say, too. In an earlier chapter of life I worked for an organization called Ministry of Money, in which I led retreats on faith and money issues. I talked with lots of people about their practice of giving, and I never met an ex-tither. Once persons begin that spiritual discipline, they found it life-giving and faith-deepening.

The tithe is a means by which God can convert our hearts. Horace Bushnell said, “One more revival—only one more—is needed, the revival of Christian stewardship, the consecration of the money power to God. When that revival comes, the kingdom of God will come in a day.” The tithe is reasonably costly: a tenth avoids the self-deception, self-indulgence, and greed we otherwise fall into. The tithe awakens and energizes. It makes for serious growth, joy, and fulfillment—a new reality! The highest good is to give one’s life for another, including one’s resources.

Don McClanen, founder of Ministry of Money, and his wife, Gloria, started tithing in college in the first year of their marriage. He said,

The bottom line was that the Lord got our hearts when we began to tithe. The tithe has been a remarkable teacher for us. A good teacher always challenges and enables you to do what you resist and even fear. How, we asked, could we tithe and make ends meet in our young family while living on the GI bill in college? Yet to tithe helped us move from our self-centeredness into concern for others. In spite of our reluctance, a climate of internal readiness to risk was cultivated by the tithe which urged us on to still more fruitful areas of love, grace, and giving. (Don McClanen, The Tithe as Teacher: An Energizing Force, November 1980)

The tithe fulfills the church’s mission. Feed my sheep, unbind the slaves, be restorers of the breach and builders of decaying communities—this is what being faithful is. The tithe is a sound principle for growth. Don and Gloria went beyond tithing to giving away 20 percent of their income. They became less entangled with material things and possessions. They were forced to be more totally dependent on God. More of their money was freed up to give away. And their giving became an important witness to others.

I want to tell you a story about a Presbyterian church in a farming community in Iowa. They had a financial secretary who resigned in great frustration because there was never enough money at the end of each month to pay the current bills. The Session asked several people to do the job, and every single one turned them down. Finally, they offered it to a man who was the manager of the local grain elevator. He agreed to do it on two conditions: first, that no report would be expected of him for the entire year, and second, that no one would ask a single question for the whole year about the finances of that church. They debated for several hours and finally agreed that they could trust him, because almost all of them did business with him at the local grain elevator.

At the end of the year, at the congregation’s annual meeting, everyone was eager to hear his report. He stood up and said, “As you know, we began the year with $200,000 of building debt, and I’m pleased to tell you we were able to pay off the whole debt. We were always worried about current expenses, and not only did we pay them on time, but I’ve escrowed enough money to pay all the expenses for each of the next twelve months. Not only that, when we added everything up, we had about $200,000 left over, and I was sure you believed in the mission of the church, so I sent it to our denominational offices for mission work at home and overseas.”

Well, they were all stunned. Someone asked, “How could you possibly have done this without our knowing it?” Quietly he replied, “Most of you bring your grain to my elevator, and as you did business with me, I simply withheld 10 percent on your behalf and gave it the church. And apparently you never missed it; apparently you became a tither without even knowing it.”

Now of course our treasurer doesn’t operate like that, though she is a tither. In fact, I’ve never been in a church that had so many people analyzing finances as happens here. But the point of the story is well taken: most of us wouldn’t miss the 10 percent of money we could give away. It’s our fears and anxieties that get in the way of giving.

If you were not taught to tithe when you were young, it may seem daunting. Instead of a base from which to start it may seem like a goal toward which to strive. One church I know provided financial planning assistance and then emotional support for those who were willing to experiment with tithing for three months. They promised that if after three months of tithing members wanted to stop, they would get their money back. No one stopped. It came more easily than they would have imagined and brought new meaning into their lives.

This may seem a strange time to talk of tithing as we enter the month where the hockey stick of giving takes its upturn. But it’s no accident that this scripture text on giving our first fruits comes the Sunday before Thanksgiving. There is no better way to thank God for all that God has done for us and given to us than to offer our money and our hearts in return.

If you are not already a tither, may this Thanksgiving be the beginning of a new season in your life of trusting God with your first fruits. And if you are already a tither, may this Thanksgiving move you to grow even more in your generosity and gratitude. Enter the joy of God’s kingdom!