Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania

this bread and wine begin with the seeds which God in nature
provides to man, which by man’s labors are sown and harvested
and offered to God. In a similar manner, tithing is the offering our
first fruits to the Lord in thanksgiving.
Tithing is Ascetical
We are a nation, indeed a world, of consumers. The accumulation
of material wealth has become for many an aim unto itself. But the
Lord himself told us that we cannot serve both God and mammon.
Rather, we are to “commend ourselves and one another and our
whole lives unto Christ our God”. We commend our spirit through
prayer and our bodies through fasting. Likewise, we are called to
commend our material possessions through tithing and
almsgiving.
It may seem impractical, or even impossible, to consider giving
more than you already do. When introduced to the idea of tithing,
I was wholeheartedly committed to it…in theory. It was another
thing altogether to put my money where my mouth (and heart)
was. I truly wanted to tithe “but” (insert your own objection here).
“But” this month, I have a car repair bill. “But” next month the
furnace needs maintenance, and so on and so forth. So often,
those “buts” prevent our good desires from reaching their intended
destination- to live what we believe.
Since none of us lives on unlimited resources, to give up more is
a difficult proposition. If we look closely, though, many of us will
find a multitude of small luxuries we might sacrifice in order to
increase our tithe to the Lord with the assurance that what little we
offer will be returned to us as greatly increased.
Tithing is an Act of Faith
Recently, our church experienced financial struggle and scandal.
We faced the painful reality that what money we did offer, earned
from our hard work and toil, was mismanaged. Indeed, that money
may even have been used to fund the personal luxuries of those
who mismanaged it. This was a betrayal of our trust and our
sacrifice. We can choose to look back and withhold our trust, and
our financial support, remembering that we were betrayed. Or,
instead, we can make it our goal to look forward, not as a way of
ignoring the past, but as a movement of repentance. While it is the
responsibility of all members of the Church, from the Bishop to the
Laymen, to care for the practical, financial and earthly things, we
must all remember that it is only in a spirit of repentance and with
a heart full of prayer that we may achieve any of the good things of
heaven or of earth.
Let us remember that the same Lord who allowed these struggles
to occur also delivered us from them. So let us trust the Lord and
be good stewards of what God gives us, being generous even
18 Alive in Christ www.doepa.org
when it does not make rational sense. As an example, I offer the
following from the life of Saint John the Almsgiver:
[One day], one of the strangers, noticing John’s remarkable
sympathy, decided to try the blessed man; so he put on old clothes
and approached him as he was on his way to visit the sick in the
hospitals … and said to him: ‘Have mercy upon me for I am a
prisoner of war.’
John said to his purse-bearer: “Give him six gold pieces.” After the
man had received these he went off, changed his clothes, met
John again in another street, and falling at his feet said: “Have pity
upon me, for I am in want.” The Patriarch again said to his pursebearer:
“Give him six gold pieces.” As he went away, the purse-bearer
whispered in the Patriarch’s ear: “By your prayers, master, this
same man has had alms from you twice over!” But the Patriarch
pretended not to understand. Soon the man came again for the
third time to ask for money and the attendant, carrying the gold,
nudged the Patriarch to let him know that it was same man;
whereupon the truly merciful and beloved of God said: “Give him
twelve gold pieces, for perchance it is my Christ and He is making
trial of me.”
Tithing as a Practical Matter
As a practical matter, the Church and our diocese require financial
support to survive. But we need to seek for more than just survival
and reach beyond simply maintaining the status quo. The Lord
gave us a great commission - to spread the Gospel to all nations.
Even in Christ’s times, the spreading of the Gospel required
financial resources. If we are to share the Gospel with others, or
even to instill our faith in our children, our actions must follow our
faith and supply those resources needed to carry out the efforts of
the Church in its great commission. I urge my fellow parishioners
and diocesan members to reflect deeply and honestly about their
own personal finances and what they can contribute toward the
building up of God’s holy church. What choice will we make the
next time we’re faced with the decision to choose between a
small personal luxury or to offer, instead, something more to the
Lord? Let us resolve to serve God and not mammon. And let our
humble tithe, like the offerings of the myrrhbearing women, allow
for Christ’s word and His salvation to reach all mankind.
J.M. Davis is a parishioner in the Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania.
She has been a short-term missionary in Kenya, Haiti and Alaska.
Having worked for many years in the fields of banking and
telecommunications, Ms. Davis is currently the Vice President of
Cellular One of Northeast Pennsylvania.