While we are waiting for Fr. Jones to provide us with the last two installments of his "Stand Up For Jesus" travelogue, I will go say a few words about a topic that is very important: giving to support the work of the Church. On page 291 of the BCP, in the First Office of Instruction, we are taught that our bounden duty as a member of the Church is to (among other things) "...work and pray and give for the spread of his kingdom." It is not my intention here to go over the exact details of the word 'tithe' and how it is used in the Old Testament, nor the difference in meaning between that word and 'offering'. My point is to say simply that we should worship God with our whole person and being, and bring our entire lives under the Lordship of His son, Jesus Christ. One of the most important areas in which we should do this is in our finances. In a day and age when people are so irresponsible with their money, and so self-indulgent, how much more important is it that we earnestly strive to honor God with how we use our money? When we live in such a prosperous nation, how much more important is it for us to be generous with the money that God has entrusted to us? We think nothing of spending gobs of money on little indulgences for ourselves (e.g. buying a $50 bottle of French vodka, or something like that), but many times shudder at dropping Ben Franklin into the offering plate every other week. We worry about getting our bills paid early lest our credit report be damaged, but we think nothing of slighting the maker and ruler of the universe.
The Church is a volunteer organization, and it relies on voluntary giving by members to exist. Many continuing Anglican parishes - well, many parishes in many different traditions in general - are not able to minister as they should because they lack the necessary financial support to hire additional staff, build, have outreach programs, buy necessary items, and more! Giving to causes outside of the Church (e.g. Red Cross for Katrina Relief, etc.) is important, and should not be neglected. But we should give first and foremost, I believe, to our own local parish. Giving to your parish is a powerful way of worshipping God.
I used to never give money to the Church. I always had some excuse why I couldn't give. Once in a while I would drop $20 in the offering plate and think I was so great and generous. But finally it occured to me that I was not honoring God with my finances. The background to this was that I was always short on cash, and struggling to get by - even though I was making great money in the IT industry for a while. But when I started to regularly give to the Church, in obedience to God and in love and worship of Him, a strange thing happened. Despite the fact that my pay was cut in half when I changed careers, and despite the fact that I still had the same amount of bills to pay, I was able to get ahead on my bill paying, sell more of my art, and put more and more money away into savings! Pretty amazing.
Now, I don't think we should give to God to "make it rich" (I am by no means rich, I can assure you), but I do believe that when we seek to honor and glorify God with our money that He will bless us. When we are obedient and devoted to God, we should expect His blessing. Let us remember our responsibility to provide financially for the work of the Church. Let us remember the work and expenses of our own parish, and prayerfully consider how much we drop in the offering plate each week. We are ultimately giving for God, and for His glory.
