On Monday night of this week, members of your Church Council & Finance Committee were invited to a supper featuring our guest speaker for this Sunday, Rev. Danny Gleason of St. Francisville UMC. Your leadership was reminded of something that we all must remember as we go into this Sunday's worship - namely that when it comes to the business of tithe (returning 10% of your income to God), our Lord God gives us a direct challenge. Rev. Gleason reminded us that we are told by God to test him; test him with the tithe - if we get serious about the discipline of the tithe, we will receive blessings beyond anything we can imagine. Mind you, this is not necessarily material blessings, but blessings that can come only from God.
One other thing that Rev. Gleason told us of is that he has never met a former tither. Once you get into the habit of tithing, it becomes second nature. The hardest thing about the tithe is getting started. Making that initial step of faith is one of the most terrifying and most satisfying things that you will ever do in your Christian journey. Terrifying because it means taking a significant portion of your income out of your account, and satisfying because it is a tangible way to put our faith in action. After all, why would God call us to do something that would cause us harm?
The final thing that Rev. Gleason reminded us of, and the final thing that I want to share with you this week, is a reminder that Christ didn't discuss the tithe. Rather, Christ told people to give it all to the poor and to follow him. Does that mean for you to dump everything you own in order to be a Christian? If what you have is what is foremost in your life and gets in the way of your relationship with God and the community of faith, yes. It also means that we must be in the position to be willing to give it all up if that is what it means for the will of God to be done in our lives. How does the tithe work into this? By engaging in the discipline of the tithe, we are reminded on a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly basis that in order to return the 10% to God we must realize that what's at stake is not what we do with that 10%, but what we do with the 100% from which that 10% comes.
Please know that I am in prayer for you and for our congregation as we go into this wonderful Sunday of worship and fellowship (don't forget about the catered meal from Harbor Seafood that we will have immediately after worship).
See you Sunday!
Lamar
One other thing that Rev. Gleason told us of is that he has never met a former tither. Once you get into the habit of tithing, it becomes second nature. The hardest thing about the tithe is getting started. Making that initial step of faith is one of the most terrifying and most satisfying things that you will ever do in your Christian journey. Terrifying because it means taking a significant portion of your income out of your account, and satisfying because it is a tangible way to put our faith in action. After all, why would God call us to do something that would cause us harm?
The final thing that Rev. Gleason reminded us of, and the final thing that I want to share with you this week, is a reminder that Christ didn't discuss the tithe. Rather, Christ told people to give it all to the poor and to follow him. Does that mean for you to dump everything you own in order to be a Christian? If what you have is what is foremost in your life and gets in the way of your relationship with God and the community of faith, yes. It also means that we must be in the position to be willing to give it all up if that is what it means for the will of God to be done in our lives. How does the tithe work into this? By engaging in the discipline of the tithe, we are reminded on a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly basis that in order to return the 10% to God we must realize that what's at stake is not what we do with that 10%, but what we do with the 100% from which that 10% comes.
Please know that I am in prayer for you and for our congregation as we go into this wonderful Sunday of worship and fellowship (don't forget about the catered meal from Harbor Seafood that we will have immediately after worship).
See you Sunday!
Lamar
No comments:
Post a Comment