Malachi 3:8-12
Psalm 145
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Luke
18:18-30
Tithing “Our” Treasure
Stuff... I like stuff.
I've always liked stuff. My
parents called me a packrat. I like
collecting stuff. On top of that, it's
hard for me to get rid of stuff. I
collected stuff even while I was a poor college student, graduate student, and
seminarian. It was cheaper stuff I
collected then, but stuff nonetheless. I
think that my love of stuff certainly played a part in my desire to become a
museum curator before I acknowledged my call to the ministry. As a curator, I got the opportunity to be
around and take care of stuff that I personally didn't have to buy. I really like stuff. I've got to be careful about going into
antique shops and second hand stores because they're always filled with neat
stuff that I would like to take home with me.
Why, just the other day I went through a box underneath my desk in the
study that had a bunch of neat stuff in it; a Soviet Russian Army belt, a few
military helmets, a cornet, a Civil War belt buckle, as well as some really
cool rosaries my grandmother gave to me. I love hanging stuff on the walls and putting
stuff on shelves to display. After all,
what's the point of having stuff if you can't look at it or use it? I guess you can say that stuff is one of my
treasures.
Most
sociologists would agree that I'm like most Americans; Americans tend to like
stuff. I'm certain that this love affair
with stuff didn't come about recently. Looking back over the course of American
history, Americans always tended to like stuff.
This isn't that big of a surprise as most of the European colonies in
Getting
and having stuff really is a part of the American lifestyle. We're the richest nation in the world. A vast majority of our population lives in
complete luxury compared to the rest of the world. Yes, even the households we consider to be
quite quant or modest are in comparison to the rest of the world quite
luxurious. Things like indoor plumbing
and electricity are expected in even some of the poorest households in the
Because of
our wealth, Americans can acquire a vast amount of stuff. We've developed ways in which to protect the
stuff we acquire. We have deeds and
insurance policies. We've even created
jobs within society to oversee and care for our wealth. We've got jobs like insurance agents and stockbrokers
to watch over our property and money.
And we often keep a close eye on our brokers because it's our money and
property they're dealing with.
Yet, is
the stuff we own, the money we make truly ours?
Over the past two weeks, I've argued that our time and talents are
really not ours, but instead are things that God has allowed us use of. But what about our stuff, our property, our
money, our treasure?
The few
years I spent studying museum studies and working as a curator and a
collections manager clearly showed me that we really don't own anything. All of us are curators or stewards of what
ever we have possession of. We really
aren't owners. Every museum collection
room I've been in has been full of stuff.
They've been full of property that at one time belonged to various
people from different times in history.
All of the stuff in those collection rooms no longer belong to the
people who had owned them before the museum acquired them. A vast majority of the stuff was in the
museum partially because the "owner" was no longer alive. When I was curator, I used to morbidly say
that "I worked with dead people's stuff."
The
understanding that most of the things we "own" will be around after
we die helps me to understand that I am less an owner and much more of a
steward or curator in all parts of my life.
The things that are "mine" today will eventually be someone else’s
tomorrow. The money that's in my wallet
today will eventually be in someone else’s tomorrow. There's nothing anyone can do about that.
In our
reading from Saint Luke's Gospel, we find Jesus being approached by someone
kind of like us; he was approached by a man who had stuff. And this man wanted to know what he had to do
to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him
to follow the commandments. The man said
that he does. Then Jesus told him to
sell all he had, give the money to the poor, and follow him [Luke
Hmm... What are we to do with Jesus' command to this
man? Are we to get down on our knees and
thank God that we are not this rich man?
Are we to thank God that the Church has traditionally seen vows of poverty
to be a particular call for some people and not all Christians? Maybe we should skip this chapter of St.
Luke's Gospel and just read about how good Jesus is to us in forgiving our
sin. I think you know my answer.
I agree
with the Church's traditional stance that the vow of physical poverty is a
particular calling not for all Christians.
However, that does not mean that the rest of us are free to be rich for
the sake of being rich. To have stuff is
as much a ministry as a vow of poverty.
In some ways, the ministry of having stuff is a more difficult
ministry. When we have stuff, we're
tempted to put that stuff between us and God.
We're tempted to trust and rely on our stuff for protection because we
can see and touch stuff, because the world values stuff. It can be very easy to let our lives revolve
around our stuff and let our stuff dictate to us what our lives are to be
about. Jesus offered the rich man in our
reading an opportunity for an easier spiritual life.
All stuff
is part of God's creation; a creation that we are charged with caring for. Those of us with stuff are charged in its
proper use - a use that glorifies God and God alone. In the
The past
two Sundays I argued that God is the proper owner all we have in regards to time
and talents. I propose the same for our
treasures, even our money. It's easy to
put our trust in money. When we have a
surplus of money we feel comfortable with what the future may hold. We feel confident that we will survive and
prosper. We feel our pursuit of
happiness will be easier. But money is a
part of God's creation and not God, the true source of joy and peace. The concept of money is simply a resource God
has allowed us to organize creation so that we may care for it. What we do with our stuff is just as much an
indication of what we believe as what we do with our time and talents. The rich man seems to have decided to hold on
to his treasure instead of Jesus.
The 10%
tithe is not an offering to God; it's an offering to the Church. Our entire being, all that we have and all
that we are is to be our offering to God.
The 10% tithe is a directive in how we are to care for the parts of
creation entrusted to us by God. We're
not the owners of our time, talents, or treasure, we're simply the
stewards. The rich man made a
mistake. He was under the impression
that he owned his treasure. He really
didn't own it then and he certainly doesn't own it now. I wouldn't be surprised if some of his
treasure is now in a collection room of the
Our stuff
is only on loan to us for a short time.
It's entrusted to us so that we can glorify God with it while we're here
on earth. One day, no matter what we do,
our stuff will be somebody else’s. When
that day comes, that somebody else will have the responsibility to glorify God
with it. Until that day comes, it's up
to us to glorify God with the stuff God has entrusted us with. It's up to us to glorify God with our time,
talents, and treasure.
SDG