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Sermon for St. James, Titusville PA
by the Rev. John W. Perry

1 Advent, Year A
December 2, 2001

In today's reading from the letter to the Romans, Paul tells us that "now is the moment to wake from sleep," and he calls us to "lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." Today's collect says the same thing: cast away the darkness, put on the light.

Well, I have been slow to wake up myself. I have kept something in the darkness, that I need now to bring into the light.

In a newsletter, I received this week there was an article about clergy tithing. It encouraged clergy to talk to their congregations about their own pledges. My first reaction was to quickly turn the page. I didn't want to hear about this.

But I read the article again. It was in the November, 2001 issue of Networking, the newsletter of The Episcopal Network for Stewardship; the article was written by the Rev. Kirk Alan Kubicek. Here is a summary of some things he says about clergy and tithing:

Clergy are called to be stewardship leaders in their own parishes. It is usually a positive thing for clergy to tell people what their pledge is and how they arrived at that pledge. The greatest encouragement we can provide others to help them consider tithing is to tell our own stories. If I am asking members of the congregation to make or increase their pledges, I need to be able to say, "Here is what I pledge, and I am increasing my pledge this year by this amount. Will you join me in doing likewise?"

My initial reaction was that I didn't want to do this; I didn't want to talk about money. I'd kept this in the darkness because I felt very awkward and self-conscious about it. Our culture doesn't teach us to talk about money.

Jesus, on the other hand, talked about money all the time. If you pick up one of the gospels and read it straight through, you'd see that he talked about money even more often than he talked about prayer. I heard a story about a priest who was being interviewed by a search committee, and someone asked him, "You're not going to talk about money a lot, are you?" He answered, "No more than Jesus did."

So, it's time for me to bring this out of the darkness. Eleanor and I tithe. We give back to God 10% of what God has given us. This means that every week, Eleanor writes out a check to St. James Church for $85.00. For the coming year, we are increasing that to $400 per month.

We got to this point only through a long series of fits and starts, over a long period. There was no sudden leap of faith, no big revelation. We just slowly increased our pledge, by $2.00 a week; by $5.00; by $10.00. We never had any money left over, at the end of the month, after the pledge was paid and the bills were paid. But, there was always enough. Funny thing is, as we increased our pledge, we had no less left over, no matter how much more we gave back. We continued to have just enough, regardless.

We tithe for a reason. It's not because I'm a priest and I want to set a good example. It's because of what God has done for us.

I want to tell you some stories about the people who taught us about tithing. These are the heroes of this story, not Eleanor and I. These are people we've been privileged to know, from some of the churches we've belonged to over the years.

There was Abby; Abby had to deal with a lot in her life. She came from an abusive family, and then as an adult, she came down with cancer at a fairly early age. Abby is with God, now. During the later stages of her illness she was unable to work; she was on SSI, for her disability. Abby tithed the income she received from SSI.

Then there were Evelyn and Josh. Evelyn and Josh were retired, and got by on a modest, fixed income. They raised a large family ¬ I think they had nine children. Evelyn and Josh tithed.

Then there was Marie. Marie was a young woman who discontinued her studies for a medical degree, and found herself working at a variety of odd jobs, at whatever she could pick up here and there. Marie, too, knew that all she had came from God; Marie tithed.

Then there was Jack. Jack worked part-time as a chaplain to people with AIDS, nurturing them with his abundant spirit. Jack's eyesight was very bad; he was virtually blind. Jack earned a small income from his chaplaincy work, and I think he also received some disability. His church gave him some financial assistance, on occasion. Jack also is with God now; he died recently of heart disease. Jack tithed.

These people are heroes. They told their stories, of what God had done for them. And they tithed, and told of that, too.

The Bible says that we all should tithe, that we should give back to God 10% of what God has given us. You know, I am not asking you for more money. I am asking you to tithe. What's the difference? Tithing is about having faith, and about living faithfully.

In today's Gospel, Jesus says, "Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left." A strong image of judgment. I don't even like to think about this statement, let alone preach about it. But if the judgment were to come tomorrow, in my heart of hearts I do not believe we will be asked if we tithe or not. Rather, I think we'll be asked, "Are you working towards tithing?" In other words, "Are you now striving to have more faith? Are you now actively trying to live more faithfully?"

Our own story, Ellie's and mine, is of a God who has been infinitely patient and generous with us as we struggle to understand; as we struggle to increase our faith, and to live more faithfully.
Here's a thought I heard recently: what would it be like if everyone in this church tithed? I mean, apart from the fact that our treasurer would be a happy man; what would the life of this church be like? Remember what Jesus said: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Imagine a church where everyone tithed.

Cast away the darkness, put on the light. I've been talking for a couple of weeks about the use of symbols in church. I want to do something symbolic now. The pledge cards are set out for you to pick up; they're on a table back in the narthex. It's pretty dark back there. I'm going to walk back there and get them, and bring them up into the light.

[The pledge cards are brought forward and placed on a table right at the foot of the steps going up to the communion rail.]

Amen.