This is the message Dr. Tom Smith gave to us at our annual Stewardship Celebration dinner on November 8, 2008.  He has graciously shared it with us in written form.  We hope you'll find it enlightening.

"Sermon on the Amount" - Thomas Michael Smith
2 Corinthians 9:1-8; Mark 12:41-44

Over the course of many years I have become incredibly comfortable talking with church people about money. That is actually pretty odd for a Presbyterian minister. Over that time I came upon an understanding of money in the Christian life that I will share with you this evening. That understanding can be put simply. It is in the need of the giver to give for his or her own spiritual growth, not give for the need of the church budget.

My belief is that God desires us to grow in discipleship and faith but God will not force us to do so. This is the quintessential definition of free will. We are offered an incredible deal in which God gives us grace and love and protection and vision and asks us to partner with Him in becoming more of who we can become.

Yet I very much believe that each contemporary disciple wants some advice and counsel as to what is appropriate in his or her giving. I also believe that the church should help in this regard. The church should help, not dictate. And I believe that the Word of God gives us that help. So the question for today is very simple indeed: How do you make up your mind as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus Christ?

First, and primarily, we lean into the Spirit of God. This is what a growing disciple does. We pray and we listen. A short time ago, I heard a minister say that he counsels spiritual development with his congregation along the lines of two "p’s." Pray, and then pay attention to what God seems to be saying.

In most areas of the Christian life, my firm counsel to someone who is seeking the will of God would be to pray and to listen. Then, if God seems to be speaking to you, discuss what God is saying with other faithful disciples, so that you don’t go off the deep end. Disciples can help other disciples stay on track, and guard against the intrusion of the devil, who masquerades as an angel of light, and who prowls about looking for someone to devour. By bearing the burdens of each other, we can hope to keep each other on God’s track of truth. Others help us test the spirits to see if the ‘word’ we think we hear comes from God, and whether it’s consistent with other Scripture. So, you see, praying and paying attention to what God is saying is the first step. Then we need the confirmation of others who are not otherwise inclined to agree with us.

We lean into the Spirit to discover how to make up our mind what to give to His church. We are having this collective conversation now, in November of 2008, to ask ourselves how much we will give of our money to the ministries of Trinity for 2009. But pastors and church leaders should really be talking about stewardship all year long. I started this sermon last August when I preached for Steve. For, you see, the financial process in this church is becoming a faith development process. What I am about is faith raising, not fund raising, though for most of us these two are connected.

A small boy wrote a note to his pastor. I read as follows:

And I could preach that sermon. But I won’t. I won’t because a true church fund drive or finance campaign isn’t about the church getting more money for its treasury. What it is about is more faith. It’s about the growing edge. It’s about leaning into the Spirit of God. It’s about growing the ministries of evangelism and social justice. And within this primary guideline of growing faith, the Bible has two important principles to consider.

First is the principle of proportionality. Each Christian is to give in proportion to what he or she has earned. The Bible seems to say, "Give a proportion of income, not just a dollar figure."

A man had a conversation with his pastor. He was considering what his gift to the church might be for the coming year. "Pastor," he said, "I’ve been considering a gift of $25 per week. Do you think that’s in the ballpark?"

The pastor replied, saying, "What do you mean by ‘ballpark’?" The man said, "Is my gift pretty much in the ballpark of what others are giving?" The pastor thought a moment and said, "You know, you’re asking the wrong question. The question is not whether your gift is in the ballpark in relation to others’ gifts. Rather, the question is directed to God: ‘God, is this gift in the ballpark for me?"

I’m sorely tempted to do just that when I think of the many ministries we could be doing that we can’t get to because we don’t have additional staff or start-up funds. I would love to make it just that simple. I’d love to say, ‘God wants you to give this much, and you that much, and you this much here.’

But that wouldn’t be teaching the Biblical principle. Many can give much more than 10% of the Effective Buying Income for Yolo County, and many can give less. Yet the only legitimate question is one that asks God, "What proportion of what I have do YOU want me to give?"

The New Testament says that the question for the growing disciple is this: ‘God, what proportion of what I have shall I give?"

In the New Testament, the picture changes slightly, but in an important way. Tithing is still assumed. It’s fair to say Jesus saw tithing as a continuing standard. The difference in the New Testament is that tithing is not a law or a rule. Instead, tithing is a spiritual discipline around the principle of proportionality. Tithing is part of the spiritual goal toward which we move.

When Barry Sanders was signed by the Detroit Lions back in 1989, right out of college, many eyebrows were raised when his contract was announced at $6.1 million for five years. But the real objection came when Sanders was also given an immediate signing bonus of $2.1 million. People said that Barry Sanders was greedy. But people stopped saying that when they learned that as soon as his signing bonus was delivered, he sent a check for $210,000 to his little Baptist church in Wichita, Kansas. For from childhood Barry Sanders had learned the principle of tithing as a proportional gift. From childhood, he received guidance on how to ‘make up his mind’ regarding what to give. The exact guidance I’m trying to give everyone this morning.

Or another story I read in a magazine written by a pastor from another state. A faithful woman in her congregation was known to the congregation as Aunt Jane. Aunt Jane had been a member for many decades and was utterly faithful in her discipleship. One day, the phone rang in the office and the senior pastor happened to pick it up. It was Aunt Jane. She said, "I want to talk to the financial secretary, please."

The pastor told her that the financial secretary wasn’t in the office at the moment, but asked if she could help. Aunt Jane said, "Well, I hate to bother you with this, Pastor. But would you please give her a message? Tell her that effectively immediately, my pledge to the church will go up by $1.70 per month."

"$1.70?" said the pastor. "Why $1.70?" "Because," Aunt Jane replied, "my social security check just went up by $17 per month."

Whether you are Barry Sanders with a $2.1 million signing bonus or Aunt Jane with an extra $17 in your social security check, the spiritual principle of tithing still applies.

Let me tell you another story --- a different kind of story. It’s a true story about a Methodist church in the rural Midwest. This small church had just received the resignation of the church’s treasurer. The nominating committee had recommended the name of a man who was the owner of the local grain elevator and a highly respected person in that congregation and community. When they asked him to serve, he said that he would under two conditions.

What were those two conditions? That no financial questions would be asked for one year; and that no financial reports would be required until the end of the year. As you can imagine, the request was somewhat difficult to swallow. But the people agreed. He was a highly respected man and a loyal member of the congregation.

At the end of the year, the financial report for the year was finally given. The people could hardly believe what they heard. The final payments on a long-standing indebtedness had been paid in full. All current bills were paid in full, something that wasn’t frequently the case. And all Methodist conference apportionments had been paid for the first time in at least ten years. And there was $12,000 in the bank after all commitments were paid.

"How did you do it?" the people asked.

"It was easy, came the reply. Most of you do business with my grain elevator. I simply kept 10 percent of your sales, and gave it to the church in your name. You never missed it!"

Now, that’s surely a wonderful story. But there’s something wrong with the story, isn’t there? What’s wrong? The problem is that someone else decided what to give for the people! There’s no growth in that. Remember what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9: "Each of you must give … as each of you has made up your mind.’

Do you see? God wants us to grow in trust. God wants us to learn to give. God wants us to risk growth in grace through tithing. God wants us to move toward a tithe. If you are currently giving at 5 % of income, can you increase it to 7 % or 7½ %? If you are giving at 1 %, can you increase to 2 % or 3 %, and then add 1 % or 1½ % each six to eight months for the coming years?

Listen to what I am saying here: Growth is the hope in the heart of God for you and me!

The question each of us needs to ask is this, What is the next rung on the spiritual ladder for me? Tithing is one of the principles God gives us to teach us how to grow in Him. Do you really want to tell Him to take a hike? It’s not an issue of an exaction or a tax. The tithe is an act of trust, a goal of trust.

Two caterpillars were crawling along the ground when a butterfly soared over their heads. One caterpillar turned to the other and exclaimed, "You’ll never catch me in one of those contraptions!" But the this caterpillar will fly because metamorphosis eventually takes place. There is no choice. But discipleship, on the other hand, is an act of the will. Discipleship is a move toward a higher form of freedom. We can decide. You can decide to risk becoming a giving, proportionately giving, tithing person!

There’s an old Methodist hymn that isn’t in our hymnal that I’ve asked that we sing this morning. I’m particularly fond of the final verse:

This is the true spirit of the Christ-centered life, and this is the real joy and fulfillment of discipleship. And, finally, this is … ‘the sermon on the amount’!

Look, you and I have only two things available to give God: ourselves and what we own. When the widow put two copper coins in the treasury, she was obviously giving both her money and her whole self. When some of the rich people passed by the treasury chest, what they gave was more like tipping a waiter at a good restaurant. That was Jesus’ point, and that is still the major issue: Are we giving just our money? Or, is the money we give a symbol of our determination to give our whole selves?

Clearly the church needs income to continue its ministry, but the ministry of the church – of this church – isn’t institutional survival. This church has a mission of bringing people to meet Jesus Christ. It has a mission to provide matter-of-fact help to people with matter-of-fact needs. It has a mission to grow people in their faith. And part of that is teaching God’s Word. God’s Word is at the center of what I am saying this evening. If you want to grow in your relationship with God, then you will seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. To seek him first involves stepping out in faith which means, practically, trusting God to provide you with resources you may not have right now. The giver gives not to meet the budget of the church but to test the waters of God’s faithfulness. If you really want to grow in your faith with God then I suggest you offer to give more than you can afford and watch with amazement how God adds to your income over the coming year. You will be blown away.

For many the practical question is how much is enough? The practical if uncomfortable answer is found in the incident with the widow at the temple treasury. Just a bit before this incident in Mark 12, a scribe approached Jesus and asked Him which of the Ten Commandments was the greatest? Jesus answered him by saying, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The widow is obviously doing just that. She is loving God with her whole life, seeking to put God first among all her priorities, seeking God’s kingdom first before all other kingdoms. Will her practical needs be met? You bet. This is the sermon on the amount.

We are who we are because of the presence of a holy and loving God in our lives. What God wants above all else is response. He created people with the free will to say NO … but Jesus desires the warm fellowship of people who want to be with him. That is so clear from the Bible. So we gather together to be his people in this place we call our church home. We give of our time and we give of our talent and we give of our money to grow into his likeness and to become the people he wants us to be. I urge you to let nothing stand between you and the incredible spiritual growth Jesus has in mind for you!