Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 18, 2023 •
Tithing to the church - do you know what it has to do with theologically and according to the Scriptures? It has to do with your keeping 90%.
The Bible says if you do not tithe to the Lord, the 90% He lets you keep will not be enough to meet your needs. The imagery the Bible uses, is that you carry your coins around in a purse, a little drawstring bag. The Lords says, "If you do not give my tithe to Me, to the temple of God, the house of God, then it's like walking around with a hole in your purse." You're going to lose the coins you thought you were protecting. So you won't have 90% to take care of your needs. You'll have much less and therefore, you're going to struggle. Basically, our Lord is saying, "If you give me 10% - since everything you have is Mine - I'm letting you keep 90. You give Me My 10% and I will make sure that the 90% I let you keep takes care of everything you need. You don't give Me My tithe, and I give you no promises. You're on your own."
This is a challenge in faith for each one of us. Do I trust the Lord enough to give Him 10% ? . . .
We need to entrust our financial status to the Lord. The way we do that is by following his financial recommendation....
What's interesting about all this teaching is that in the New Testament there are no teachings about tithing, about how much you should give. In the New Testament, the expectation is you're going to give most of your money. Now, there's no command on this, there's no teaching on this. But that's the expectation. God has just given you everything - salvation! - you owe Him your very lives. . . .
So, test God's Word. Work towards giving that tithe, that 10%. If you can give more, fine, give more. If you can't give 10%, fine, just give what you can give. But put God to the test and see whether His Word is proved true. That when you strive to do His will, to follow His commands and teachings, see if He doesn't reward and bless you and help take care of all your needs.
Ex 19:2-6a; Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5; Rom 5:6-11; Mt 9:36—10:8
Homily begins at 18:37