“Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:1-4
“Almsgiving” is not a word we hear often in our churches. Neither is the word “tithe.” Yet both words are used many times in Scripture. “Almsgiving” refers to giving food, money or other things to those who are in need/poor. It is a form of charity. A “tithe” is an offering of ten percent of our income to God as a token of trust and worship of God.
In the Orthodox world, so many of our jurisdictions have roots in countries where Orthodoxy was or is the state church. For example, in Greece, people support the churches with their taxes and priests are public employees basically. There is no tradition of “giving” to the church because people are required to give to the state, which in turn supports the church. Thus, when Orthodox Christians come from Greece (and many other Orthodox countries), they have no concept of almsgiving or tithing. Fifty years ago (and sadly some places are still on this system), the church required that “dues” be paid by members. Most parishes have converted over to some form of stewardship, yet there are very few people who give sacrificially, or give a tithe.
For many Protestants, the tithe is the norm. That’s how you have churches of several hundred families that have several pastors, because a tithe allows a church to have adequate staff, build decent facilities, and have ample money left over for charitable giving. This is actually how a church is supposed to work. There should be multiple priests (or full time lay assistants) so that there can be specialization—a youth priest, a counselor, etc.—instead of one priest having to be a “jack of all trades,” which none of us are. There would be adequate staff so that people could have a personal relationship with the priest. Ideally, everyone wants that. And if they do, we have no way of that happening, because one can’t have meaningful relationships with hundreds of people.
There is a beautiful image in Leviticus 27:30-32, of each family passing with its herds under the herdsman’s staff and being blessed for offering their tithe:
“All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. If a man wishes to redeem any of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. And all the tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord.”
It would probably be difficult for someone who has never tithed to just go from a small amount to ten percent. The key to tithing is to offer a percentage of income every year and then a higher percentage the next year. I.e. start with two percent, and then increase to three percent until you get to ten percent. A one percent increase per year is a challenging, but doable increase.
There is a more stern warning given in Malachi 3:8-10, regarding failure to tithe as robbing God, but the faith to tithe reaping “overflowing blessings”: Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, “How are we robbing Thee?” In your tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me; the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house; and thereby put Me to the test, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessings.
To actually tithe is an act of faith and trust in God, to be able to part with something valuable, and to do it sacrificially and joyfully. We will each stand before God at the awesome judgment seat to make a “defense” of our lives, including how generous we were with offering tithes and alms. Not only will we be rewarded for eternal life for our sacrifices in this life, God tells us that we will receive blessings in this life as well.
What we offer should be a private matter between us and God. We shouldn’t give to an amount, a goal, a thermometer, an average, or based on what anyone else is doing. What we offer should be based on faith and trust. God is not interested in the dollar amount of what we give, but in what that dollar amount represents for us.
In Mark 12: 41-44, we read the account of the widow’s penny: And He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the multitude putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came, and put in two copper coins, which make a penny. And He called His disciples to Him, and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living.”
In the eyes of Christ, what seemed to be a “meager” offering from the perspective of others was recognized by the Lord as more generous than the rest, while the “generous” offerings of others were not seen as generous by the Lord because of what their offerings represented for them. For as Jesus says in Luke 12:48, “Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required.” For someone who has a lot, they are expected to give a lot.
Not everything we give necessarily needs to go to the church. A tithe could be split between supporting a church and another charity. In my personal life, we give to the church, and also to a couple of other charities that are near and dear to us.
One other important note: It is imperative that churches support charitable causes, not just keep themselves open, as is the case with many church communities. I’ve heard the phrase “charity begins at home” as an argument for churches to keep all of their donations. I also know that before the Great Depression, churches were the ones taking care of the poor. With the advent of the welfare system, the government took this over and the churches went along with it. If every person gave ten percent of their income to the church as a tithe, and if every church gave ten percent of its income as a tithe to charity, we would go a long way to eliminating poverty.
Lord, our God, You created us and brought us into this life. You have shown us the way to salvation and have bestowed upon us the revelation of heavenly mysteries. Accept our offerings of stewardship as an acceptable sacrifice and in return send down upon us the grace of Your Holy Spirit. Look down on us, O Lord, and accept our Stewardship Commitment as You accepted the gifts of Abel, the offerings of Noah, the burnt offerings of Abraham, the priestly sacrifices of Moses and Aaron and the peace offerings of Samuel. Accept also now, in Your goodness, O Lord, these gifts from the hands of us sinners, multiplying Your blessings upon those who have put their trust in You by offering their sacrificial gifts, making us worthy of the reward of the faithful and wise stewards on the fearful day of your just judgment. For You are the God of mercy, love and salvation and we glorify You, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen. (Adapted from the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, Holy Cross Press, 1988, p. 19-20)
To give is not to offer what we don’t need. To offer is to give the first fruits of what we have, and sometimes, even what we don’t have.
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