Why is money important? And what is our relationship to it?
In reality, it is a measure of our spiritual health. As we know stewardship of money is our spiritual duty to God and to each other. If we hold back on our stewardship or giving or give stingily, then we transfer our obligation onto the back of another. If we all gave our 10%, even 5%, we would have no financial troubles at St Philothea. But if we give 1%, 2%, or even less, then #1 we really don't believe or trust God and #2 we don't ‘honor’ God. And we say to our neighbor, you carry my load-you give my portion. By withholding our tithe, that is what we are doing.
If we want a strong healthy vibrant community, we each have to do our part and not rely on the generosity of a few or get our neighbors to pay our bills through fundraisers.
Don't give based on what you think your neighbor gives and don't give thinking you are giving away assets that could go to college, retirement, vacation, or a beach home. If you can't afford to give to God what is His, out of Thanksgiving and joy at his abundant grace and mercy in your life, then you clearly don't understand what faith is all about, or what is required of a steward of God's gifts that have been entrusted to you, your health, your brains, your talents, and your opportunities. A steward handles the assets of the master and must give an accounting of how he has managed those assets. God says keep 90% but use 10% to build up my church so that others may come in and find healing and rest for their soul. It isn't much but it is all I need. You manage the other 90% for your family and your needs but make sure you have a healthy vibrant growing community that is not built on the backs of a few. Make my house a place of refuge and joy, a place of nurturing and learning, a place of healing and comfort; invite in the needy, the lame, the sick, and the poor. I want to make known my love and my healing through you. I'm generous toward you, I want you to be generous towards others. So when I say that how we look at money is a measure of our spiritual health it means that we are not controlled by money but rather we are controlled by God. Money represents success or lack thereof in this world. But not in God's world. Our attitude toward money should be one of freedom, one of thankfulness, one of generosity toward God and his people. If we are afraid to give it away or afraid someone wants money from us, then we are not living in a state of grace and faith. We are living as possessors rather than as stewards. A steward has a certain detachment when it comes to money because we are not to please ourselves but the master. We are looking for those kinds of opportunities that He would invest in, in order to make known His love and draw people into His kingdom.
Jesus tells us, “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.”
When a Saint of the early church was asked by the emperor to bring the riches of the Church to him, he said, give me till tomorrow to gather them up. The emperor was pleased and gave him permission. The next day the Saint showed up with the blind, the lame, the poor, and presented them to the emperor saying here are the riches of the Church. The emperor was not pleased and had the Saint tortured and killed. Where your treasure is your heart will be also. And to measure our spiritual health we could reverse it by saying where our heart is there is our treasure also. So where is our heart in our relationship to money? Is our treasure in heaven, are we free when it comes to money, or are we constrained.
Are we storing up treasures in heaven or will we leave them behind on earth? God has called us to freedom, to joy, to peace, and when it comes to our relationship to money this can only be found by having him as Lord not only of our life but of our finances as well.
Fr. Anthony
