Tithing
Tithing literally means 10 percent, but is used more generally for give a fixed percentage of one’s income.
The concept of paying a tithe is not new and not strictly religious. The ancient Greeks and Romans paid tithes to their gods. The ancient people often gave a percentage of their annual harvest to the local king.
No one knows why people settled on the one-tenth figure commonly prescribed in tithing. The Old Testament refers to several formulas for almsgiving, including leaving part of the crops for gleaning.
The New Testament has no law about tithing. The early Church didn’t need mandated tithing since people freely gave to the poor because they saw whom they were assisting.
But as the Church grew and its material needs increased, the Church fathers resurrected the Old Testament teaching, and encouraged tithing as a moral obligation and something good to do.
Eventually, the Church Council of Macon in 585 A. D. ordered payment of tithes under the threat of excommunication. At the end of the eighth century Charlemagne made tithing to the Church a civil law. Initially the practice was limited to food, and eventually expanded to one’s profits and wages. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) also declared that payment of tithes was due God, and not to do so would lead to excommunication.
In the United States, only the Church in the North Central and Mississippi Valley areas ever used a tithing system. It was introduced by the French, but ended when the United States acquired these lands.
The 1983 Code of Canon Law notes that the faithful are obliged to assist the Church by providing what is necessary for charitable work.
But the toll collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘o God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:13-14)
As we continue the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, put yourself in the crowd and see how you react as you listen to the story.
Although the Pharisee comes off as a “holy person,” I probably don’t identify with him. He’s too “holy”…and a bit self-righteous.
When Jesus describes the tax collector, it’s easy for me to place myself in his shoes.
And then when I hear Jesus say that the tax collector “went home justified," I say to myself, “There’s hope for me!”
Once I recognize that everything good comes from God, then there really is hope for me because, left to myself, I’m not that good.
I can recite that offhandedly, like one of the truths we’re supposed to believe: “Everything good comes from God.” But it can come off flat.
Try this. Take a moment to think of five “goods” in your life. Then take each one and say, “This comes from God.”
It really is a different way of seeing things.