Homily for the Sixth Monday of Great Lent
On Tithing
By Fr. Daniel Sysoev
On Tithing
By Fr. Daniel Sysoev
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!
Our evening service has just concluded, at which we heard passages from the Book of Genesis, which are read during the Holy Forty Days, so that people may recall the creation of the universe and the beginning of our history, at a time when we are preparing for the feast of the re-creation of our universe — the feast of Holy Pascha of the Lord.
At this time, the Proverbs are also read, which show us how we ought to live in the universe, what the norms of a proper Christian life are. Today, the passage from Genesis and from the Book of Proverbs turned out to be interconnected. This is not by chance, but by the deep providence of God, manifested in the wisdom of the authors of the Church’s hymns.
You noticed that the first passage from Genesis speaks of how the righteous Jacob turned to his two wives, Rachel and Leah, asking what they thought about leaving their father. Jacob had been forced to flee from his own brother Esau, because he had deceived him, and to go to the land of Haran. On the way, he fell asleep and saw in a dream a ladder reaching up to heaven, upon which the angels of God were ascending and descending. At the top of this ladder stood God.
And when Jacob awoke from sleep, he made a vow to God — to give Him a tithe, that is, a tenth part of all the wealth he would receive. And he promised that he would serve God all the days of his life, if God would return him safely and unharmed. And indeed, the Lord brought him to Haran, where he married. And Jacob became exceedingly rich.
This happened with some intervention from God: He sent him His Angel, who explained to him how to take for himself the strong sheep and leave the weak ones to Laban, his father-in-law, who had been deceiving Jacob.
Many people say that it is impossible for us to give alms to the Church or to the poor: “We ourselves are poor, we ourselves have little — how can we give!” If Jacob had reasoned in such an earthly way, he would have received nothing. He would have received only what he himself earned — and that is nothing. What can one earn while living in a semi-servile condition?
But he became rich because he made a vow to God, because he promised to acknowledge His supreme authority. The meaning of the commandment of the tithe is that we acknowledge that God gives us everything, that everything is from Him, and therefore we pay Him, as the supreme King, a tax for the right to use His gifts.
When you donate to the Church or give alms to the poor — and it is the same thing — you thereby cultivate virtue in your soul. God commands this not because He needs it, but so that we may receive fruit for our soul. Our soul must learn generosity.
There are people who constantly say: “Give, give, give, give, give!” — and this concerns not only money: give us emotions, give us love, give us good relationships, but I will give nothing. Such a person, in God’s eyes, is unworthy to be called a human being. What kind of person is that? It is some kind of black hole, a hurricane that draws everything into itself! That is not the image of the generous God, who gives everything to us!
Whether the Church needs it or not, whether the poor need it or not (of course, both do need it), that is not the main point — the main point is that by repaying our debt to God, we give Him what is due and train ourselves to be generous.
There is an opinion that it is improper to speak about money. Yet money occupies an enormous place in human life. There are even sayings: “One does not ask friends about money,” “Happiness is not in money, but in its quantity,” and the like. Behind this there is some truth.
The Lord told us: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21; Luke 12:34). If your treasure is in business, in money, if all your thoughts are about earthly prosperity, if you measure your happiness by the number of trips to the Canary Islands or by your ability to buy new things, then obviously you will have certain problems beyond the grave. You cannot get to the Canary Islands from there, and clothing will hardly be needed, even if you buy an entire boutique and place it in your grave.
A void appears in the soul; a person has lived without knowing why. And the Lord commands us to give alms, thus showing mercy and generosity. He teaches us to remember the source of everything — God, the Lord of the universe, for whose sake we live and in whom is our wealth.
“God” and “wealth” are kindred words. A rich man is not the one who has much, but the one who gives much. Therefore, in this sense, God is the richest of all. Of course, He is also literally richer than all, because everything belongs to Him by right of creation.
We often forget this as well. People cling jealously to what is “theirs.” Yet strictly speaking, what could a person do without hands, without a head, without feet, without a mind? Everything is from God.
At the most important moment of the Liturgy, the priest says: “Thine own of Thine own we offer unto Thee, on behalf of all and for all.” That is, we offer to You what is Yours from Your own gifts, as a sacrifice for all people and for all things. And precisely this mindset — the remembrance that everything is from God and everything belongs to Him — must always be within us. So that we may partake of His generosity and become like Him.
And the Book of Proverbs says in one place: “The righteous man is generous and gives, but the miser rots.” He rots on earth, but even more terribly he rots at the moment of his death, when help is most needed — the miser is forgotten by people.
Therefore, we must train ourselves in a proper human attitude toward giving. What matters is not how much to give to whom, but that there be an inner generosity that imitates God. The matter must be in the disposition of the heart, not merely in external payments.
You cannot buy God with money. But generosity will go with us into eternity. Therefore, learn Christ-like generosity, which is equally open to both the rich and the poor, for the matter lies in the soul, which is the same in all according to the image of God.
By becoming accustomed to this, we will be able to relate properly to the property over which we have been placed as stewards. In truth, no one on earth owns anything by right. What right can there be, if we were created by God and will return to dust? We possess everything as a gift.
That is why the Bible forbids selling land as if it were truly ours, because the land belongs to Almighty God, who created it and gives it the power to bear fruit. Our task is to use it in order to manifest love.
This is what we must strive for.
Well did the Angel of God say to Saint Hermas: “God has arranged it so that a dry tree stands beside a living vine. The vine winds around the dry tree and produces many fruits. Because of this, the tree is not cut down.” The dry tree is the rich man, but he is valuable in that he supports the poor. God accepts the rich man because he supports the poor — not because he is proud or delights in his wealth.
The poor man is good in that he shows love toward the rich man and prays for him. And here mutual support is revealed, mutual love, mutual cooperation, when each person serves with the gift given to him by the one Master.
If we remember this, we will be able to learn Christ-like generosity and properly relate to our wealth.
May God help us in this!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
