I met the couple, Bill and Liz, at the local laundromat. The woman worked there, her husband hung out with her there frequently, especially late at night when I would be there washing my clothes.
That was the same laundromat outside of which, one late night, God had sent an angel.
Here’s what happened. I was waiting for my clothes to wash and dry, and sat down outside on the bench on that hot, muggy, Newton, Iowa evening. My heart felt as dark as that night did, and the air as hard to pull in as water. It was full of water for certain. This man, a stranger, had walked up to me, sat down on that bench, looked into my eyes and given me this message. I don’t remember what he said, but remember the feeling that accompanied his words -- hope filled me, light penetrated me, and to quote an old hymn “love lifted me.” It was intense. He then stood, and walked away. I never got his name, and when I thought to ask for his name, and turned to go after him to get it, he was gone. Just gone. That’s why I feel like he was an angel.
That was the summer I had recommitted myself to Jesus and God was on the move in my young heart.
I spoke with Bill and Liz every time I was washing my clothes. They invited me to their church, and also taught me about giving. They said, simply, “Give 10% out of every dollar. Just make it a plan to give first to God.” That was the first training in discipleship that I received!
After that, I began to follow that principle. Whenever I earned anything, I chopped off 10% and gave it to the church. I began to practice that in 1978. Yikes: 41 years ago! It took a while until I learned the corollary to this was a budget. If I am giving first to God, I need to learn to budget the rest, to make a plan. What I ended up internalizing years later was to put a “name on every dollar” I earn. In essence, that is to know where it goes. Tithe. Groceries. Gas. Recreation. Movies. Medical. It’s a simple idea but it helps to track the income God has given and how I am spending it.
That 10% has expanded out now so that it is more than 10% of my pre-tax income. It’s an adventure to give. God provides. He provides again and again. But this also means learning to say “no” to some expenditures that I might have wanted to make. Do I need that coffee? When I am out of my funds for whatever areas, I stop spending. This means planning and saving for expenses that are up the road.
Money can have a strange influence over the human heart. I’ve found that to give first is one way to begin to break its hold, it is a way to say, this money is God’s.
This is stewardship time to think about giving, how we give, how much God is calling us to give financially, and also in our time and service through the church to God. How is God motivating you to give?