My Talk on Tithing

A couple of weeks ago I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting on tithing. I actually started by discoursing on sanctification - that to be sanctified means to become clean, to become pure, to become a new creature in Christ, and to have your body renewed by the rebirth of the Spirit; to become holy.

I then quoted from a secular source, Wikipedia, and talked of how close the Wiki was to being "correct."

Sanctification
From Wikipedia
Sanctification or in its verb form, sanctify, literally means to set apart for special use or purpose, that is to make holy or sacred (from the Latin verb sanctificare, which in turn derives from sanctus, "holy" and facere, "to make".). The Greek word is hagiasmos (άγιασμος), meaning "holiness, consecration, or sanctification." [1] It comes from the root hagios (άγιος), which means holy or sacred. Sanctification then refers to the state or process of being set apart or made holy. What is often missed, or overlooked, is the relational aspect that is associated with the word sancification. Only God is truly holy. Everything else, whether it is things or people, is holy only because of its relationship to God.

I then used words from Elder Oaks to further the sanctification discussion and moved into conversion and charity. Trials and adversities can actually change who we are into what God wants us to become, if we approach the trials and adversities with the right attitude. . . . Through the justice and mercy of a loving Father in Heaven, the refinement and sanctification possible through such experiences can help us achieve what God desires us to become. We are challenged to move through a process of conversion toward that status and condition called eternal life. This is achieved not just by doing what is right, but by doing it for the right reason—for the pure love of Christ. The Apostle Paul illustrated this in his famous teaching about the importance of charity (see 1 Cor. 13). The reason charity never fails and the reason charity is greater than even the most significant acts of goodness he cited is that charity, “the pure love of Christ” (Moro. 7:47), is not an act but a condition or state of being. Charity is attained through a succession of acts that result in a conversion. Charity is something one becomes. Thus, as Moroni declared, “except men shall have charity they cannot inherit” the place prepared for them in the mansions of the Father (Ether 12:34). [from “The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov 2000]

I used the Bible Dictionary to further the point of sanctification being tied to the payment of tithing in ways I had not remembered:

The honest payment of tithing sanctifies both the individual and the land on which he lives. See D&C 85: 3; D&C 119. - "Tithe" from the Bible Dictionary

I then turned to "Faith" in the Bible Dictionary and discussed the roll of faith in the payment of tithing.:

To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone. The Lord has revealed himself and his perfect character, possessing in their fulness all the attributes of [perfect] love, [perfect] knowledge, [perfect] justice, [perfect] mercy, ... so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in him without reservation. . . . Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel and is more than belief, since true faith always moves its possessor to some kind of physical and mental action...

I also had with me a talk given by Robert D. Hales, entitled Tithing: A Test of Faith with Eternal Blessings. This is the talk that prompted the Bishopric to ask me to speak, so I drew upon it heavily. It's a great talk and I learned some things I had either forgotten or never knew about the law of the tithe.

Lastly, somewhere during the talk I read the following excerpt from Gordon B. Hinckley, “An Unending Conflict, a Victory Assured,” Ensign, Jun 2007, and tied it into the payment of an honest tithe.

Some years ago a friend told me of a conversation he had had with another member of the Church. My friend had asked whether his associate felt close to his Heavenly Father. The man replied that he did not feel close. Why not? He said, “Candidly, because I don’t want to.” Then he went on to say, “If I were close to Heavenly Father, He would probably want some commitment from me, and I am not ready for that.”

Think of it—a man who has taken upon himself the name of the Lord in baptism, a man who has renewed his covenants with the Lord in his sacrament meetings, a man who has accepted the priesthood of God and yet has said that if he were close to his Heavenly Father, some commitment might be expected of him, and he was not ready for that.

In this work there must be commitment. There must be devotion. We are engaged in a great eternal struggle that concerns the very souls of the sons and daughters of God.

I finished up by bearing my testimony to the truthfulness of the things just taught, and did so in the name of Jesus Christ.