A Tithe of Time
"You shall take some of the first of all the fruit from the ground, which you harvest for the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name." Deuteronomy 26: 2
"In many cultures," writes author Frederick Beuchner, "there is an ancient custom of giving a tenth of each year's income to some holy use. For Christians, to observe the forty days of Lent is to do the same thing with roughly a tenth of each years days.
Just as the writer of Deuteronomy told the people to offer God the first fruits of their harvest, Lent asks us to set aside the first fruits of our time. Deuteronomy also reminds us what to do with that time--namely, to remember. When the Israelites set their baskets before the priest, they also proclaimed how God had cared for their ancestors, heard their cries, fed them in the wilderness, and brought them into freedom. Then together with the Levite and alien, they were to "enjoy all the bounty the Lord your God has given to you and your house."
"Enjoying all the bounty" doesn't fit our usual image of Lent's sackcloth and ashes nor Jesus 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. But in his own "tithe of time," Jesus discovered that the one who had cared for his ancestors in their wilderness would be with him in his.
Tithe your time this Lent to remember how that same One has also been with you. Perhaps like Jesus and his ancestors, you'll discover the true bounty of your own life, even in the wilderness times.
Thank you, God, for Lent's "tithe of time." Help me to take time these forty days to know your bountiful love in my life and for this world. Amen.
Talitha Arnold is Senior Minister of the United Church of Santa Fe (UCC), Santa Fe, New Mexico.
To say that "God exists" is the greatest understatement ever made across space and time.
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