Freedom from the Anxiety Snare

Homily for October 22, 2023
The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew 22:15-22

 In today’s Gospel lesson when the Pharisees tried to entrap Jesus, they did so by asking him a question about money:   “Teacher,” they asked, “Tell us what you think.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”

Next Sunday is Consecration Sunday, the day on which we are invited to make a pledge of financial support to the parish for the coming year.  Our preacher next Sunday will be Fr. Eric Litman, formerly of St. John’s, Newtonville and known to many of us.  Next Sunday Eric will tell us his story of giving; today, I am going to share my story of giving.

Perhaps when the Pharisees tried to entrap Jesus, they asked him a question about money because they knew that money has a way of entrapping us.  Money entraps us through anxiety about whether or not we will have “enough.”  

Having recently been divorced, my financial position has changed. And when there are changes in my finances, my first inclination is to become anxious and worry about whether I will have “enough.”  I become anxious, for example, about paying for the kids’ college tuition.  I worry about whether I am saving enough.  I worry about the cost of my next car repair.  I become anxious about paying the fees for my yoga studio and YMCA membership.  If I let myself go there, I can become entrapped by my anxiety about money, wondering if I will have “enough.”

I am aware that I live a privileged life – my kids go to college; I have a retirement account; I own a car; I have a YMCA membership.  I share my anxieties because my hunch is that many if not most of us have similar anxieties about not having enough; money can easily entrap us.  And so someone with, say, $100 will wish they had 150. Or someone with $500,000 could wish, “If only I had a million.”  Or someone with 15 million could think, “But if I only had 20, then I would feel secure.”

When the Pharisees tried to entrap Jesus, they knew that money has a way of entrapping us, and so they asked him a question about money: “Teacher,” they asked, “Tell us what you think.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”

I’m going to walk you through my two-step process for becoming free from the “anxiety snare” in which money often entraps us.  The first step is to make a budget.  Here’s mine:  First, I set aside 10% for God and God’s work here at Trinity Parish.  Then, I pay my taxes, which account for about 23% of my income.   Because I like to save, I put about another 23% of my income into savings.  Insurance (health, auto and life) amounts to about 8%.  (If you’re doing the math, we’re at 65% so far.)  College tuition accounts for about 11% of my compensation.  And then I have a series of smaller items such as my YMCA membership, my swim team fees, and my yoga studio membership. These account for about 3% of my income. Which leaves about 20% for everything else:  food, the phone bill, the newspaper, haircuts,trips to see my dad, car maintenance, gas and so forth.  Making a budget and sticking to it is step one of becoming free from money’s “anxiety snare.”

My second step in becoming free from the “anxiety snare” is connected to part of the first step, which is:  giving ten percent of my income to God and God’s work.  Early on, when Ashley and I first started tithing (giving ten percent of our income), [early on] I used to go down the path of “if only:” “If only I had that ‘extra’ money; if only we hadn’t given ten percent to the church.  The vacations we could take, the car we could drive, the anxiety-free life we could live if only we didn’t give 10% of our income away…”  I used to think that way.  But that “if only”thinking in regards to money disappeared and quickly because we discovered the deep satisfaction of giving 10% of our income to God and God’s work.  Giving only a little, like we used to do way back when, was difficult.  We I gave only what I had left over, or when I gave the minimum I thought I could possibly give and still show my face to the Rector, it didn’t feel good; I was still in the trap.  But when we decided to give 10%,giving 10% felt amazing!  Never mind that we had to change our lifestyle – cutting back on, say, going out to eat or vacations or not getting that new bicycle, or whatever – [never mind that we had to change our lifestyle], we were glad to give things up so that with our help our parish in southern California could feed the hungry, house immigrants, give kids a scholarship,help with affordable housing, support refugees – many of the same things we do here at Trinity Parish.  Giving 10% of our income to God and God’s work was not only deeply satisfying, but it freed us from the “anxiety snare” in which money often entraps us.

By the way, when I speak of giving 10%, I’m presuming an income.  If you are a student and have no income, or if you are unemployed, maybe do step#1 and make a budget.  And if you can’t give now, plan to give later when you do have an income.

If you don’t already give 10%,I invite you to consider pledging 10% of your income to God and God’s work at Trinity Parish in 2024.  I have never met a 10%giver who did not have joy.  Without exception, every 10% giver I have met has had a similar experience to what I have had:  they find it extremely,profoundly satisfying to give 10% to God and God’s work.  Generous giving generates joy.  And if you’re thinking, “I could never do that,” maybe try this:  Give 10% for a quarter, for three months of the year, and pay attention to how it feels.  Then take three months off and give nothing and pay attention to how that feels.  And then give 10% for another quarter.  I promise that you will notice the difference in how you feel during the months when you gave 10% and the months you gave nothing.  And I have a hunch that during the months of generous giving you will experience less anxiety, more freedom,more joy.  

Please do in the coming week take time to pray about what you might give to God and God’s work at Trinity in2024.  And remember, we don’t give because of Trinity’s need for money; we give because generous giving to God deepens our faith, and because generous giving generates joy.  

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