What are you doing with your PFD?

There is a story told of a new pastor in a Christian church.

The pastor preached about the evil of drunkenness and one lady, a longtime member, slapped him on the back on the way out of church as she said, “Way to go, Pastor! That’s just what we needed to hear!” The next Sunday, he spoke on the troubles of drugs, and the lady thanked him again. “Good job, Pastor, keep it up!”

The following week, the pastor shared with his congregation about the importance of marriage and family, and the lady seemed ecstatic as she greeted the pastor after worship. However, during worship the following week, the pastor preached on Christian finances and tithing. On the way out of church on this Sunday, the elderly lady frowned and shook her head as she saw the pastor.

“Watch what you preach about, Pastor,” she said. “You’re getting personal.”

So, understanding the danger of bringing up the topic of money, I will risk asking, “what are you doing with your Permanent Fund Dividend?”

I noticed our Alaska permanent fund checks were deposited on Thursday. It was nice to see two deposits for $1884.00 in our savings account.

I will share with you what my wife Kathy and I do. Perhaps this can help you as you at least think about how to use your permanent funds.

Kathy and I try to treat ours the way we treat all God’s blessings. God teaches lessons that help us in managing our resources. First, according to God’s word, everything we have really is God’s. Psalm 24:1 says, “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” The Lord made the world. He made me. Everything we might call our own really belongs to God.

Longtime St. John Lutheran Church member June Liebing is now in the Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer. June was born in Sitka in 1921. Her family moved to King Lake in Wasilla (named after her dad, Clyde King) in 1932.

But at this time every year, in the past, June stood up after worship to speak. June would say, “God made the earth. The oil is in the earth. The oil belongs to God. My permanent fund is a gift from God. I encourage you to give to the Lord from this gift from God.”

That sounds like Psalm 24 to me!

Someone might ask, “God wants me to live, so how much do I use for God?”

There can be a misunderstanding with this question. God doesn’t want part of what we have.

Matthew 22:37 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

God wants us to live for him with all that we are and all that we have. We serve God as we care for our families. We love God as we live as faithful citizens. We even serve God in our rest and leisure time.

Then, God also calls his people to give tithes and offerings from the plenty with which he blesses us. In the Bible these offerings help support a place of worship and honoring God; these offerings support workers; and they support mission work and help for those in need.

God teaches giving that reflects how we have been blessed (1 Corinthians 16:1), or proportionate offerings. God also calls for offerings that are from our first fruits and are sacrificial. The proportion most often mentioned in scripture is the tithe, or 10 percent. Actually, in Malachi 3, God calls for both tithes and offerings.

However, the most important principle God teaches about giving is that giving to the Lord and his work should be done cheerfully. After all, if God made the world and has richly blessed us, aren’t we filled with thanks? But, even more, God gave his son so we might have life rather than death.

In 2 Corinthians 8:9 we are told, “for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

Jesus became poor so we might have the riches of heaven. That is why in the next chapter we are told, “God loves a cheerful giver!” It is a joy to give for the work of the Lord who sent His Son for us!

With this in mind, Kathy and I tithe off our salaries to St. John. We give 10 percent to our home congregation, and then we give other offerings. For example, we give regularly to Christian ministries like Alaska Mission for Christ, Compassion International, St. John work students, and HeartReach Crisis Pregnancy Center. We also give to Lutheran Hour Ministries, world missions, Victory Bible Camp, Soar Ministries, Salvation Army and others. In addition, we sometimes give to USO, VFW, March of Dimes, Special Olympics, local sports teams and others. We use the gifts God gives to serve him because of whose we are and who we are.

So, when it comes to our Permanent Fund Dividends, we do the same thing we do with our salaries. We donate 10 percent to our home congregation. In fact, even though Kathy and I are out of town we already have a check written for $376.80. How about you?

I’m told a person doesn’t want to visit Walmart or Costco on the day that Permanent Fund Dividends are distributed, because these stores are overrun with customers. That’s quite a response! How many Alaskans will return to the Lord who gives us all good things?

Jonathan Rockey is pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer. Contact him at jonrock53@mtaonline.net.

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