Sermons Archive

Stewardship: God’s Command to Manage
The Rev. Janice Robinson
October 1, 2006

This month, October, we will spend some time unpacking Stewardship during the sermon time. Some hear this word and think, “Oh yeah, this is where they ask me for money.” You’re right, I, along with the Stewardship Committee and the Every Member Canvass folks, will ask you to make a pledge to Grace Church for the Fiscal Year that begins January 1, 2007. But we will ask you to give more that that, because stewardship is more than money. We will ask you to also give of your time and your talents in service to others here in Grace and in the community. In this way we continue to grow and thrive in our service to God, through our ministries.

Some of you may wonder where we clergy get off asking for money every year. Well, like you, we made a commitment to our Lord to serve him, and some of what we need to do in the Lord’s service costs money, like repair and maintenance of this building, having staff, paper, purchasing electricity, heating and cooling systems, equipment, etc. all of which we take for granted to be available for our use. We also assume that there are ministries that will continue to exist to serve others. This is also true, and it too costs money to provide services, to the homeless, the hungry, the sick, food for the Eucharist, for our fellowship, to equip Sunday School, the Youth Ministry, to make copies of lessons we read on Sunday, etc.

What does stewardship have to do with all of this? Well, let’s go back to the beginning, to Genesis 1:28. Having created humankind, “God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God has given us charge over all of creation.

We have been given the task of managing God’s created order, to take care of it (air, water, animals, and the land) so that it flourishes. But we have not been given control over each other. We are each held to account for the discipline and control we exercise over ourselves. Because the community is the Body of Christ, we must act in concert with one another, not in opposition to one another. Christ is whole and one with God not fractured and fragmented. All Christians are called to one faith, one baptism, in service to one Lord. So while we may not agree on some things, it is what we share in common that is critical. To meet us, Christians, others should be meeting Christ.

We sometimes get things mixed up and place the emphasis on the process, or the order of the process, but not on the end of all of our work, reconciliation with God. We can not get to this final goal, unless we are reconciled with one another. We have a lot of work to do. Part of that work is how we manage what God has entrusted to us; simply, all of creation. We are called to manage creation, and see that it all grows, not simply the parts we think should grow. We are charged to create an environment that helps all of creation to grow and to be vibrant. We have been given the necessary tools to do this, our minds, talents, God’s favor (blessing), guidance, and support. We have been given time, health, and material resources to help make this happen.

We being part of the created order have been given these things for our own use and to be used in service to others. The bible tells us that the part of the gifts we have been given, meant for the Lord’s service is the tithe, or 10% of what we have been given. We sometimes think about this and it feels like an awful lot, but s someone once said to me, “If I have been given 100% of what I have and I only am asked to return 10%, I keep 90% or the lion’s share for what I want and need. When we accepted life, and belief in Jesus Christ we accepted to do the work Jesus left us. Stanley Hauerwas, a great Methodist preacher, teacher, and author has put it this way, “The work of Jesus was not a new set of ideals or principles for reforming or even revolutionizing society, but is the establishment of a new community, a people that embodied forgiveness, sharing and self-sacrificing love in its rituals and discipline. In that sense the church is not to be the bearer of Christ’s message, but to be the message.” To experience life with us must be such that another experiences Christ himself and not an aberration.

As Jesus’ life was the message from God, so we are called to live that message in our lives. We are called to be stewards, God’s Stewards. Our work is to offer ourselves and what we have in service to God as managers of all that has been given us. It is full time work, keeping an eye on creation, seeing to it that the right environment is created and maintained, one that will allow all to not only live but thrive!

In our lessons today we find what I think is a common thread, namely that we be unswerving in our discipleship. Jesus’ disciples offered their lives to be stewards of, and servants of the gospel. They did this not simply on the days of worship, but 24/7/365, and some even gave up their physical lives in obedience to Jesus’ command to “follow me”. In the Hebrew text we heard a snippet of the story of Queen Esther who basically risked her life on behalf of her people. They, the Jews, were in trouble because of a man’s prejudice, and not because they had done something wrong. Queen Esther, in taking the risk, saved the lives of her people and her own life as well. Here is an example of “sacrificial giving.”

In the letter of James to the Church, we find the author exhorting the people to, “be there for each other; to “stand up for others”. Being present to and for one another is so important, that the author points out that if a person brings another back from their wanderings away from the gospel (the way of sin), they may thereby be the cause of saving that person’s soul, and cover a “multitude of sins.” Here is an example of forgiveness in action.

Mark tells of the anonymous healer who exorcises a demon from a man; giving a drink of water in Jesus name places one in line for a reward. Making oneself available and responsive to the needs of others is part of our task of stewardship. Mark has Jesus go on to say, using some grisly metaphors, that we must get rid of whatever it is that keeps us from serving God with our whole being. What is it in our lives that keep us from serving Christ? What must we sacrifice in order that we are free to serve our Lord? What causes us, or another to stumble?

The seriousness with which Jesus treats these questions is shown in the metaphors he uses about cutting off body parts. While Jesus did not mean this literally, it does underscore his expectations that we will examine ourselves to learn what it is that interferes with our loyalty and obedience to God, and asking our Lord’s help do something about them to clear them away. How do we live Jesus’ message, and not simply talk about it? Where is the generosity in our daily lives? What have we done with the opportunities we have been given to make sure we include and not exclude others? I don’t mean just the most blatant exercise of exclusion, but the more subtle ones, when we avoid someone in order not to have to participate with them in some activity, or even to talk with them; when we hold ourselves in such high esteem we think there are others who are “less than”; when our focus seems to be criticizing others, pointing out their faults, but we are blind to our own faults, and never seem to have an encouraging word for someone else.

The disciple John reports to Jesus that he and the other disciples tried to stop an anonymous healer from exorcising the demon from another man, in Jesus’ name. Shortly before this encounter, the disciples had failed to exorcise a demon when asked to do so, yet they complain about a man who has successfully accomplished what they had failed to do, in Jesus’ name. John is now acting like there is an inner circle of which this man is not a part and is not invited. Jesus will not have any part of this. He says to his disciples, “anyone who heals in my name cannot be against us.” so why indeed should there be a rebuke instead of an invitation to come and join them?

Jesus goes on to say, “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believes in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.” These are harsh words, but they do show us how serious Jesus is about exclusion on any grounds. We who profess to believe need to be aware of ourselves and the message we give to others about their participation in the faith in the community. Jesus says all are welcome, no exceptions. We need not spend our time trying to weed people out, but leave that up to God. We are called to be stewards, brothers and sisters in Christ, but not judges of one another.

Stewardship then is offering ourselves to God in service and using the gifts that we have been given to carry out that service; using them wisely and effectively. We are not called to horde what we have, but to use it. We are to be present with and to one another, not simply take what we need and move on, but to give as well in response to others’ needs. We are called to be generous, not only in our spirit, but in our giving, our time, our talent, our treasure. We are called to be a community whose corporate life actually embodies the message of the gospel, and not simply talks about it.

Seeing us, the church should be seeing Christ himself; seeing our inclusiveness in our hospitality and welcome to others; to see our sharing in our generous giving for the assistance of the homeless, the hungry, the victims of hurricanes, and other natural disasters; seeing our forgiving spirit when we are injured, and in seeking forgiveness when we have injured another. Our enemies are smug indifference and indignant divisiveness. When we hold ourselves a part from one another, content to point the finger of accusation, but not lend a hand of assistance and forgiveness, we do injury to the Body of Christ. Then we act contrary to our mandate to be good stewards and to be help mates of one another. We reverse the command to be fruitful and multiply, for indignant divisiveness causes others to contract and diminish.

I leave you with a quote from another part of scripture, 1Peter 4:10, “As each has received a gift, employ it for another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”

Amen