Believe Week 9 - Stewardship Series

Believe 9 - Stewardship

Psalm 24:1-2 / Luke 12:41-48

November 16, 2014

I think most of us who have lived a little bit of life, basically anyone who is in the working world . . . I think you would agree with the fact that life is not necessarily easy. Not only is it not always easy, we may find ourselves envious of the younger folks. After all, many of them don’t have the same problems we have. It seems that the more we work and acquire stuff, the more we find ourselves in some type of struggle.

When you consider the days when you owned practically nothing? Wasn’t life a little easier? You had less concerns. I know it was true for me. I had wants, but if I didn’t have something I couldn’t worry about it. Then I went to college, got a job, moved out, got a condo. Had a mortgage. My first mortgage was at 15.5%. I now had bills to pay, a car to pay for, clothes to buy for work. New concerns and issues invaded my life. I didn’t ask for them. I wanted money and a job. Probably in that order, too. When my light fixture broke, I had to fix it, and blew the circuits. And on and on it went.

The responsibilities grew and then I got married. Of course, I didn’t have to fix anything there. Now it was Debbie’s job to do the fixing! Then we had children, and new responsibilities came and will forever remain. We bought a house, had new toys we had to buy and keep up; and it never ends. At least is seems that way. It seems the more we own, the more we get, the more complicated life becomes.

David tells the following in Psalm 24 ~

1 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

David is pretty clear about who is the owner and creator of everything. As the NIV translates this passage, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” That pretty much sums it up. Everything is the Lord’s! While we may admit that, it’s kind of disconcerting. We strive for control and power over our lives, and it often starts when we are very young.

One day a dad wanted to do something special with his 5 year old son. He asked him what he wanted to do right now! The boy said, “I want McDonald’s French Fries.” His father said, “OK, let’s go!”

They got into the car and started toward McDonald’s. The boy could taste the fries before they even reached McDonald’s. His Dad made the order, and the boy’s heart pounded when his Dad said super size it.

The dad was thrilled to see his little boy so happy over something so simple. He decided to join in the fun. He reached over to get a couple of the boys fries.

To his surprise, his son quickly put his arms around his fries, pulled them toward himself and said, “These are mine.” His dad was shocked. He couldn’t believe it.

The dad was thinking, my boy doesn’t understand I am the source of those French fries.

At the counter, I was the one who gave the cashier the money. I did not give him the size he was expecting, but something much bigger and better. Yet, he’s talking about his fries.

Not only was I the source of the French fries, he doesn’t realize I have the power to take all the fries despite his protests. Or if I wanted to, I could go back to the counter and bring him so many fries that he could never eat them all. He also doesn’t understand, “I don’t need his French fries. I could go back to the counter and get as many fries as I wanted.”

As the Dad thought about it, one or two fries really wouldn’t have made much of a difference for him that day. What he wanted most of all was for his son to invite him into the wonderful little celebration the dad made possible for his son. He wanted his son to be willing to share the very blessing he had provided.

As we look at week 9 of Believe, our conversation is kind of a tough one, it’s about STEWARDSHIP! We have to realize that everyday God takes us to McDonald’s and beyond. He does that on a very regular basis.

God blesses us. He blesses you and me. He’s given all of us French fries. Some have small bags, others medium, others large and some super size. Some are McDonald’s, some are Burger King, some are Rally’s. Some are curly, like Wendy’s. Some are like 5 Brothers! Some are cottage, you get the point! Lunch anyone?