Tilling the Soil of the Soul Thanksgiving Sunday 2006
The Spiritual Discipline of Stewardship
Often times when someone speaks of stewardship in a church setting, they talk about budgeting your money, and making sure you tithe – that you give 10% of your income back to God.
While this is not an unimportant part of stewardship, I want to take a broader view of stewardship today. I think that what I present today will be more broadly biblical than just a talk on tithing.
It’s appropriate that I speak about this on thanksgiving. The people of the Bible would likely have been most aware of their call to stewardship at the harvest festivals in Israel. It was the time that they would bring the first tenth of the harvest into the temple storehouses.
What is a Steward?
Steward and Stewardship are not words that you hear much outside of the church; unless you eat in restaurants fancy enough to have a wine steward. A steward was usually a slave in a household, they were the head slave, in charge of running the whole household. They usually had complete control over the finances, would buy and sell and do business in their master’s name. They we a bit of a cross between an administrator and an accountant.
There are some notable stewards in the Bible, Joseph being the most notable. You remember that after his brothers sold Joseph into slavery, Potiphar bought him. After seeing his diligence, wisdom, and the blessing of God on him, Potiphar put him in charge of his whole household. It says that “with Joseph in charge, (Potiphar) did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.”
After a visit to jail, Joseph becomes steward of all of Egypt.
So a steward can be the steward of a household, or of an entire nation. They are not the king, nor are they the master of the house, but they are in charge and they often have a great amount of leeway in the way that they run the affairs of the house or the nation. They do not own anything, but they do assign themselves an income to look after their own needs out of the resources that they are steward over.
Joseph is a good steward because both Potiphar’s house and the nation of Egypt prospered under his stewardship.
Jesus’ parables about bad stewards
Luke 12:42-46
The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, ’My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
I think that the best picture of a wicked steward in the media was the Steward of Gondor in the film “Return of the King.” He fit Jesus description to a tee, eating and drinking while the nation he had been put in charge of was being over run with enemies. He was none to happy when the rightful king showed up.
A good steward always remembers that they are a servant of the master, or the king and does all that he or she does with an eye to what is best for their master’s household or kingdom.
So what does that have to do with us?
To begin with, God placed all of humanity in the place of stewards over all creation when he said to Adam, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the Ground” - Genesis 1:28
All humanity are charged with being stewards of God’s creation, But Christians have a special call as stewards
Our Stewardship
Of the Land
Psalm 24
1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
In Leviticus, God explains to the people how they are to treat land ownership. He says that land is to never be permanently sold, but only leased and returned to it’s family of origin every 50 years. The reason he gives for this is Leviticus 25:23 "The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.”
An understanding that the land belongs to the Lord has many implications. I have heard that natives Canadians understand that the land does not belong to them, but to their descendants. Any decision that is made regarding the land must take into account how that decision will affect the 7th generation. We understand from the Bible, that the land does not belong to us, but to God. Any decision about the land must take into account what God would want for this land.
Would God want land mines planted on his land? Would he want pesticides used on his land? Would he want our garbage buried in his land?
You may feel powerless in these issues, you might not own any land yourself: so what does the stewardship of God’s land have to do with you?
The idea of our ecological footprint came up in the late eighties. It answers the question, how much land does it require to sustain my lifestyle? There are websites like myfootprint.org that will help you figure out how much of God’s land you are using to sustain your lifestyle. The reality is that if everyone on earth had our lifestyle, there is not enough land to go around!
As stewards of the land, we are supposed to look after our own needs, but we are to do it in a way that allows others to look after their needs. We are to look after our needs in such a way that others can look after theirs
Ezekiel 34:18
Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?
Our stewardship of the land will be judged on care for creation and equity of the benefits of the land.
Our Stewardship of Our Bodies
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
How does God want you to use the body that he has put you in charge of?
Our Stewardship of Money & Possessions – agreement in a family
If we belong to God, then all that we have belongs to God. In Israel, at the time of the harvest, the people would bring the first tenth of the harvest to the temple to give to God. It belonged to him. It was like the rent that the tenant farmer pays the Landlord. Michah reminds us that the tithe belongs to God and to not give it is stealing from God.
In the New Testament, we believe that all that we have belongs to God, but as a reminder of that, Giving 10% of it directly to him is a good guideline.
Paul tells the Corinthians, “Each of you should give what you have decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” - 2 Corinthians 9:7
I would say that if you are in a family, that you need to decide with your spouse what you should give – especially if they are not a believer. I think that God is more concerned with your gracious relationship with your spouse than money coming into the coffer.
Our Stewardship of the Gospel & the Grace & Gifts of God
1 Peter 4:10 says “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
It is amazing to think that we are stewards of the Gospel – that God has given us the responsibility of giving the gospel out!
We are also Stewards of God’s grace – the grace of God is supposed to flow through you!
If you are a Christian, you have Gifts given to the church through you. You might think that they are given to you, but they are actually given to us through you – you are the steward of the gift. It is like God gave you a bowl of candies and asked you to pass them out.
How to Steward
Know God
The way that we will know how to steward God’s belongings is to first know what God would have us do with them.
Many talks on stewardship that I’ve heard about in the church are really talks on budgeting with tithing thrown in. Usually the stewardship that they talk about with the rest of your money is running a very tight budget, not being frivolous and saving for the future. It often makes us good savers and poor tippers in the name of good stewardship These are good points, but they miss something of the character of the God who’s money we are stewarding.
If there is anything that we know about our God is that he is extremely generous, one could even say extravagant.
Joe & the stars
Ephesians 1:3-7
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding
Matthew 10:5-8
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ’The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
We are to steward the belonging of God in the same way that he has graced us with them
Gratitude
I think that the way to stop from becoming like the bad stewards in Jesus parable is a sense of gratitude. The bad stewards in Jesus Parables, & in The Return of the King have a sense of entitlement – that what they are stewards over should be and possibly is rightfully yours. When we foster an attitude of gratitude for all that God has given us, including our position as stewards, it keeps us from imagining that creation and money is ours for doing as we please.
Practices
Change your footprint – simplicity, the one ton challenge – give up something for lent that will help the environment
Change your Bankbook – tithing, open your hand
Listening – Graham Cook & the $200 bottle of wine
Change your Stomach – fasting – reminds you that your body is not yours
Change your Mind – Meditation – meditate on the grace of God, on his character, on our stewardship
