If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve noticed that I’ve skipped over some passages as we’ve made our way through the Sermon on the Mount. As I mentioned at the time, I wanted to come back and deal with all those passages together since they all deal with our stewardship in the kingdom of heaven. So over the next five weeks, we’re going to examine that important aspect of our lives as Christ followers. In addition to Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, we’ll be pulling in a number of other passages that will give us a more complete picture of the Biblical teaching about our stewardship.
Whenever a builder begins to construct a building, the most important part of the process is to lay a strong foundation. Without an appropriate foundation, no matter how well the rest of the building is constructed, it won’t last when it faces outside forces like weather. I still remember when we were living in Albuquerque and Public Service Company of New Mexico was building a new office building right across the street from where I often worked. They literally spent more time working on the foundation than they did with the rest of the construction on this multi-story building.
The same thing is true when it comes to our stewardship in the kingdom of heaven. We must take the time required to build a strong foundation before we move on to the rest of what we’ll learn. So this morning, I’m going to take a number of passages from throughout the Bible and use them to help us develop that foundation. We’ll focus on four foundational principles today:
Foundational principle #1:
• God owns everything
If we miss this principle, then we will never be able to be faithful stewards. While I may possess money, other material possessions, talents, time and other assets, God owns them all.
An earthly example of this principle is a pawn shop. If someone needs money, they can take an item of value to a pawn shop. The owner of the pawn shop will loan that person a certain amount of money for an agreed upon time period at an agreed upon interest rate. The pawn broker takes possession of that item, but it still legally belongs to the owner and must be returned to the owner when the loan is repaid. It is only when the loan is not repaid that the item becomes the property of the pawn shop.
I’ll bet you never really thought of yourself as a spiritual pawn broker did you? But in a sense, that’s exactly how the Bible pictures us. Everything we have in our possession belongs to God. The only difference is that God never defaults so nothing ever becomes our property.
This principle is clearly developed in both the Old and New Testaments. Let’s begin with the words of the Psalmist:
The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
Psalm 24:1-2(ESV)
Paul later quotes this verse in his letter to the church in Corinth when dealing with the issue of meat that has been offered to idols.
For “the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.”
1 Corinthians 10:26 (ESV)
The Psalmist not only records the fact that everything is the world belongs to God, He gives a reason why that is the case. Since God is the creator of all, He is entitled to own it all.
We recognize this same principle in the business world with our patent laws. If a person invents or creates something, he or she is entitled to get a patent which gives them ownership of that creation and entitles that person to determine how that product may be used by others.
The reason that Jesus has the authority to give commands concerning our stewardship of that with He has entrusted to us is because He is the creator of all. Here is how Paul described Jesus’ role as creator in Philippians:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:15-17 (ESV)
As I pointed out earlier, this idea that God owns everything is the key to our stewardship in the kingdom. And we must do more than just acknowledge this fact with our words. We must truly believe this and then live our lives in a manner that is consistent with that belief.
But it’s not easy to do that is it? Those of you who have young children see this every day. What’s your child’s favorite word? My guess is that is probably “mine”. As parents we work hard to teach our children not to be so self-focused, but it’s not easy to do that because it goes against our human nature. And we don’t outgrow those tendencies as adults either. So we must make a conscious decision each day to consider everything we have as belonging to God.
Notice that I didn’t day, as I have heard others urge Christ followers to do, to turn ownership of your possessions over to God. Because you can’t do that. Whether you acknowledge it or not, everything is already His.
Foundational principle #2:
• God has appointed us to be stewards of what He owns
I’ve already used the words “steward” and “stewardship” quite a bit, so this would probably be a good time to define those words before we proceed any further.
“steward” =
one who manages another’s property, finances, or other affairs.
Stewardship, it follows, can be defined as follows:
“stewardship” =
the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care
Those definitions clearly are appropriate for our role in taking care of that which is owned by God.
In the illustration of a pawn shop that we used earlier, the pawnbroker is required to be a good steward of the property entrusted to his care. He must make sure that he protects that property against theft, breakage, wear and tear or anything else that would reduce its value. Once again this accurately demonstrates what our kingdom stewardship is to look like.
The principle of our stewardship of that which belongs to God was established very early on. We first observe God giving us that role in connection with the creation account in Genesis 1:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And 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 heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26-28 (ESV)
After all the rest of His creation, God then created man and tasked him with the stewardship of that creation. The word “dominion” in this passage is a word that means “to rule over”. It is the same word that is used elsewhere in Scripture to describe the rule of a king. But it also implies the kind of rule that protects that which is being ruled. So as God’s stewards we are called to protect and care for that which He has entrusted to us.
Not surprisingly, we find that same principle consistently demonstrated throughout Scripture, and Jesus spoke frequently of our responsibility as stewards. Next week, we’ll look a little deeper at the parable of the talents, but for our purposes this morning, let’s just look at the introduction to the parable:
For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
Matthew 25:14-15 ESV)
With these words, Jesus actually confirms our first two foundational principles. First, you’ll note that the property belonged to the man going on a journey. In this parable, that man obviously represents Jesus, who is just about to go to the cross, be raised from the dead and ascend to His Father’s side. But He will be coming back again some day. So the talents that were given to each man did not belong to them, but rather to Jesus.
Secondly, you’ll note that these talents are entrusted to each of the men for the purpose of their stewardship. The talents don’t belong to them, but they are given the responsibility to guard and care for them. And, as stewards, they are not to use these talents for their own benefit, but rather to advance the interests of the master. Our stewardship must be focused on advancing the kingdom of heaven and not using what has been entrusted to us for just our own benefit.
Foundational principle #3:
• We will be held accountable for our stewardship
Once again this principle is illustrated well by our pawn broker. He is required to keep accurate records of the items that are entrusted to him and he has to be ready at any point to make an accounting for those items. Not only is he accountable to the people who have entrusted their property to him, but he is also accountable to law enforcement and other governmental officials.
The whole concept of stewardship implies this idea of accountability to God for how well we take care of those things entrusted to us and how faithful we are in utilizing them for furthering His purposes. We’ll see this principle confirmed again next week, when we look at the Parable of the Talents in a bit more detail, but Paul also communicates this idea in his letter to the church at Corinth:
This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
1 Corinthians 4:1-2 (ESV)
As we’ll see in more detail in a moment, stewardship is not limited to our financial resources. Here, Paul is writing of stewardship of the gospel. But the clear implication is that those who have been entrusted with the gospel will be held accountable for how faithful they have been with that stewardship.
Obviously, we are not all entrusted with the same things. In the parable of the talents, one man was given stewardship over five talents, another over two talents and the third over only one talent. The implication is that…
o We are individually accountable for whatever God entrusts to us
I am only responsible to be a good steward with whatever God has entrusted to me. And in another of His parables, Jesus made it clear that more is expected from those who have been entrusted with much:
…Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
Luke 12:48 (ESV)
I’m convinced that if we would really embrace this idea, it would go a long way in preventing us from coveting the things that other people have. We would all be much better off if we would just focus on being faithful with what we have been entrusted rather than wishing we had more.
The writer of Proverbs penned some very wise words that are applicable here:
Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.
Proverbs 30:7-9 (ESV)
In effect, he is saying to God, just give me what I need. Don’t give me too much too handle because then I may get so enamored with what I have that I’ll ignore you and therefore not be a faithful steward. But don’t give me so little that I’ll be tempted to go out and get more using means that will also make me an unfaithful servant. The idea here is that we need to be content with whatever God has entrusted to us, whether that be little or much, and then do all that we can to be faithful to be good stewards with what we have.
Foundational principle #4:
• Stewardship is required in all areas of my life
There is a tendency in the church to only think of stewardship in terms of our money. So when the pastor announces that He is going to preach on stewardship, the first thought that pops into most of our heads is that we’re going to hear a bunch of messages on giving money to the church.
There is no doubt that the stewardship of our financial resources is important. Jesus did speak frequently about money and material riches. So we will appropriately be dealing with our finances quite a bit as we focus on stewardship during this five week series. But our stewardship is clearly not limited to just our money.
I’ve seen a lot of teaching on stewardship that very appropriately deals with stewardship in terms of three “T’s” – time, talent and treasure. And we’ll deal briefly with each of those this morning, but I’m also going to add one more item to that list and unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make it start with the letter “T”. So let’s quickly address each of these four areas in which God expects me to be a good steward:
o Time
This is actually one area where each day we are all entrusted with the exact same resource – 24 hours, or 1,440 minutes or 86,400 seconds. Obviously we all get a different number of those days over our lifetimes here on earth, but we all get the same amount each day. That time, as we have seen, is not our own. It belongs to God. Every moment of life that we have is a precious gift from Him that He entrusts to us to utilize in a manner that benefits His kingdom.
In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul provides us with some very wise counsel about how to be good stewards of our time:
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV)
Notice that we are instructed not to make good use of our time, but to make the best use of our time. There are many things that we all spend time on that are certainly not bad – they may even be good. But God desires that we use every minute for what is best.
Just as we find in most areas of our life, a balance is called for here. It is certainly appropriate to have time to work, to eat and sleep, and to have time for leisure and enjoyment. In fact, the Bible encourages us to do that so our bodies don’t wear out. But the problem that many of us have is that we allow those pursuits to rule our lives and set our calendars and let those good things crowd out the best use of our time – doing that which God has called us to do in order to advance His kingdom.
o Talents
Obviously we’re not talking here about the coins that are the subject of the parable of the talents, but rather the abilities which God has entrusted to each of us. This would include both those natural talents that many of us possess as well as the spiritual gifts that God gives to each follower of Jesus.
God does not bless us with those kinds of talents primarily for our own gain. While we often receive some personal benefit as a result of utilizing those gifts, as Paul points out they are primarily given for the benefit of the entire body, and therefore for the benefit of His kingdom.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (ESV)
Many of us utilize our talents in our jobs and we do benefit personally by earning a living by using those talents. But I’m convinced that God also wants us to view our work as a stewardship of those talents and abilities that He has entrusted to us. That means that we need to view our work as ministry which helps to advance the kingdom of heaven in some way.
Perhaps that is by meeting the needs of others with a product or service I provide or help provide. Perhaps that is by being a good role model to my co-workers or our customers so that I can be a positive influence in their lives. Perhaps it is by developing relationships with those around me so that I will earn the right to share my faith in Jesus with them. Or hopefully, it is all those things.
When we begin to view our talents in terms of good stewardship for the purpose of benefitting God and others, then I’m convinced that will completely revolutionize the way that we view our work.
o Treasure
This is where we most often focus when we deal with stewardship. And since we’ll spend some more time in this area over the next few weeks, we won’t tarry here.
The words of English pastor W. Graham Scroggie do a pretty good job of summarizing how we are to view the material possessions that God has entrusted to our stewardship:
There are two ways in which a Christian may view his money - How much of my money shall I use for God? or How much of God's money shall I use for myself?
o The gospel
This is that fourth area – the one that doesn’t start with the letter “T”. Earlier we looked at a couple of verses from 1 Corinthians 4 where Paul wrote to Christ followers about how they were to be faith stewards with “the mysteries of God”. He gives us some further insight into that concept in Ephesians:
For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles - assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.
Ephesians 3:1-3 (ESV)
Every Christ follower, like Paul, has been entrusted with the stewardship of the gospel. And like Paul, we have all benefited from other people who were good stewards of the gospel and who didn’t just keep it to themselves but shared it with us. God expects us to follow those examples and to be good stewards of the gospel as we develop disciples of Jesus. We need to do exactly what Paul encouraged Timothy to do with the gospel that had been entrusted to him:
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
2 Timothy 2:1-2 (ESV)
Over the next four weeks, we’ll continue to build upon the foundation that we’ve laid this morning. Since these are so crucial to what we’ll be learning, let’s review them one more time:
Foundational principle #1:
• God owns everything
Foundational principle #2:
• God has appointed us to be stewards of what He owns
Foundational principle #3:
• We will be held accountable for our stewardship
Foundational principle #4:
• Stewardship is required in all areas of my life
I pray that you’ll use this week to work on shoring up your foundation by studying and applying these four foundation principles. That way, your building won’t collapse as we build on this foundation in the weeks to come.
