Opening Remarks and Introduction
Tonight, we start a new sermon series on stewardship. Now, stewardship seems to be one of those difficult subjects to talk about, because it always seems to center on how we spend our money. But, stewardship is really much more than dollars. Instead of looking at stewardship as how we spend our money, let’s look at it this way instead. How do we manage our resources?
Like the servants in our lesson tonight, God entrusts us to manage resources that are under our control. What do you manage in your life? When I think of what I manage, I think of managing my yard-work and the height of my grass, managing my calendar and schedule at work, managing my family budget… the list of things that we manage is unending and I’m sure each of us could come up with a different list of things. But for tonight, I’d like to look it this way as the three Ts of stewardship:
- How we spend our time
- How we spend our talents
- How we spend our treasure
1. We are stewards of our time
So, let’s start with the most limited of the resources under our control, our time. With the minutes, hours, and months that we have to spend on things, how we manage our schedule shows what we value. After all, we can earn more money, we can learn a new skill, but we can’t create more time. We can also save up our treasure and spend it later, or use a talent at a time that we choose, but we are spending time continuously. That makes time the most valuable resource that we have. Once we spend our time, that time is gone, there’s no way to get that time back, and for all of us, our time on earth is limited.
With a fixed amount time, we have to use what we have in constructive ways. One of the problems is that we’re not always as good with our time as we probably should be. Sometimes, we make common mistakes by spending too much time on things that just don’t matter, like hobbies and recreation… and other times we don’t spend enough time on things that really do, like taking care of others. For me, sometimes I get tied up doing things that aren’t really important, like e-mail and Facebook, and end up losing track of time. Then I end up wondering where all the time went. Anyone else done this before? Sometimes, simple things like this can take up a significant amount of time… then I can’t do the things I want to get done. Sometimes, we need to take a look at our priorities, and figure out where our time should be spent.
Let’s look at it this way for a moment. If we knew, exactly, when our days on earth would end… if we knew when God would call us home to join Him in the heavenly realm… would it change how we managed our time? Would it change our priorities on how we spend our time? It’s very possible that we would find a way to complete the tasks that were most important, do the things that mattered most and take care of those things that we truly love and care about.
But, we don’t always view time that way. We procrastinate and leave for tomorrow something that we should be doing today. We prioritize mundane and unimportant tasks and leave more important duties undone, unfinished, and sometimes even un-started.
Sometimes, we’d rather sit on the couch or lie in bed rather than do what we know needs to be done. We’d rather be a spectator of the events around us, instead of a participant making the best use of our time. In our lesson today, the third servant didn’t use his time well. He “went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money”. (Matt 25:18, CSB) He took the lazy way out instead of being a faithful steward. He chose to spend zero time on the task at hand and buried the opportunity, rather then embracing it. He was a poor steward, because he chose to ignore what he knew needed to be done… And sometimes, we might be just like that servant… Like that servant, we don’t always see the best way to manage our time either.
Now, some things will always seem to became the priority. There are some things that we just have to do to continue in our lives. We have to sleep and that takes up several hours of our daily routine. We have to eat, we have to get dressed, and yet, we still have to go to work and earn a living so that we can sustain ourselves. But even after those necessities are taken care of, we still have time to manage.
We can learn a lot by looking at how Jesus spent His time: preaching and teaching, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry. Jesus understood the value of time, and He didn’t waste any of it. We need to do the same. We need to be good stewards by sharing some of our time to care for those in need, especially those that God places in and around our lives.
But we also should be managing our time to build-up our relationship with God through prayer, and reading of His word. We spent the last few weeks talking about prayer and how that can impact our lives in positive and fulfilling ways. That’s where some of our time should be used. Without the proper priorities, we may spend our time foolishly, and leave out some of the most important things.
2. We are Stewards of Our Talents
Time is certainly one of the critical resources that we manage. But it’s not the only one. A second resource is our talents. It’s important to understand that we are not all created with the same gifts. What talents do you have? Some of us may be the star quarterback on our school team, born with the gift of athletic ability. Others may be a brilliant doctor curing the world’s diseases with learned skill through long, hard hours of studying. Still others may be humble servants with the spiritual gift of teaching, clearly explaining the truths in the Bible. We all have different gifts. Some of us are born with these amazing abilities, and others learn them over time. None of us are the same, nor should we be. Look how Paul captured it in his letter to the Romans. He wrote:
4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; 7 if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity, leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:4-8, CSB)
This passage is a direct discussion of using our gifts, talents and ability as one body in Christ. Here’s another way to look at this… we’re supposed to use our God given talents to serve His kingdom with the gifts that He first gave us. Our purpose is not to please ourselves with our amazing talents, but to use those talents to serve Him, and to serve others.
But just like time, sometimes we squander the gifts that we’ve been given. Sometimes, we focus our gifts on ourselves, rather than those around us. Sometimes, we focus on selfish desires and pride, and fail to realize that there may be some around us who can’t take care of their needs. There are broken and desperate people all around us that could use our talents to help.
All of us might be able to think of some charity event, disaster relief, or food drive that needed a few more workers or a few more hands. Perhaps an effort was organized to help those who had been devastated by a storm, like Katrina, Harvey, or the more recently Michael. Other events such as unexpected health problems, financial catastrophes, and deaths can devastate families. Sometimes, we rally quickly to ensure the needy are taken care of. But sometimes, we allow others to do the work when we are just as able and capable of serving. Sometimes our unwillingness to be part of the team leave the effort one person down with less accomplished than what should have been. It isn’t just the talented that need to serve, but the able. If we’re not willing, the work may never get done, no matter how talented we may be.
In our message today, three servants were given different values of money to care for while the master was away…each was given differing amounts of money depending on their ability. But each had a different willingness to use those abilities.
The first two spent time and talents to double their investments. But the third was not as faithful with his gifts. Two different ways to approach their jobs as stewards of their master’s money. Two were willing… one was not.
Which servants do we act like when we approach the use of our talents for God’s kingdom? Where do our motives lie? Sometimes, we know what needs to be done, and we’re excited to get involved. Sometimes we get right to work. Other times, we may be hesitant to get involved, and the task never even gets started.
Perhaps we see the opportunities around us and choose to make a difference. Other times, we may ignore the needs we see. Where are we today? Are we investing the gifts that God has given us so that others receive something greater? Or are we burying our gifts in the sand? We all have decisions to make with how we share our talents.
3. We are Stewards of Our Treasure
So, we talked about time and talents, now I’d like to talk about the third resource that we have to manage, our treasure. Now, treasure is not limited to our cash on hand, our savings balance or our retirement accounts. Treasure includes our possessions. What do you own? Treasure really includes everything that we can touch. In Psalm 24 David wrote, “The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord” (Psalm 24:1, CSB) So, how do we view the things that we’ve spent money on? Do we own these possessions? Or do we manage them on God’s behalf?
Well, everything we have is a gift from God. Look at what Moses wrote, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’ 18 but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm his covenant He swore to your fathers, as it is today. (Deuteronomy 8:17-18, CSB) All of our blessings are gifts from God. They’re all treasures. But, they don’t belong to us; they belong to Him.
The truth is, we all enter the world with nothing, and we leave with nothing as well. Whether we’re rich or poor, we should all be content with what we have. But, we sometimes tend to pursue the American dollar and look to build up our worldly wealth. The love of money can become a problem rather than how we spend the gracious gifts of abundance that we have. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10) Sometimes, we need to be less focused on the dollars and cents, and more concerned about the benefits of generosity, charity, and love. We should use our treasure to love people, rather than love our treasure instead of people.
Considering where many of us live, our challenge may not be how to pay for the next meal, or take care of the daily living expenses. In fact, some of us may forget that there are those around us that live paycheck-to-paycheck and don’t know how they’re going to pay that next utility or medical bill. Not everyone is worrying about that next iPhone or a new car. As stewards of God’s gifts that He first gave us, we need to open our hearts and respond with grace and compassion when the need arises. We need to be ready to bless those that need, just like Jesus shared Himself when we needed a savior. Jesus gave it all: His time, His talent, and His treasure. Certainly, we can give back some.
4. Conclusion
The blessings of using our time, talents and treasure are no less than managing the gifts that God first gave us. We’re not owners of these resources, but stewards managing them. In the case of the three servants, two were faithful while one didn’t take his master’s business seriously. It was their attitudes and how they managed what was available to them that made all the difference.
Jesus addressed how our hearts should be aimed when He spoke to an “expert in the law”. When this expert was asked what was written in the law, he answered “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27, CSB) and Jesus agreed with him. These two simple rules seems to answer so many questions. Love is where we should be managing our time, our talent and our treasure. No matter how big, or how small, we are all stewards of the gifts that God has given us and our love is what will ensure that our attitude stays in line with what God’s will is for us. Generosity, charity and love, that’s what stewardship is all about.
A few weeks ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the J2e3, Jesus to Everyone, Everywhere, Everyday, mission conference. I really enjoyed that conference, and enjoyed some presentations that I didn’t expect. One of those presentations was one which I believe demonstrates what the three Ts are all about.
Pastor Dave Murillo and St. Paul Lutheran Church are doing some amazing work in the South-side of San Antonio and have started a ministry called Laundry Love. The church sits in a part of town that’s struggling financially. People don’t have the money they need to take care of medical bills, and can’t make a good impression for a new job because they can’t afford to wash their clothes to attend a job interview. So, the church took it as a mission opportunity to serve the local community. Each month, they have a day where they bring pizza, games for the kids, and pay for laundry for anyone that shows up. Several members of the congregation are there to fellowship and spend time with anyone that shows up. Through a simple act of washing clothes, they found a way to reach out and fill a need in their local neighborhood. What was looked at very skeptically at first, is now seen as a service. The church is now known as the laundry church and they are reaching the lost who have not entered a church in over 35 years. That’s a type of service that we can choose to spend our time and energy in a constructive way, serving God and His people.
