Matthew 20:1-16
“Our Primary Stewardship”
By: Rev. Kenneth Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
A young preacher had just finished seminary and had taken his first appointment in the hills of Kentucky.
Wanting to be effective in his preaching ministry, he walked into the pulpit on his first Sunday and preached
on the evils of smoking.
When he finished his message, some of the church leaders met him at the door: “We’re a little surprised that
you would deal with the subject of smoking because nearly half of the state of Kentucky raises tobacco. You
might want to think twice about talking about tobacco from this pulpit.”
The preacher thanked them for enlightening him.
The next Sunday he came back and preached against liquor and drinking.
With great ferver, he preached on the ills of whiskey.
The same group met him at the door when he was finished.
They said: “We think we need to tell you that you ought to be careful about preaching against alcoholic
beverages, especially since nearly a third of our county distills whiskey.”
“I didn’t know that,” the preacher replied. “Thank you for helping me.”
He came back the next Sunday to preach a stirring sermon on gambling--in any shape or form, the
lotto, racehorses, or any other.
The same group met him after the service: “We think we need to tell you that over half of our county raises
thoroughbred racehorses, so you want to be real careful about talking about gambling from the pulpit.”
Being a quick learner, the next Sunday, the young preacher preached against the evils of scuba diving in
international waters!
Obviously this young preacher took the easy way out...but this is not what we are called to do as
Christians....
Ultimately, this is why Jesus was crucified....because He said things that made people uncomfortable or
upset.
And Jesus often used parables in order to help men and women see the great truths of the kingdom of God.
John H. Westerhoff the 3rd once said: “If you are not feeling very uncomfortable after you have read a
parable in the Bible, just assume that you did not get it. It’s function is to turn your life upside down and get you
very upset. And most people are not upset about parables. That means that they did not get it.”
Let’s take a look at the parable we read this morning from the perspective of stewardship.
First of all...what is stewardship?
Stewardship is simply the wise management of God’s resources.
Psalm 24 says: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
And as Christians, we are called to manage those resources.
So, stewardship is as much about living as it is about giving.
On Sunday, September 15th we at Parkview United Methodist Church are going to have Consecration
Sunday.
And during the weeks of August, I plan to preach a series of sermons concerning stewardship.
I want all of us to spend the summer in reflection and prayer....asking God to tell us and lead us and teach us
how we can become even better stewards for His Church.
When we joined the Church we promised God that we would be loyal to The United Methodist Church
(and locally to Parkview United Methodsit Church), and uphold it by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our
service....
....And I believe that God will hold us accountable by how well we upheld our end of that bargain...
....because it is our responsibility to always be reaching out to lost souls with the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
And the better we are at being good stewards by our prayers, our presence, our gifts and our service...the
more possible it is for us to be able to reach the world with what is our primary stewardship--the most valued
treasure of all--something we possess through the gift of faith--that is the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ
to those people who have not yet recieved it.
Stewardship--in a nutshell--is what a person does after he or she says, “I believe.”
In our parable for this morning, God the Father is portrayed as the owner of all things....
....and we are His managers.
The owner is God...
...The workers are us...
...The work is our calling....
....and the pay is the rewards we recieve for our faithfulness and productivity.
The problem in the parable is the attitude the people have about their money.....
....and wrong attitudes contribute to money problems in the church, but the solution to money problems is
not getting more money than someone else.
A little boy had two quarters, one for ice cream and one for the church offering.
Unfortunately, he accidentally dropped one of the quarters into the storm sewer.
“Well, Lord,” the boy said, “there goes Your quarter!”
The solution is not about quarters. The solution to money problems is developing the right attitude
toward money....
....and a right attitude toward money will affect every other area of our lives.
Rich Warren says that giving benefits his life in at least 7 different ways:
“Giving makes me more like God...
....Giving draws me closer to God...
....Giving breaks the grip of materialism...
....Giving strengthens my faith....
....Giving is an investment for eternity...
....Giving blesses me in return....
....Giving makes me happy!
And let’s face it, we were useless until we were found in the marketplace.
Life is a marketplace of people waiting for the opportunity to do something.
Every person has great potential which is waiting to be discovered.
The laborers in Jesus’ parable would have stayed in the marketplace all day if the landowner had not come
and given them a job.
The landowner’s call--like our call from God--was the beginning of their self-worth and their productivity.
And some of the workers complained: “You have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the
work and the heat of the day.”
They were complaining that they had worked all day and had endured the hot sun, but those who had joined
in the last hour got the same pay.
But in fact, if the landowner had not come to the marketplace and chosen them, they would have
received nothing!
We must all remember that the field belongs to God...not to us!
The places where we work, whether they are in the church, in the world, or in any other place of
ministry--they are God’s field!
And God has sent us into His field.
Jesus said, “I will build my church,” in Matthew chapter 16...
....and the possessive pronoun “my” tells us right off that the Church belongs to Him.
And the fruits of the harvest belong to God as well...not to us.
When we work for Jesus Christ, we must remember that salvation is a free gift from Him.
Too often people get possesive, and think that the church--the Sunday school classes, the Bible studies, the
ministries, and the converts belong to us, but it is God who is the Lord of the harvest!
It’s not only His field--it’s also His harvest!
We are the workers....
...and we are among many who serve the owner--who is God.
The apostle Paul describes us as a part of the body of Christ....
....and as a part of the body we must always work in harmony--never in competition!
Because our mission is one--our mission is to “Go, make disciples of all nations.”
I’m afraid that prosperity, health, and wealth preaching has cost the church a great deal.
The famous PTL leader and former health-wealth-and- prosperity preacher Jim Baker states in his book
that “When it comes to the health, wealth, and prosperity
message, I was wrong.”
Some preachers try to convince their audience that if they give to get they will have a wonderful life.
But there is nothing more un-Scriptural than that!
A guy named Chuck Millhuff says, “You give to get, to give again.”
Some people think that dropping 10 percent of their income into the offering plate is like rubbing a
rabbit’s foot--that God will do something magical in return.
But God is not a guaranteed lottery....
...when people pay their tithe to God, it is an evidence of a changed attitude, a renewed spirit...
...they are giving to God out of gratitude, obedience, and worship....
...and in giving to God--their changed attitude produces other changes in their lives that will prosper
them spiritually and financially.
It’s part of the Christain Journey toward perfection and abundant Life in Christ.
And God judges us by our faithfulness--not by our success.
God wants us to do our best.
God...the owner of the field....knows that not every worker will produce the same, so he judges each
worker by his or her faithfulness.
If a person will do the best that can be done with the tools God has given them, God is satisfied with the
effort.
The worst thing we can do is to be nonproductive.
Workers were standing around the marketplace with nothing to do.
Wehn the landowner showed up, he asked the question, “Why have you been standing here all day long
doing nothing?”
God doesn’t want His people to be idle while there is a lot of important work to do in the field!
Some people think that they can boycott God’s work...
...that they can sit down on the job, or even strike....
...But God would ask them, “Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?”
How many of us have put up Parkview door-hangers, handed out invitation cards....
....How many of us have Parkview bumper stickers on our cars?....
....How many of us have been sharing our faith in Christ?
In the parable, teh landowner asks, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?”
Obviously, the answer is yes!
In our lives God can do with us what He pleases. It is our responsibility to yield to Him...
...to let Him guide us...
...to let Him direct us.
And the Good News is that God’s plans for us are good!
“I am generous,” the landowner reminded the workers.
God wants us to prosper.
“For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you.”
Now, sometimes we take the initiative out of God’s hand, because we don’t trust Him.
Our lack of faith in God’s goodness causes us to mistrust his purpose....
....but His purpose for us is good!
Now, we must demonstrate our productivity by our faithfulness.
It is not enough just to be put to work in the field.
We must be faithful, and we must please the owner.
We all must go beyond the call to merely beleive in Christ...
...we must demonstrate that faith by our faithfulness, preparation and service.
In the parable, the landowner went out into the marketplace and saw people standing there doing nothing.
“He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.”
So they went....
