2 Samuel 24:18-25 On that day Gad went to David and said to him, "Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." So David went up, as the LORD had commanded through Gad. When Araunah looked and saw the king and his men coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" "To buy your threshing floor," David answered, "so I can build an altar to the LORD, that the plague on the people may be stopped." Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. O king, Araunah gives all this to the king." Araunah also said to him, "May the LORD your God accept you." But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the LORD answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
Matthew 14:13-21 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food." Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered. "Bring them here to me," he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Christian Stewardship - Part 4
Recap
- So once again, let’s look back.
- We’re looking at stewardship through the lens of our membership pledge.
- Under the heading of prayer, we learned that a Christian steward is prayerful, content and trustworthy.
- When we looked at our presence for God and the church we found that a Christian Steward is loyal, obedient and sacrificial.
- And, last week we found that a gifted Christian Steward is generous, grateful and sharing.
- On that note, does anyone have a thought or discovery from last week’s Scriptures?
- (Allow for Feedback)
- Well, before we get into today’s message, there’s a story that I want you to hear.
- Let’s call it a cautionary tale.
- Charles Paul Conn writes about an actual experience one man had in the Deep South.
- He says, “When I lived in Atlanta several years ago, I noticed in the Yellow Pages, in the listing of restaurants, and entry for a place called the The Church of God Grill.
- The peculiar name aroused my curiosity and I dialed the number.
- A man answered with a cheery, ‘Hello! Church of God Grill!’
- I asked how his restaurant had been given such and unusual name, and he told me:
- ‘Well, we had a little mission down here, and we started selling chicken dinners after church on Sunday to help pay the bills.
- Well, people liked the chicken, and we did such a good business, that eventually we cut back on the church service.
- After awhile we just closed down the church altogether and kept on serving chicken dinners.
- We kept the name we started with, and that’s Church of God Grill.’”
- Now why do I tell you this story?
- Because, whatever we focus on, we begin to prioritize.
- Maybe, if we’re not careful, like the Church of God Grill, our focus could lead us to cut back on our service to God, our love for Him, or our loyalty to Him
Service
- So let’s talk about that fourth thing we pledge, service.
- I didn’t feel the need to look this one up.
- I think that if you’ve been in the church long enough, you’ve got an idea what service is.
- Maybe you serve God by serving on a church committee.
- Maybe it’s cleaning up around the church or working with the youth.
- While we’re on the subject, I’d like to offer two service ideas for you to consider.
- The first is a work day.
- In the spring…
- The second you may call a witness ministry.
- Do you know that the church has a sign?
- Do you know that we can change the message on the sign?
- (Elaborate it)
- Why serve?
- Richard Foster puts it this way in his book “Celebration of Discipline.”
- Self-righteous service comes through human effort.
- True service comes from a relationship with the divine Other deep inside.
- Self-righteous service is impressed with the "big deal."
- True service finds it almost impossible to distinguish the small from the large service.
- Self-righteous service requires external rewards.
- True service rests contented in hiddenness.
- Self-righteous service is highly concerned about results.
- True service is free of the need to calculate results.
- Self-righteous service picks and chooses whom to serve.
- True service is indiscriminate in its ministry.
- Self-righteous service is affected by moods and whims.
- True service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need.
- Self-righteous service is temporary.
- True service is a life-style.
- Self-righteous service is without sensitivity.
- It insists on meeting the need even when to do so would be destructive.
- True service can withhold the service as freely as perform it.
- Self-righteous service fractures community.
- True service, on the other hand, builds community.
- We are all called to serve.
- Jesus taught us the self abasing nature of true service when he washed the disciples’ feet.
- Our faith is defined by our service.
- How are we serving in a way that glorifies God and the Church?
Compassionate
- So let’s get into those worksheets.
- The first point, a Christian steward is compassionate.
- You know, I never cease to be thrilled at the heart of Abraham Lincoln.
- There is a story of two women, relatives of General Lou Wallace who came to the White House when Lincoln was president asking about General Wallace.
- He had been involved in a vicious battle and they wanted to make sure he had survived.
- After learning that he had survived they spoke rather glibly of their gladness.
- There had been a casualty in the battle named Wallace but they were thankful that it was not "our Wallace."
- Lincoln responded soberly, "Yes, but it was somebody’s Wallace, wasn’t it?"
- Compassion.
- Think about the idea for a moment.
- What is compassion?
- Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.
- So says dictionary.com.
- In layman’s terms, it’s hurting for someone who’s hurting.
- It’s a passion to help relieve suffering and pain in others because we identify with it.
- When you see the suffering of others, are you moved?
- More importantly, are you moved to action?
- In our second scripture reading this morning, we see Jesus moved with compassion.
- The people were hungry.
- Jesus fed them.
- Reflect for a moment on your own sense of compassion.
- Let’s move on.
Loving
- Second point, a Christian Steward is loving.
- Loving, one could preach for years on this one subject and not exhaust the possibilities.
- But specifically, when we think of service and love,
- we must come back to that example that Jesus presents to us in John 13.
- Loving service is doing for someone else without expectation.
- Loving service is serving others because that’s what Jesus did.
Responsible
- Again, let’s move to point three.
- A Christian Steward is responsible.
- There’s a story I once heard about a pastor who once made an investment in a large piece of ranch real estate which he hoped to enjoy during his years of retirement.
- While he was still an active pastor, he would take one day off each week to go out to his land and work.
- But what a job!
- What he had bought, he soon realized, was several acres of weeds, gopher holes, and rundown buildings.
- It was anything but attractive, but the pastor knew it had potential and he stuck with it.
- Every week he’d go to his ranch, crank up his small tractor, and plow through the weeds with a vengeance.
- Then he’d spend time doing repairs on the buildings.
- He’d mix cement, cut lumber, replace broken windows, and work on the plumbing.
- It was hard work, but after several months the place began to take shape.
- And every time the pastor put his hand to some task, he would swell with pride.
- He knew his labor was finally paying off.
- When the project was completed, the pastor received a neighborly visit from a farmer who lived a few miles down the road.
- Farmer Brown took a long look at the preacher and cast a longer eye over the revitalized property.
- Then he nodded his approval and said, "Well, preacher, it looks like you and God really did some work here."
- The pastor, wiping the sweat from his face, answered, "It’s interesting you should say that, Mr. Brown.
- But I’ve got to tell you -- you should have seen this place when God had it all to Himself!"
- Responsibility is a big thing isn’t it?
- Have you ever been afraid of responsibility?
- Ever been worried about the responsibility that you already have?
- James Alexander Thom wrote the following on the fear of responsibility:
- Have you ever had to paint some roof trim, high up?
- You get halfway up that 36-foot extension ladder and you start wondering about the ladder, its footing and your body weight.
- You stop and hug the ladder, looking neither up nor down.
- Your left leg begins a ridiculous but uncontrollable shuddering.
- At length you conquer that particular rung and inch your way to the next, then the next.
- Finally you’re at the top, clinging for your life.
- How can you take one hand off the ladder to use the paintbrush?
- But you do.
- Tight as a fiddle you begin.
- The sky is clear.
- The sun is nice.
- The thirsty wood soaks up the paint.
- You whistle and think positive thoughts and do a good job and forget about the height.
- You’ve learned an important lesson of life from this.
- No matter what higher responsibility you take on, its scary, very scary, until you start working.
- Being a Christian, is a responsibility.
- We all know it.
- We all know that as soon as someone in the workplace or a new friend finds out we’re Christian, they look at us differently.
- There’s behavioral responsibility that comes with this Christian thing.
- And it’s an even greater responsibility when we look at Christian stewardship.
- God has entrusted us not only with ourselves.
- He’s trusted us to take care of each other, and our environment, and the properties and assets that he’s blessed us with.
- That’s a huge amount of responsibility.
- And just when you think that you’re not up to that responsibility, remember that God doesn’t expect us to bear the load alone.
- He’s always there to help us out.
- The question is, are you even trying to live up to your responsibility as a Christian and a Steward?
- Well, I suppose that you’ve gotten used to me dropping the gauntlet each week.
- This week’s no different and yet it a bit different.
Challenge - Consistency
- I’m not asking you to look at the Scriptures this week.
- They’re there, you can take them home and feel free to do your own research.
- No, my challenge for you this week is more far-reaching.
- We’ve covered a lot of ideas over the last four weeks.
- I hope that you’ve taken this seriously.
- But I cannot end this series without re-connecting with our own local church.
- What does it all mean to our church?
- What does it mean on day-to-day basis in this congregation to be loving, trustworthy, responsible, obedient, sharing, sacrificial, compassionate, prayerful, content, loyal, generous and grateful?
- It’s a lot to swallow.
- My mentor once asked me this question, “How do you eat an elephant?”
- Exactly, one bite at a time.
- So for this year, as we try together to be better Christian Stewards, let’s plan to do one thing.
- The idea for this year will be consistency.
- If you are serving on a committee, make the meetings consistently.
- Come out to worship consistently.
- And don’t forget that the church still has bills when you’re not here.
- You’ll be getting offering envelopes this year just as always.
- If you’re not able to be here on a Sunday, make sure that your giving is still consistent.
- I’m not asking you to tithe.
- I’m not even asking for any one to increase his or her giving at all.
- Don’t.
- Just be consistent.
- God loves a cheerful giver but God loves a consistently cheerful giver even more.
- May God bless each and every one of us as we internalize these thoughts and act upon the gracious blessings of our Lord and Savior.
- AMEN
