I hadn't expected to write a second note on stewardship but when I finished my last article I had the strong sense that it wasn't quite "finished." And so I went back and read it again to ask, "What am I really trying to say here?" "What do I want you to consider about stewardship?"
Well since I wrote the article I have also prepared a sermon based on Matthew 25.14-30. The Parable of the Talents is a story Jesus tells about a "master" who goes on a journey and he leaves his "slaves" with large sums of money (talents) to manage. Upon the master's return each slave brings forth the fruit of his labor. The first two slaves went right to work and doubled the different amounts of money they had been charged with. The third slave quickly buried the lesser amount of money and upon the master's return gave the entire sum back. The master was joyful at the reception of the first two servant's effort, but was very displeased that the third man had done nothing.
I'm sure that much more can be taken from this passage, but the point that plucked my strings over and again was that each of the three servants are given a measure of money based on his "abilities." Even though the third servant was given a smaller portion he had the gifts to make the portion grow on behalf of his master.
Here's a distinction I want to clarify. The financial growth that the first two slaves worked for, was not for the lining of their own pocket. This story is not about what we call the "prosperity gospel." (The idea that if you follow God's rules, tithe, do good works, go to church, etc. that you will be rewarded with wealth. Often associated with televangelists.) Rather the increase that these two servants worked for was an increase of their master's household. And although the measure of growth is put in financial terms (talent=approx. 75lbs of gold or silver) I don't think that Jesus was as much concerned about the amount of money as he was concerned about what was done with what each person had been given according to his abilities.
In other words, as I said in my sermon, "What matters is what you do with what you have." Stewardship doesn't demand of you more than you are capable of doing. God does not demand more of you than you are capable of managing. And in terms of managing accounts for his Kingdom we have all been given some measure of financial gift that we can distribute faithfully.
If you bear the Name of Jesus on your forehead, from your lips and in your heart you are responsible for stewarding that portion of his bounty that he has entrusted to you. Each of you is responsible to look at what you take into your household, acknowledge that it is by God's grace that you have been given these things, and manage those resources faithfully.
It doesn't matter how much you take in. What matters is how you manage it. In my previous post on Stewardship one of the details I mentioned was counting thousands of tiny screws and shelf plugs. It seemed to me that detail was important; I think I know why. When you're sitting on a dirty wooden floor in an upstairs storage room and you have boxes and boxes of these pellet size plugs to run your fingers through, one plug or screw seems inconsequential.
However, it takes four of those plugs to hold up a shelf. When you're sitting on the living room floor putting the bookcase together and you've reached the last step. All you have to do is slide the shelves into the case. But you're missing just one of those plug do-dads. Well, that may seem to be the greatest injustice (for that moment) that you could experience. I've been there. I've ranted and cursed that person (whoever he was) who couldn't count just one more of those do-dads. The point is that no matter how small or large your resources are, they are important to you and to God.
When you're at the grocery store and the total comes in at $50, if you've only got $49 in your wallet, one dollar seems to matter. Do you buy the pack of gum, or put it back? Every little bit counts, even the little bits that you spend on coffee, pizza, a pack of gum.
Like the two faithful stewards who went out and doubled the resources we must take account of what we have and use it for the furtherance of the master's Kingdom. I don't mean simply the church. I mean the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus describes is a place that is here and is coming. As his disciples, we are people who live into that Kingdom. Some of the resources go to us. (In particular to our families) We need to eat, live under a roof, be educated. We need the basics. It's also okay to spend money on things that bring joy into our lives. I would make an argument that some indulgences encourage and sustain the sense of Joy of the Kingdom in our lives. But in conjunction we must respond faithfully to God's command to use resources for the building of the Kingdom in lives of others.
So, stewardship is not about the tithe (10% of our income). Stewardship is about all of it.
One final point. In my previous post I mentioned that the tithe I made to the church was around $45. That would have made my paycheck somewhere in the neighborhood of $450. It's been close to 20 years now since I laid that "tithe" envelope on the credenza and slipped out the door; I think it's interesting that I can tell you where that $45 went. It went to a church that might have spent it on the homeless families it housed or to make contributions to a local ministry that provided food and clothing to families in need. It may have gone to the church's electric bill, or the electric bill of someone who couldn't pay hers. It may have gone to support the priest and his family. (A fact not lost on me.)
As for the other $405 God only knows where it went.
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