STEWARDSHIP #2/3
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
STEWARDSHIP OF THANKSGIVING
September 14, 2003
Text: Acts 11:19-30
Lois and I were in Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago, where I noticed
that phenomenon we witness every year: a lot of Christmas items were
already up in the seasonal part of the store. I can understand the need
for this early display in a craft and hobby store. After all, if a person
is going to make Christmas gifts and decorations, the she or he needs to
be able to get the appropriate supplies well ahead of time. Even though I
understand this rationale, however, the main thought that stuck with me
was the common refrain also heard every year: We cant even celebrate
Thanksgiving anymore before all the stores are decorating for Christmas!
And there I was, September 1st, looking at Christmas displays!
So I got to thinking that I would take the initiative and preach about
Thanksgiving in September! That way, I would beat some of the stores and
begin getting us ready for Thanksgiving before all of the Christmas
displays are up. Actually, there is an even better reason to preach about
thanksgiving: as Christians, we are to practice thanksgiving year round.
It never goes out of season, no matter which season of the calendar is
featured in store displays.
I am also referring to thanksgiving in conjunction with stewardship this
morning. Stewardship of Thanksgiving. I can do this because, as we know
concerning its Biblical application, stewardship is the management of the
masters household. Christians willingly become servants of God. As
Master, God gives His servants certain responsibilities. Stewardship is
one of those responsibilities. Thanksgiving is one of those household
resources. Being a thankful people is etched upon all of Gods children.
Like love, thanksgiving is pervasive throughout the Bible. Like love, we
can manage thanksgiving well or poorly. A key verse in these Scriptures
in Acts 11 about stewardship and thanksgiving is the last sentence of
verse 26, The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.
I recall reading a story about two pastors that helps illustrate some
meanings found in these verses. "Pastor Mark Thompson of Faribault,
Minnesota, suffered terrible knife wounds from an assailant in his home,
in October 1988. One of the many consequences of his difficult recovery
was being forced to miss watching his son Chris run in the state
cross-country championship meet. Pastor Thompson commissioned his brother
Merv to go in his stead. According to the account in the St. Paul Pioneer
Press & Dispatch, Mark told his brother, 'I can't be there to see Chris
run. So I want you there at the beginning of the race. Holler a lot...
Then at the end, I want you to really cheer loudly. And I want you to
make your voice sound like mine.' Merv heeded the advice, and Chris ran a
strong race, finishing second. Merv, also a pastor, discerned the
theological truth in the story. 'That's what Jesus wants us to do,' he
said. 'Make your voice sound like mine.'" (Leadership Journal, vol. X,
no. 3) These verses in Acts 11 are full of remarkable testimonies of
believers doing just that: "making their voices sound like Christs
voice."
Because of their witness in word and deed, it is most appropriate that
the name "Christian" be first coined and used at Antioch. Christian, a
diminutive form of Christ, means "little Christs." "The disciples were
first called Christians at Antioch." To be called such a name must have
meant that they were "making their voices sound like Christ's voice." In
many ways, they were.
The Christian community in that region was born out of the persecution of
a portion of the Christian Church in Jerusalem arising out of the
martyrdom of Stephen. Those Jerusalem Christians, such as Stephen, who
spoke in favor of a significant break with traditional Judaism were
targeted for persecution. Not surprisingly, many got out of town. When
they left, they took their faith with them - a faith that could be shared
with the "Greeks," or, in other words, those outside the Jewish faith. In
spite of the tragic beginning of this missionary enterprise, followers of
Christ still carried with them a thanksgiving response to the gospel
message. They still made their voices sound like Christ's voice.
Because of this kind of witness and testimony, "the Lord's hand was with
them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord." In
other words, revival was breaking out! The surprising part of it is that
revival was happening not because of great preaching, or a well-planned
crusade, or an in-depth study of the cultural demographics, but because
"...men from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and began to speak to the
Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus." Guided by
Barnabas, who was "a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith," and
Saul, of course later known as Paul, the ministry continued and grew.
Many people were brought to the Lord, and they continued in the faith
through meetings and teachings about Christ. It was during this time that
the greatest display of thanksgiving became evident.
Through a prophecy which later events bore out, the Antioch Christians
learned of a famine coming to Judea. They began preparing their relief
efforts early. History confirms that a famine did indeed strike the
region. Christian Bible scholar F.F. Bruce has written, "...in fact we
have the testimony of Suetonius that the principate of Claudius (A.D.
41-54) was marked by a succession of droughts and poor harvests. One of
the resultant famines was especially severe in Judaea... It was probably
about the same time that the church of Antioch sent to the leaders of the
Jerusalem church a sum of money which they had been collecting ever since
they heard the prophecy of Agabus. Their brethren in Jerusalem, they
knew, would not be able to afford the high cost of food in famine
conditions without such Christian aid." (F. F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of
the Heart Set Free, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Press, 1977,
p. 150).
In response to the story of the brothers and these Scriptures in Acts, we
might ask just how do we make our voice sound like Christ's voice? We do
well to ask that question, if by receiving an answer we mean business.
Here, in this same group of passages outlining the spread of the Gospel
and the building of the church body at Antioch, lies one response to the
question. Put some serious thought into verses 27-30, for they teach us
something significant about the nature of the Church of Jesus Christ,
about his disciples who are "little Christs," about our thankful response
to the Gospel of Christ, and about making our voices the same as Christ's
voice. On the basis of a prophecy, Antioch Christians began collecting a
gift to be given to their Christian brothers and sisters living in Judea.
On the basis of a prophecy, Gentile believers decided to receive a
special offering for people different in culture, race, and society who,
in all likelihood, they would never see! They took a collection for a
group of people who, in all likelihood, believed themselves to be
superior to the Gentiles! And they took it without any apparent regard to
any fears that might have arisen about their own needs in the event the
famine affected them! In three verses of Holy Scripture, we can learn a
lot about how to make our voices sound like Christ's voice. Let's look
seriously at what prompted the Antioch Christians to this kind of
response.
First, we could attribute it to a point of practicality. Whenever we
attend to the needs of others, we lessen the chances of unrest. Hungry
people do not make good neighbors; discontented people are not likely to
be peaceful citizens; people who live on the fringe of existence are not
likely to be people who are easy to get along with. Proverbs 15:1 alludes
to this: "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up
anger." This kind of motivation is useful and practical, but it is not
what motivated the Christians of Antioch.
A second reason that could be offered is that it is a natural instinct of
human beings to help others in distress. When a ship on the seas sends
out an SOS distress signal, every ship within reach, regardless of
nationality, gives up its normal journey and rushes to give aid. I
remember during one transit back from the Mediterranean that our
submarine was to participate in a search for a sailboat that had not been
heard from and was feared lost. During the Gulf Wars, American medical
personnel cared for Iraqi injured, just as we have cared for our enemies
in every war. Even in warfare, we try to maintain attitudes and actions
of compassion and concern for others. Each of us, for the most part, have
a natural bent to alleviate another's suffering if we can. And we, in
turn, generally expect that someone will do the same for us.
Yet, for all the good and worth that is found in this reason, it still
fails to adequately provide the real reason for this first Christian
relief enterprise that sent Paul and Barnabas from Antioch to Jerusalem.
Dr. Theodore P. Ferris accounts for it in his comments: "The real reason
is to be found in the fact that Jesus took this natural instinct, refined
it into love, and made it the cornerstone of human character. Jesus said
to people, 'Love is not only one of the important things in a man's life;
it is the only important thing.'... So we as Christians - and this
differentiates us from all other people - not only have the capacity to
love others in distress; we have the command to love. We seldom think of
love as a commandment; love to be real must be freely given, unsolicited.
Yet Jesus did command that we love one another. We are marching under the
orders of one who did not say to us, 'Love if it is convenient, love if
you find the person congenial, love if you get on with a person and
benefit from him, and agree with his politics.' We are marching under the
orders of one who said, 'Love and love; friend, foe, enemy, known and
unknown alike, whether you suffer or whether you gain, whether you
benefit or whether you lose, for love is of God, and without love there
is no life worth talking about.' That is the reason for relief funds. Not
only do we have the natural capacity for it, but we have from our Lord
the command to do it; to go into all the world and give cups of cold
water, to feed the hungry, to heal the sick, to clothe the naked, to
relieve the needs of those in distress." (Theodore P. Ferris, The
Interpreter's Bible, vol. 9, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1954, pp 153-4)
This is both the charge and the gift we have been given. This is why we
are to practice the stewardship of thanksgiving. How meaningless would it
have been for God to give commands which go against our instinct for
compassion? Imagine such an order: "this is my command: that ye hate one
another and keep watch only for yourself. Practice selfishness and greed,
and you will be well pleased and gratified." Such a command could never
be lived out by humanity because, whether we acknowledge it or not, we
are created in the image of God. Those of us who do recognize it, then,
need to be especially aware of our Lord's commands, for we are most
joyful when we trust and obey.
Our faithful practice of stewardship, even as a command from God,
provides significant returns in the kingdom of God. In Luke 5:1-11, we
read where Jesus went out a little ways from the shore in a boat so that
he could speak to the whole crowd. Afterwards, he directed the fishermen
to put out a little farther and drop their nets. Well, they had been out
all night and had not caught a thing. They weren't even talking about the
ones that got away. Yet, in spite of their likely thoughts about the
waste of time and resources, they obeyed. Their catch was so large that
they had to call out to their partners to get out there and help take the
strain of off their nets! Obedience resulted in a phenomenal catch for
the fishermen and a demonstration of the phenomenal power of Jesus.
Because they witnessed the results of obedience to Jesus, some there
became disciples that day.
This is how the "little Christs" at Antioch saw it. There is no
indication from Scripture of complicated issues or debate; they merely
heard the need spoken by Agabus and set out to do what they could. Like
the sports shoe ad says, "Just do it." They did it because they were
learning and growing and maturing in the Spirit and, as a result, they
wanted to make their voices sound like Christ's voice. The more they
learned about Christ's gift of saving love given to them, the more
thankful they wanted to be by responding in a manner of obedience to the
Lord they loved to the needs of others in distress. Because they grew in
awareness and practice of responding to God, they became faithful
stewards of thanksgiving.
So, brothers and sisters in Christ, we really can celebrate thanksgiving
before all the store Christmas displays get put up. Yes, Im teasing a
little bit because Im not referring to just our Thanksgiving holiday.
Well never make it to that day without the Christmas promotions in full
swing. But we can certainly be assured that God is pleased by our
obedient response to His holy ways far more than He cares about a date on
our calendar. Faithful stewardship of thanksgiving is something we can
accomplish any day of the year. "The Lord's hand was with them, and a
great number of people believed and turned to the Lord
. The disciples
were first called Christians at Antioch."
Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN
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