STEWARDSHIP OF THANKSGIVING #1/2

#1 · November 5, 2007, 2:21 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on November 5, 2007, 2:21 pm
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
STEWARDSHIP OF THANKSGIVING #1/2

KEEPING GODS TRUST

November 4, 2007

Text: Luke 12:42-48

Like the late comedian, Rodney Dangerfield, stewardship just dont get no respect. In spite of good intentions, this vital Biblical concept usually does not get its proper due. This is unfortunate. Stewardship is actually a dynamic force in the life of the Christian. Too often, though, we relegate what should be a central element of our faith to matters of budget of financial income and expenses.

These are important matters, of course, but when they take the place of a comprehensive understanding of stewardship, then we keep a key spiritual discipline out of our growth in the Lord. In 1989, Dick Rusbuldt, then Executive Director of American Baptist World Mission Support, wrote, What word in the church these days catches more attention, creates lots of questions, and causes varying degrees of fear or anger? STEWARDSHIP. As you know, the term stewardship wasnt laid on the church by the clergy, and certainly wasnt by the laity. Whether Old or New Testament, the source of the word is God, and the full meaning of the word is God-sent Stewardship is about life the Good News living in the Spirit of the Lord meaningful relationships caring for others serving praying worshiping resources time spiritual gifts possessions and, yes, money But most of todays Christians have a one dimensional view of stewardship that begins and ends with money. God did not intend it to be so. (letter dated February 1989)

The Scriptures leave no doubt that Jesus was interested in stewardship. Who then is the faithful and wise manager? The parable read this morning is one in a group of parables. Luke liked organizing them into groups. All of them are stewardship parables. Beginning with the opening circumstances in verse 13, Jesus warned in verse 15, Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a mans life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. He then told the parable of the rich fool and then some parables on being watchful. All of these are stewardship themes managing our possessions and our time.

The most enlightening lessons I have experienced concerning stewardship come from two sources, one which comes from the Bible and the other which does not. Back in 1990, I took a couple of classes at a community college for the fun of it. I had not had a formal economics class, so that is one I chose. Early in the course, probably on the first day, Dr. Siegfried Sutterlin asked us if we knew the origin of the word economics. Being typical students, we did not know. For reasons that will become apparent as I continue, I should have known, but I didnt. He told us that the word derives from the Greek oikonomos, meaning management of the household. Economy, then, is related to the management of the household, community, county, and so on up the organizational line. Economics is the study of the management of resources.

Sometime after that, I prepared a Bible study lesson on Biblical stewardship. I decided to include a brief word study in this lesson, so I looked up stewardship in a Greek New Testament to see what original Biblical Greek word is translated into our stewardship. Lo and behold, the Greek word is oikonomos. I mentally kicked myself because I should have already known that before I took the economics course. Think how smart I would have looked by answering the professors question about the origin of economics. OK, OK. Ill work on the pride thing. Still, this was, and still is, revelational. In the New Testament, the usage of the word stewardship, such as it is found in this parable about the unfaithful servant, refers to the servant, or even the slave, who is put in charge of part or all of the masters property. A steward in the New Testament is never the owner, but is, instead, the manager. Interestingly, another form of the word oikonomos is used to mean plan or administration of salvation. (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. V, Eerdmans, 1967, pp. 149-152). The Biblical concept of stewardship is much more than our dollars and cents. It refers, in the ultimate sense, to our very way of life.

Another interesting, and perhaps surprising, fact about stewardship is that God intended for His human creation to be His stewards even before He first created man. Where do I get such an idea? From Genesis 1:26-30: Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the groundeverything that has the breath of life in itI give every green plant for food. And it was so.

From the beginning, God entrusted His household to us. What do we own? In the sight of other men and women, we might own parcels of land, a house, and some consumer goods. We own personal property. In the sight of God, we own nothing! What kind of a sales receipt are we going to use as proof of ownership when God pulls out His master deed? He is the owner of all that has been created, and, as we read in John 1:3, Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

This, then, is the context in which these parables are set. God has set us as stewards over His property. We can either accept this responsibility, which is what we should be willing to do if we confess Christ as Lord, or we can reject this responsibility. Even though our Master is ever present, we can ignore Him and take on the attitude and actions of the unjust servant. We can neglect our spiritual growth and demeanor and pretend that our Master is not present. In fact, we can even believe that He has been gone so long that He is not coming back. What does Jesus have to say about stewardship, though? Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. Just as God established with Adam and Eve, God wants our faithfulness. Whatever He has put in our charge is to be cared for in a responsible, loving manner. How we conduct ourselves as stewards should bring glory to God. Good stewardship is good witness and should bear good spiritual fruit.

What if it does not? What if we fail to carry out faithfully our role as Gods steward? The picture Jesus offers is rather gruesome: He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. This is not to be taken that those who confess Jesus as Savior will lose their salvation, or that salvation is dependent upon our works. There are subtleties in the meaning of the words used to demonstrate the error of such conclusions. But rather than launch into such a discussion this morning, let us simply recognize that we have been given a way to avoid any of this altogether; that is, be faithful stewards.

One of the reasons that unfaithful stewards were treated so harshly is that master and steward were closely identified. Those seeing how the steward mistreated his fellow servants probably thought, See how that master allows his servants to be treated? How true this is with others perceptions of God. When a Christian slips up, there are always plenty of folk ready to use it as an excuse to mock God. No wonder God wants faithful stewards!

Know what the master wants and do it. God makes His will known to us in many plain, understandable ways. God makes it known how we are to treat His creation. In this passage alone, we see that mistreating others, withholding their food, and overindulging are not good forms of Christian stewardship. Such actions are not righteous. Let us not be caught by surprise when the Master returns.

Another element of stewardship found in this parable is that of responsibility. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. As usual, the world often turns this around by placing greater burdens on those with less while those with more assume they are exempt from common laws. Such was never Gods idea. From the beginning, stewardship meant responsibility.

If we have a lot, then we are to be responsible with a lot. Fulton Sheen has said, Never measure generosity by what you give, but by what you have left. If we have a little, then that, too, is to be our responsibility. Billy Graham once wrote, I recently heard about a church member in Boston who said to himself, I cannot speak in prayer meetings. I cannot do many other things in Christian service, but I can put two extra plates on my dinner table every Sunday and invite two young men who are away from home to eat with me. He did that for many years. He led many to Christ. When he died some time ago, he was to be buried in another city. Because he was a well-known Christian, a special bus was chartered to convey the funeral party. It was made known that any young persons who had become Christians through his influence would be welcome. They had to charter extra buses, because 150 persons came to honor the man who had preached the Gospel by means of the extra dinner plate.

Stewardship is important, but it need not be complicated. Mainly, we need to understand it in its widest definition and application. God has entrusted each of us with a portion of his blessings. How do we, in turn, treat His gifts? How do we treat His trust? How do we treat Him? We need to keep Gods trust. If we are faithful stewards, watching for and taking advantage of opportunities to manage Gods creation in ways that bring glory to Him, then we live with the certainty that we will be met by our joy-filled Master, saying to us, Well done, good and faithful servant!

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

170 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com
-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org   

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

KEEPING GODS TRUST

November 4, 2007

Text: Luke 12:42-48

Like the late comedian, Rodney Dangerfield, stewardship just dont get no respect. In spite of good intentions, this vital Biblical concept usually does not get its proper due. This is unfortunate. Stewardship is actually a dynamic force in the life of the Christian. Too often, though, we relegate what should be a central element of our faith to matters of budget of financial income and expenses.

These are important matters, of course, but when they take the place of a comprehensive understanding of stewardship, then we keep a key spiritual discipline out of our growth in the Lord. In 1989, Dick Rusbuldt, then Executive Director of American Baptist World Mission Support, wrote, What word in the church these days catches more attention, creates lots of questions, and causes varying degrees of fear or anger? STEWARDSHIP. As you know, the term stewardship wasnt laid on the church by the clergy, and certainly wasnt by the laity. Whether Old or New Testament, the source of the word is God, and the full meaning of the word is God-sent Stewardship is about life the Good News living in the Spirit of the Lord meaningful relationships caring for others serving praying worshiping resources time spiritual gifts possessions and, yes, money But most of todays Christians have a one dimensional view of stewardship that begins and ends with money. God did not intend it to be so. (letter dated February 1989)

The Scriptures leave no doubt that Jesus was interested in stewardship. Who then is the faithful and wise manager? The parable read this morning is one in a group of parables. Luke liked organizing them into groups. All of them are stewardship parables. Beginning with the opening circumstances in verse 13, Jesus warned in verse 15, Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a mans life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. He then told the parable of the rich fool and then some parables on being watchful. All of these are stewardship themes managing our possessions and our time.

The most enlightening lessons I have experienced concerning stewardship come from two sources, one which comes from the Bible and the other which does not. Back in 1990, I took a couple of classes at a community college for the fun of it. I had not had a formal economics class, so that is one I chose. Early in the course, probably on the first day, Dr. Siegfried Sutterlin asked us if we knew the origin of the word economics. Being typical students, we did not know. For reasons that will become apparent as I continue, I should have known, but I didnt. He told us that the word derives from the Greek oikonomos, meaning management of the household. Economy, then, is related to the management of the household, community, county, and so on up the organizational line. Economics is the study of the management of resources.

Sometime after that, I prepared a Bible study lesson on Biblical stewardship. I decided to include a brief word study in this lesson, so I looked up stewardship in a Greek New Testament to see what original Biblical Greek word is translated into our stewardship. Lo and behold, the Greek word is oikonomos. I mentally kicked myself because I should have already known that before I took the economics course. Think how smart I would have looked by answering the professors question about the origin of economics. OK, OK. Ill work on the pride thing. Still, this was, and still is, revelational. In the New Testament, the usage of the word stewardship, such as it is found in this parable about the unfaithful servant, refers to the servant, or even the slave, who is put in charge of part or all of the masters property. A steward in the New Testament is never the owner, but is, instead, the manager. Interestingly, another form of the word oikonomos is used to mean plan or administration of salvation. (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. V, Eerdmans, 1967, pp. 149-152). The Biblical concept of stewardship is much more than our dollars and cents. It refers, in the ultimate sense, to our very way of life.

Another interesting, and perhaps surprising, fact about stewardship is that God intended for His human creation to be His stewards even before He first created man. Where do I get such an idea? From Genesis 1:26-30: Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the groundeverything that has the breath of life in itI give every green plant for food. And it was so.

From the beginning, God entrusted His household to us. What do we own? In the sight of other men and women, we might own parcels of land, a house, and some consumer goods. We own personal property. In the sight of God, we own nothing! What kind of a sales receipt are we going to use as proof of ownership when God pulls out His master deed? He is the owner of all that has been created, and, as we read in John 1:3, Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

This, then, is the context in which these parables are set. God has set us as stewards over His property. We can either accept this responsibility, which is what we should be willing to do if we confess Christ as Lord, or we can reject this responsibility. Even though our Master is ever present, we can ignore Him and take on the attitude and actions of the unjust servant. We can neglect our spiritual growth and demeanor and pretend that our Master is not present. In fact, we can even believe that He has been gone so long that He is not coming back. What does Jesus have to say about stewardship, though? Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. Just as God established with Adam and Eve, God wants our faithfulness. Whatever He has put in our charge is to be cared for in a responsible, loving manner. How we conduct ourselves as stewards should bring glory to God. Good stewardship is good witness and should bear good spiritual fruit.

What if it does not? What if we fail to carry out faithfully our role as Gods steward? The picture Jesus offers is rather gruesome: He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. This is not to be taken that those who confess Jesus as Savior will lose their salvation, or that salvation is dependent upon our works. There are subtleties in the meaning of the words used to demonstrate the error of such conclusions. But rather than launch into such a discussion this morning, let us simply recognize that we have been given a way to avoid any of this altogether; that is, be faithful stewards.

One of the reasons that unfaithful stewards were treated so harshly is that master and steward were closely identified. Those seeing how the steward mistreated his fellow servants probably thought, See how that master allows his servants to be treated? How true this is with others perceptions of God. When a Christian slips up, there are always plenty of folk ready to use it as an excuse to mock God. No wonder God wants faithful stewards!

Know what the master wants and do it. God makes His will known to us in many plain, understandable ways. God makes it known how we are to treat His creation. In this passage alone, we see that mistreating others, withholding their food, and overindulging are not good forms of Christian stewardship. Such actions are not righteous. Let us not be caught by surprise when the Master returns.

Another element of stewardship found in this parable is that of responsibility. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. As usual, the world often turns this around by placing greater burdens on those with less while those with more assume they are exempt from common laws. Such was never Gods idea. From the beginning, stewardship meant responsibility.

If we have a lot, then we are to be responsible with a lot. Fulton Sheen has said, Never measure generosity by what you give, but by what you have left. If we have a little, then that, too, is to be our responsibility. Billy Graham once wrote, I recently heard about a church member in Boston who said to himself, I cannot speak in prayer meetings. I cannot do many other things in Christian service, but I can put two extra plates on my dinner table every Sunday and invite two young men who are away from home to eat with me. He did that for many years. He led many to Christ. When he died some time ago, he was to be buried in another city. Because he was a well-known Christian, a special bus was chartered to convey the funeral party. It was made known that any young persons who had become Christians through his influence would be welcome. They had to charter extra buses, because 150 persons came to honor the man who had preached the Gospel by means of the extra dinner plate.

Stewardship is important, but it need not be complicated. Mainly, we need to understand it in its widest definition and application. God has entrusted each of us with a portion of his blessings. How do we, in turn, treat His gifts? How do we treat His trust? How do we treat Him? We need to keep Gods trust. If we are faithful stewards, watching for and taking advantage of opportunities to manage Gods creation in ways that bring glory to Him, then we live with the certainty that we will be met by our joy-filled Master, saying to us, Well done, good and faithful servant!

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

170 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

http://www.bhfirstbaptist.com

-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org