It’s All Stewardship!

Genesis 1:26-31, Psalm 19, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, Matthew 6:23-34

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 17, 2006

Heritage Congregational Church, Madison, WI

Last winter, an anonymous member of Heritage gave a large donation to pay down our long term debt. Because of this gift, our mortgage went from approximately $120,000 to $30,000. As you know, this generous gift was outlined in the Highlights and a mechanism has been established for the giving of similar gifts. The donor wanted to do whatever they could to encourage other members of Heritage to give gifts outside of the yearly pledge, by setting an example and through ease of procedure.

Since that time, the topic of the gift has frequently come up in conversation. The most commonly asked question (to me, at least) was, “Why did they do it?” My answer was simple. I knew because the member had told me. They believe in giving. The next question was always, “Where does that kind of attitude come from?”

That is our question for today. How does spirit of generosity develop? I believe it comes from a deep understanding of the nature of stewardship. There are three basic points about the Biblical concept of stewardship I would like us to learn and consider.

First of all, God made everything and then gave humanity (us) the responsibility. In Genesis we find God in the act of creation. Following the creation of humankind, God then gives dominion of creation, the earth and all that is in it, to humanity. Dominion means that we are responsible for creation. It does not mean that we are in control of it, have power over it, or get to do what we want with it. We are to care for creation. We are to be stewards, the definition of which is the overseers responsible for managing God’s resources. From Genesis to Titus we find the Biblical concept of stewardship, from responsibility of business affairs to property, the oversight of servants and the training of children, etc. (Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms). That is the first point to consider.

Next is the belief that God will provide. In Matthew’s gospel we find Jesus urging us away from a life of worry. Why worry, Jesus says. God has given. God has provided. God will continue to provide. If God cares for the least of creatures, God will also care for us. This you can believe. Do not use your time and energy and resources striving for these things. You cannot serve two masters—God and wealth. Is not the life more than food? Is not the body more than clothing? I feel like Jesus is saying, “Is not life more than money?” Instead, He says, strive for the Kingdom of Heaven. Put your energy and resources there, not with needless worry. God will provide—this is the second point of understanding stewardship.

The third point is this: It all belongs to God. In the musical and movie, Shenandoah, we find a family in Virginia split apart by the Civil War. At the very beginning of the movie, we find Jimmy Stewart seated with his family around the dinner table. This is the grace he offers:

Lord, we cleared this land. We dug the weeds, hauled the rocks, chopped down the tress and burned the stumps. We plowed it and sowed it. We fought off the bugs and the worms and the varmints. We harvested and then we cooked our harvest. Lord, there wouldn’t be a damn thing on this table if we hadn’t don’t it all ourselves…but we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for this food we’re about to eat. Amen.

While his prayer shows that he is trying to be a faithful Christian, this father didn’t understand that without God, he would not have had the land to work or the strength to work it. Without God, there would not be seeds to grow, sunshine and rain for nutrients. He assumed the land would be there and that things would grow. He forgot where it all came from and who it belongs to. He thought the land was his, not that he was the steward of the land that belonged to God.

When I remember this scene, I am reminded of the joke where God and Satan are engaged in a contest to create the perfect person. God grabs a bit of dirt and begins. But when Satan tries to do the same, the dirt disappears. “Get your own dirt!” God says.

Stewardship comes from these three things—we have been given the responsibility of stewardship, we are to trust that God will provide, and we are to realize that everything belongs to God. This is the foundation of generosity.

As we learned today in the Children’s Sermon, everything belongs to God. Each item we can pick up is somehow traceable to the creation God has given—the natural elements of the earth, the ingenuity of our brains, the fleece of a lamb. God is the origin of all things. In fact, our very lives belong to God, the breath and the blood that give us life are from God.

So why does God work this way? Why has God been so generous with us? God gives out of love, for our benefit, for us to be the people we were created to be. God makes us stewards of creation for the same reason. How do we respond? Do we care for the things God has given us? If we do, we take care of them, for we care for what is important to us..

My colleague and good friend Jim Jupin, who pastors our church in Roscoe, Illinois believe that completely. We care for the things we value—our cars, our homes, our children. We spend our time, energy and money on them. We nurture them and help them to be the best they can be. This is something to think about. When we care, when we are invested. We give our best, we give first to that cause. Where does God fall in our list of priorities? How important is Christ’s church to each of us?

In 2 Corinthians we find a beautiful model for stewardship, for using what God has given us correctly. In this passage there is a wonderful rhythm of language: sowing and reaping, sparingly and bountifully, cheerfully and reluctantly. It tells us that God gives abundantly so that we might have more than enough to share. When we share, when we are generous stewards of what God has placed before us, God’s glory is seen and thanksgiving is felt, more is given. When we share the blessings God has given us, we are a blessing. This is the same as with Abraham and the covenant God made with him in Genesis 12, “you will be a blessing.” That is what comes to pass when we follow this model for stewardship.

At Heritage we have been called to be a blessing, to use the resources God has given us to God’s glory, to share the bounty. Every single thing we do is stewardship. Remember, the definition of being a steward is the overseers responsible for managing God’s resources, including responsibility of business affairs and property, the oversight of servants and the training of children, etc. What we do inside our building is stewardship—caring for the building—the place where we worship and work together, teaching the children—nurturing our most precious gift from God and sharing the gift of faith, praying for one another—caring for our souls, keeping the office staffed—communicating with each other as we seek to be faithful, worshiping together—gathering to focus on God, fellowshipping—sharing our lives so we can better love and care for one another. It is all stewardship.

What we do outside the building is stewardship as well. When we work at the food pantry or donate food, as we did in August it is caring for God’s children by making sure they have enough to eat. When we send our loose change to the children from Jardin America, we are being stewards of their lives by assisting in their health, education and spiritual growth. When we collect school supplies for the Bread of Life Christian mission in Plant City, Florida, we are providing for the education of those who have little and share our faith. And, when we donate blankets, comforters, pillows and other bedding in January for the Recycle the Warmth, we are joining with the Salvation Army in making sure those with little in our community to stay warm and not freeze. It’s all stewardship.

But, what we could do with the resources available to us is so much more. We are just scratching the surface. God has called Heritage to reach out. God’s voice is speaking this to us, urging us to be stewards in this way. And there are many opportunities that come our way we have to turn down:

Internationally there have been two just this past summer. My friend and colleague, the Rev. Lori Wiley, form New Hampshire, will be traveling with her husband to the Czech Republic to become a professor at the International Institute for Christian Studies. The Institute places college professors to secular universities, as many in the Czech Republic have never met an educated Christian. The Congregational Church of Myanmar (formerly Burma), led by the Rev. Sa Do has asked the WCA churches to support the training of a new pastor for $12000 a year. The Wauwatosa church is leading this challenge, asking each church to offer $1000 and pay for one month of the year.

Nationally we have been asked to contribute to the Ministerial Assistance Fund of the NA, which provides much needed monies for medical and housing costs for retired ministers in the NA and their wives or widows. This opportunity comes to us each December. We have also been asked by area church to participate in mission trips to the south, to help with the rebuilding and clean up from Katrina.

Locally the list of opportunities is endless. There is Arise Family Services. They work on “Breaking the Cycle” and assist in the transition from prison to a productive life. They provide housing, education, job opportunities, drug and alcohol treatment, budgeting skills, and anger management classes to those who have recently been released from incarceration. All services are offered through the lens of spiritual awareness. They believe Jesus is the key. Another program is called Children Come First. This group coordinates mental and physical health services for children and youth in Dane County. There is a group called Phoenix, which is a partnership of Business Owners, Landlords and Churches with the unemployed and underemployed members of our community. They offer job training, mentorship and part time employment, life and employment skills, time management, communication skills, and financial management classes for those who have very small incomes. The Southwest Neighborhood Assistance Project, part of Joining Forces for Families, provides eviction prevention and utility monies for those in need on the Southwest side of Madison. They are right in our neighborhood, located just the other side of Raymond Road. We have been approached twice about partnering with area churches to build a Habitat for Humanity house. Last spring I attended a meeting at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church about the possibility of starting a summer program for the children in the neighborhood off Raymond Road near Whitney Way, who are unsupervised and have no organized activities available. The list goes on and on.

The question for us is the same one as at the beginning of the sermon: Do we believe in giving? There is plenty of money out there, more than enough to do God’s work in our community and in the world. When I think back at the joke about God and Satan trying to create I am reminded in a very big way that God doesn’t make us come up with our own dirt. God calls us and then supplies what we need. God gives us an abundance, and promises that when we share it more will be given. Will we do our part and share what we have been given? God will do all the rest. God gives us the gift, we share it, God causes it to multiply. God does most of the work, and gives us only one job to do. Will we do it? Will we look at what we have from the attitude of scarcity or that of abundance? How much do we want to do what God is telling us? What kind of a church do we want to be? What kind of a people do we want to be?

My colleague and friend Karl Schimpf, who pastors our church in Fox Point has said this, :God didn’t get into my heart until He got into my pocketbook.” Karl knows in a very real way that generosity comes from having God in our hearts, from letting God fill our hearts, from knowing we are made in the image of a generous God who has created us to be generous in return. And when we give, we feel good because we are being the people God created us to be. Generosity is a step toward a right relationship with our God.

When we give our pledges to the church, it says we believe in what the church is about. It tells what we believe God is doing and what God is asking us to do. When we make our pledge, we are not giving money to the Board of Trustees, we are not giving money to Pastor Cindy. We are giving money to God. When we give we are seeking the Kingdom first, trusting that God will provide, responding with generosity to the abundance God has given to us with love. When we give we are saying that we know everything belongs to God and is merely on loan to us.

As a church, we say we want to reach out, to be obedient to God. But do we want it enough to make a change in the way we make decisions about the time, talent and treasure we give to do God’s work at Heritage Church?

Remember, it is not our work. It is God’s work we have been called to do. God’s mission has a church, and we are it. If we don’t do it, who will? Like Abraham, God has called our name and asked us to be a blessing. What will be our response?

Life is about more than money. It is about God’s Kingdom. Will we give our best to God? Will we be faithful stewards to the world God has given us to care for? Will we give until it feels good? Amen.