BELIEVE: stewardship week 9* 10/23/16

BELIEVE: stewardship week 9*

10/23/16

Remember when you hardly owned anything? The way I remember it, life seemed simpler then.  When I left for college all my worldly possessions fit in a 1974 Ford Maverick with the broken window crank. I had everything I needed. Life was simpler then.

Then came Robyn and I had twice as much stuff. At the wedding, people gave us more stuff because that’s what you do; and it was very nice of them, but you know how it is. We went from having nothing to two toasters, and china, and more picture frames than we had walls to put them on. Suddenly our simple lives became more complicated. But we didn’t mind. When we moved to Indiana our stuff all fit in the smallest U-Haul truck and we were happy.

Then came baby and there was an explosion of stuff. You know, there was hardly enough room in my maverick for Amber’s stuff let alone mine. In addition, there were the seminary books, and all the paraphernalia that goes along with being students and young professionals.

 Over time, the stuff we had became used, worn, and out-dated. And these companies kept making newer and better products that I never knew I needed, but suddenly we needed a microwave, and a juicer, and some shop tools, and more furniture, and before we left Indiana we had to have the biggest U-Haul truck we could find to get us back to Iowa.

NOW I look around at all the stuff we have and I wonder, “How did we get here?”

You get the picture. I suspect most of you know exactly what I am saying.

 Today we are on week 9 of our BELIEVE series. We are almost 1/3 of the way through the top

•           beliefs,

•           practices, and

•           virtues of Christianity; as we seek to

•           think,

•           act, and

•           be more like Jesus.

As we look over the last 3 weeks we begin to see that God has certain expectations. God made us into the church in order to love and show compassion for others. This week the expectations go a little further as we explore what it means to take on the responsibility of being stewards. In order to do that, we have to circle back around to week one and remember that God is the creator of all that is.

 That’s where we have to start in order to understand stewardship. We go back to the key belief that

•           God always has been and always will be, and that

•           all that is came from God. The 24th Psalm reads, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.” (NLT)

o          What belongs to God?… everything… “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

o          Who belongs to God? Everyone… “The world and all its people.”

Absolutely everything and everyone belongs to God.

•           He does not just own the cattle. He owns the field in which they graze.

•           He doesn’t just own the house. He owns the people in it.

•           He doesn’t just own the bank. He owns all of the money in it.

•           God owns not only this church but also the pews, and every person in them.

•           Everything and everyone belongs 100% to God.

1.         Understanding that God is the owner of everyone and everything, is the first step in stewardship.

2.         The second step is understanding that out of the goodness of God’s heart, God gives us our lives and everything we have. Everything we are and everything we have is a gift of God’s grace.

We must never forget that: everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God.

•           This world is God’s world…and he lets us use it.

•           This nation is God’s nation… and he lets us live in it.

•           The harvest of the fields is God’s harvest…and he lets us harvest and use it.

•           My car is God’s car...and God lets me use it.

•           My house is God’s house…and God lets me use it.

•           My body is God’s body…and God let me use it for this lifetime.

Doesn’t that put a little different spin on stewardship? Stewardship is not a code word for money. People have made it into that, but I want to change that.

If everything belongs to God, and God lets us use and care for everything we have, then stewardship is about everything:

•           our world,

•           our lives,

•           our time,

•           our stuff and yes,

•           our money too. We have to expand our understanding of stewardship. To include everything we are and everything we have.

Then, when we have expanded it, we have to add another twist. When we understand that everything we are and everything we have is on loan from God, we begin to understand that

•           God does not want OUR stuff. We have no stuff.

•           God is not is not asking us to give him OUR lives because the lives we have are not ours to give.

•           God is not asking us to give OUR time because the time we have is not ours to give.

•           God is not asking us to give OUR money, because the money we have is not ours to give.

Stewardship is understanding that it all belongs to God and he lets us use it with the understanding that we will leave some for him.

         Do whatever you want with God’s day, but leave some for him. Leave time for God, for study and prayer.

         Do whatever you want with God’s week, but leave some for him. Time for worship, time for service, time for the work of the kingdom.

         Do whatever you want with the skills and gifts God has placed in you, but leave some for him. Go be a farmer, an accountant, a teacher using your divinely granted gifts, but don’t stop there. Go find a way to use them to glorify God, to show others God’s love, to share God’s generosity, to work in the church and in the kingdom for God’s purposes, not just for your own.

         Do whatever you want with God’s world, but leave some for him.

o          The resources are gifts we are to use responsibly but we can never own the sunset.

o          The animals are gifts to be cared for and used for food, but we will never tame the eagle.

o          The oceans are ours to use responsibly for food but we should not foul their beauty with our garbage.

         Do whatever you want with the children God has given you. YOU can even spoil them if you want, but leave some for God. Make sure they know who they are and to whom they belong. That they are a child of God, and a gift to the world.

         Do whatever you want with God’s stuff. Enjoy the

o          boat, or the

o          racecar, or the nice

o          house, or the

o          500” super resolution TV, or the

o          vacation, or the

o          forest. But leave room for God. Don’t get so wrapped up in the stuff you have and the goal of getting more stuff that you make the mistake of thinking it is all for you.

         Do whatever you want with God’s money.

o          Earn it.

o          Invest it.

o          Save it.

o          Spend it. But leave some for God. Leave some to do good things for God’s people. Leave some so that you can enjoy the Godly exercise of generosity. Leave some so you can support the ministries of God’s church.

Remember I Timothy says the root of all evil is the LOVE of money. I think we can fairly expand that to all our stuff. The root of all evil is when we love all the stuff God has given us, more than we love God.

Let me give you three scriptures that will help you to be better stewards.

________________________________________

  “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Colossians 3:23)

 YOUR TIME BELONGS TO GOD

Some people think that all God wants is an hour a week. Not quite. Your time is a living sacrifice. God didn’t give it to you so that you would be blessed, but so that you would be a blessing to others.

God wants us to use the time he has given us to love him in as many ways as we can.

•           Being good stewards of time means giving God my best time and best effort rather than giving God the leftovers.

•           Being good stewards of time means making sure you save some time to grow in your relationship with God. I know, not everyone has the luxury of giving God a whole week’s retreat. But we all have the same 16 waking hours in our day, and if you find it hard to leave a half hour or an hour a day for God then than you need to think about who gave you the gift of time.

If my time belongs to God, that that means that time is sacred. If time is sacred, then that means that wasting time is a sin. How I spend my time matters to God. It is in direct correlation to my love for Him and others.

________________________________________

 “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10, NIV)

 YOUR TALENT BELONGS TO GOD

Every single person in this room has at least one talent, gift, or ability that God has given you. How are you using it?

Your talent is a living sacrifice. God didn’t give it to you so that you would be blessed, but so that you would be a blessing to others.

If our talent belongs to God, that means being good stewards of our talent requires that we leave time to be in ministry. (Does “every person in ministry” sound familiar? It is a stewardship issue.)

         This week your ministry might be serving in the church.

         Next week it might be taking the church to a homebound person.

         The week after that it might be serving someone outside the church because of Jesus. Or maybe your ministry is more regular (not changing each week)

         teaching,

         visiting the lonely,

         praying with the sick,

         helping the neighbor,

         loving someone who has left the church. And there maybe there are special things… like a

         mission trip. It looks different for everyone, but being good stewards means using the talent God has given you to be in ministry in some way every day.

________________________________________

 “Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41–44, NLT)

 Your money belongs to God

The rich people gave to impress others, but the widow gave to express love. It’s not about the amount. It’s about the heart. It’s about love. Period.

Your offering is a living sacrifice. God didn’t give you money so that you would be blessed, but so that you would be a blessing to others.

If my money belongs to God, that means:

•           Giving God what is right, not what is left.

•           Giving my money to help grow Christ’s church.

•           Giving my money to help others.

 If we are to be good stewards, Instead of thinking of our time, talents, and treasure as something we give. We need to think of them as something we receive. Instead of giving God a portion of what is ours, God lets us keep a portion of what is His.

As I look at all of the stacks and piles of stuff around my house, I sometimes long for a simpler time. A time when I didn’t own as much. When everything I had fit in my Maverick. Then I remember: I don’t OWN anything more today than I did then. God has just given me more responsibility. And with more responsibility comes greater accountability.

Every day we have the opportunity to spend some time, some talent, and some treasure, and one day our lives will be spent. Then God will ask us all to give an account of how we managed all that he gave us. How will you answer?

On that day, you will be happier with your answer if you believe and live according to today’s key belief.

I BELIEVE EVERYTHING I AM AND EVERYTHING I OWN BELONGS TO GOD.

------------------------------------------------------------

Significant portions of this sermon are adapted from materials provided with the “BELIEVE” resources, particularly a sermon shared by Jeff Gauss of Epiphany Station, Thief River Falls, MN (Now of Grand Forks ND)