The Basis of Stewardship

By Archdeacon John McMulkin

There are a number of great biblical themes which are too large to be dealt with in a sermon. Stewardship – of the earth, of time, of talents, of treasure – is one of them.

Stewardship has to do with the way we work, act, give, worship and live. The steward is entrusted with the responsible care of the whole community. There are two fundamental realities which form the basis of stewardship: God the Creator and Loving/Forgiving God. He created with infinite and loving care so that when it was done He looked at what He had made and saw that it was good. He pronounced that it was VERY good!

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” (Ps. 24:1) – in short, God owns it. The Book of Genesis tells us that God then created man and woman and gave them dominion over the earth.

‘Dominion’ is not a license to plunder and pillage. Rather it is a vocation to be God’s agents, His Stewards. We are His caretakers, those who care for what belongs to another in accordance with His known desires and purposes. God is the sovereign creator who owns and reigns over all that He has created. He is the “Master of the Universe”. Psalm 8 asks, “What is man that thou art mindful of him?” The answer that the Psalmist is given tells us that we are blessed with the responsibility and privilege of being stewards of what belongs to God. BUT we don’t own! We are tenants making use of what belongs to God.

It is difficult for us to accept what the bible declares to us, namely that we own nothing in any unconditional sense. We have, for a time, possessions to use for the necessities of life and for God’s other purposes. “You can’t take it with you” rings familiar despite the man who said “if I can’t take it with me, then I won’t go”. He was WRONG! He left it all behind!

The biblical insight is that we don’t own unconditionally. Indeed Paul declares that we don’t even belong to ourselves, but to Christ and He belongs to God (1 Cor 3:18- 4:5). In Philippians 2: 5-14, Paul says that Christ himself was a steward, that he exercised the lordship of the Father according to the Father’s purpose and will.

The bible makes clear what God’s purpose is: in the Old Testament we learn from the prophet Amos to practice justice, mercy and righteousness (Amos 5:24), “but let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an everlasting stream”. Further, in Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O man, what is good: and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” These are great texts! There are many more such texts in the New Testament that teach us we are responsible for the welfare of our brothers and sisters who share life with us on this earthly home which the Father lovingly created.

The second fundamental fact regarding Stewardship is the fact that God is a giving and forgiving God. Stewardship is a theology of receiving with thankfulness; a response to what God does for us. We can even define Stewardship as a theology of purpose and of calling – a vocation.

Our foundational text, the Old Testament, emphasises the fact of creation. The New Testament builds on that and relates creation to Redemption – the NEW Creation.

God gave and continues to give the things of the earth – life, growing things for our nurture and He gives enough for all to live in abundance. This is in contrast to the world as we know it; inequity abounds. This stems from human acquisitiveness – some want more than enough. This human attribute has plunged the world into chaos and crisis. Jesus warned against this many times; consider the dramatic parable of the rich man and his full barns (Luke 12:13-21).

God gave his Son, for God gives and forgives. Through the Son we are given second, third and more chances to cast off our sinful nature and be reborn into a new life. By His word we were created and by His word made flesh He redeems us and gives us fellowship with Himself. Our response is to accept God’s gifts and to be thankful and faithful!

Stewardship is what follows from the sure knowledge of our blessings and of the gift of worth and purpose which God’s love gives to us. Christian Stewardship has its chief motives in gratitude and faith. It involves doing the work of God and giving to the work of God that which builds the kingdom and cares for our neighbour.

Stewardship is parallel to the Gospel; it’s the good news, not the law. Ideally, we live as stewards in joyful recognition of what God is doing in our lives. In strange and sometimes disturbing ways the kingdom is being built! We are invited to be part of that.

Participation in God’s work requires, among other things, giving from our treasure. For many this is the point where it gets tough! Our money is somehow an expression of ourselves; consider the story in Mark 10:17-22 of the rich young man who genuinely sought salvation, yet he turned away in sadness as he was held captive by his possessions.

Redemption means we are set free from that; we are set free from all that binds us. Jesus spoke frequently about money as it is a subject with unavoidable spiritual connections. Many of his parables and sayings are about the effect that money can have on people. The way in which we acquire it and use it underlines our real values. It is necessary that we have money, but its importance to us makes the offering of some of what we have a worthy gift to God and dignifies the needs of others.

I have heard it said that there is too much talk about money in church. I wonder why! Is there a hidden agenda there? For myself, I disagree – there is too little mention of money in a positive way. Generally we only hear the negative perspective – ‘we haven’t enough money for this or for that’ to explain away why that which is for the good of all can’t be done.

I wish our talk about money could be more uplifting! I don’t hesitate to say, “Give, as you are able with joy and gratitude”. Perhaps parish corporations would rather I’d say, “Give it all to the church”. But I can’t do that because I don’t do that.

The Church does God’s work, but it is not alone. Others do a much better job of putting food on the tables of the poor and destitute in our towns and cities. The hungry and other social agencies deserve our financial support, along with the church. I split my almsgiving about half and half between the church and charitable agencies and the church doesn’t’ suffer. It is all God’s work.

We have been given the responsibility of caring for this parish here at St. George’s. We have an abundance of talented leadership and dedicated volunteers. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to hire back our very good caretaker; replace the many tattered service books that are in the pews; patch the holes in the parking lot, and more? Let’s put into practice what we know about Stewardship right here and right now!