1 Samuel 1:4:-20

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hebrews 10:11-25

Mark 13:1-8

Mt. Zion UMC, Stokesdale, NC

19 November 2006

Reclaiming Stewardship

As comfortable as I am in the big city, I still find myself standing in awe at the sight of these massive buildings reaching skyward. I'm usually careful not to stand on the sidewalks and just lose myself while I stare upward at the skyscrapers. After all, I wouldn't want to be immediately fingered as a tourist. The truth is, I'm usually overwhelmed by the huge stone and metal buildings that form the downtowns of most large cities. I grew up just outside of a rather small village. Actually, Woodland, MI is about four times smaller than Stokesdale. In my sophomore year in high school, I had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. for a program called Project Close-Up. In this program, I had the opportunity to see the workings of our government "close-up." I also had my first experience in a really big city. Although Washington D.C. doesn't have any skyscrapers, it does have some larger-than-life buildings and monuments. I was taken by the immensity of the city. In this regard, I really feel like I can relate to the disciples in our Gospel lesson.

Here we find Jesus and his disciples in Jerusalem just outside of the Temple. Jesus and the disciples were anything but metropolitan guys. Jesus was from Galilee. It was said that nothing good ever came out of Galilee. Galilee was a rural area. It was not seen as a cultural center by any stretch of the imagination. For Jesus and the disciples to come to Jerusalem was a lot like me going to Washington D.C. And just as I was amazed by the monuments and the buildings of our nation's capital, the disciples were amazed at the monuments and buildings of their culture's capital.

The disciples pointed out their amazement at the size of the buildings and the stones. But it's not just the size, but the power that they represented. The temple was understood to be quite literally the house of God - God's residence here on earth among his people. And so, it was built with the best resources of all of Israel. It was also a show of power. But not the power of God, instead, the power of Israel. Although the temple was no doubt built in honor of God, it was also built to show the world the kind of power and resources Israel could contribute to honor their God. I believe this is important to remember when we hear Jesus so calmly say, "Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down" [Mark 13:2]. Yes, this prophesy became a reality nearly 40 years later when the Romans would destroy the temple in a successful effort to throw-down a Jewish insurrection led by a man who claimed to be a messiah.

But I'm not entirely convinced that this is simply a prophecy about the temple being torn down. It really appears to be more about changing human priorities. The temple being torn down, rumors of wars, nations rising against nations, kingdoms against kingdoms, earthquakes, and famines [Mark 13:2-8]... These are all terrifying concepts. These are all earth changing events. These are all events that shake-up human power. Yet Jesus tells us not to be alarmed [Mark 13:7]. What's Jesus saying here?

We have the tendency to place priority on things that we can see, that we can understand, and quite frankly, on things that increase our power. Often when we focus on the wrong priorities, we neglect or overlook the true priorities. This sadly, is typically the case when we start talking about stewardship. I know my first thought when I hear the word "stewardship" is "here we go again about money." And money in our society is a real touchy subject. It's touchy because money is a form of power. And let's face it, we don't like hearing about our power being shaken up.

Jesus told his disciples not to be alarmed at news of power being shaken up because it was simply the beginning of something better [Mark 13:8]. There was more to their faith than just the temple, there's more to God's kingdom than just what they saw. So too, there's more to stewardship than money.

Yet, for the past 50 years, stewardship campaigns in churches focused almost exclusively on money. This exclusively financial focus has "flattened" our understanding of stewardship. You see, we're called to a life of discipleship and stewardship. As disciples, we're to learn and follow. We're to be students. But what about being a steward? To be a steward is to care for a particular resource. Traditionally, there have been wine stewards who have cared for wine cellars. There have been stewards who have acted like waiters. Think about airlines. Flight attendants were once known as stewardesses or if they were male, stewards. To be a steward is to serve.

Yes, stewards are to care for resources, but most resources are not money. Think about the resources we have under our care besides money. We have time... Be careful to not assign a price to time. So often in this society we try to put a price on everything. But we're promised everlasting life - we have eternity. How can we truly put a price on that?

But we have other resources besides time and treasure. We have our talents. We have gifts and graces that God has given us. We have the resource of our knowledge. We have each learned something about God in our walk with Christ. This knowledge is a resource that we're to share with others. Managing all of these resources is what it means to be a Christian steward.

For 50 years churches have focused almost exclusively on the money aspect of Christian stewardship and neglected a majority of what it means to be a Christian steward. This has not been fair. It's not been fair for people, it's not been fair to God. God made humanity in God's image and let's face it, there's much more to us than the money we make.

But do we actually need to take some time to talk about Christian stewardship? Our reading from Hebrews appears to support this. It says, "And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching" [Hebrews 10:24-25]. What strikes me about this passage is the use of the word "provoke." This is not intended to be a substitute for the word encourage. The word translated as "provoke," could also be translated as "irritate" or "pester." Although these words typically have a negative connotation, there is also a more positive meaning to them in the Greek form. The word translated as "provoke" "also had a positive use in the sense of disturbing the apathetic or fearful person into activity" [The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. XII, pg. 121]. When we act as the stewards we're called to be, we do so in love. When we fulfill our call to be stewards, our acts of time, talents, and treasures, are good acts.

Church stewardship campaigns have been done with good intentions. They have been meant to glorify God, not only in our giving, but also in the things that the givings were able to finance. This is not unlike the temple in Jerusalem. But just as some of the Jews lost sight the real power behind the temple, many churches have lost sight of the true meaning of Christian stewardship. This Consecration Sunday, our stewardship campaign, let’s reclaim what it means to be a Christian steward. Let's move our focus beyond worldly power, beyond things that we can readily see, or in this case, put a price on. Let us reclaim what it truly means to be a Christian steward.

SDG