Stewardship

A little more than ten years ago the greatest commercial to ever hit the air waves was playing on the television. You may have even seen it. It was a Staples commercial. The commercial opened with a view inside the store. You heard the song “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” playing. And you see this dad dancing down the aisle with a cart. The announcer says. “It’s that time again.” And that dad is dancing with much joy and enthusiasm. “It’s back to school.” And then you see his kids walk across the screen and their heads are hanging low and they are walking at a very slow pace.

Not only is this commercial really funny but I think that it is safe to say that way that the kids on this video feel about going back to school is not all that different from the way that the average person feels about stewardship. I mean, what comes to mind for you when you hear the word “stewardship?” is it a positive thing, or a negative thing?

Well it is no surprise. You have seen a couple of newsletter articles. You have gotten some flyers and letters in the mail. Today marks the beginning of the annual stewardship campaign. I look out there and I see great excitement and enthusiasm. Am I right? Is it a difficult time? I think it can be. But maybe that is because of the way that we talk about it and approach it.

We all know that stewardship is important, and that it is something that needs to be done. Yet no one really likes to talk about it. It makes us all uncomfortable, and we really just want it to hurry up and be over. Then we won’t have to worry about for a whole year.

What if we celebrated stewardship the same kind of way that we celebrated Christmas? We could send out stewardship cards to our friends and family. We could greet one another with “Merry Stewardship.” We could exchange gifts and decorate stewardship trees. We could even go door to door and sing Stewardship Carols.

But then again, maybe that wouldn’t help all that much. Because we would only be changing how we do stewardship. So what are we to do? Well I think the answer is not in how we do stewardship, although that is certainly a part of it, as much as it is how we understand stewardship. Because when you understand what we are really talking about, well. It really is a cool thing.

We will be spending the next couple of weeks talking about this. And I want to invite you to be a part of this conversation. I mean you can’t really have a conversation with just one person talking. So please leave comments thoughts and questions on these topics as we share them over the next weeks.

Personally I think that stewardship has gotten a bad reputation. It is not really fair. Because when you understand it and what it is, well then you will find it to be something that is really very exciting and fulfilling. Stewardship is not simply the sermon on the amount. Although I think that it is easy for it to come across that way. I mean we most often talk about stewardship and budgeting and paying the bills all in the same breath. But that is not what stewardship is.

Stewardship is not about giving money. Although I think that it is easy for it to come across that way too. We interrupt this regularly scheduled worship service in order to bring you this stewardship campaign. Your regular worship programming will continue when we have our all our required pledges made. But that is not what stewardship is either.

Stewardship is not accomplished when you are tithing either. As long as I am giving ten percent of my income then they will leave me alone. I’ve got my stewardship requirement met. I am up-to-date on all my bills I don’t have to go to these services. But that is not what stewardship is either.

So then what is stewardship? If it is not the sermon on the amount, if it is not about giving money, if it is not accomplished when we are tithing, then what is it? Stewardship is a worldview. Stewardship is a way of life. Stewardship is an identity. It allows us to see our world and ourselves in a whole new way. Stewardship is ultimately about a relationship.

Stewardship gives to life purpose and significance. So when we are talking about this we are talking about life that is lived in response to God’s accepting and forgiving love in Jesus. It is important to understand here that when we say this it is not being said in a way that is meant to induce guilt. This is not saying that God has done so much for him, therefore you should do this little thing, if you can’t even do that much, well then you should feel really bad about it. That is not even close. Because God’s accepting and forgiving love in Jesus is given to us because of who God is. This is not based on us or what we do. Therefore we have it. And we can be certain that we have it.

Having it is life changing. God’s acceptance and forgiveness in Jesus changes everything. It does not matter what anyone else says about us. Because we have the love and acceptance and forgiveness of our God. We are his. We are valuable enough to him that he sent his son to live a sinless life, die on the cross and be raised again. He did that for you. Because he loves you so very much. This kind of love is life changing. It is does not come into a person’s life and then just leaves them the same. It impacts them. It changes them.

So when we talk about stewardship we are talking about life that is lived in response to God’s love. It is also life that is lived to make a contribution to others in the name of Jesus. When we live life for ourselves, we will ultimately find out that such a life is unfulfilling. But when we live our lives to make a contribution to others, that they may see our good deeds and give glory to our father in heaven; then we are beginning to understand what stewardship is all about.

We believe, know and are certain of God’s love for us. We see this in Jesus, in Scripture, in the Sacraments and in worship. We believe, know and are certain of God’s love for others as well. Therefore we can live our lives to make contributions to others in Jesus’ name. We know that God has blessed us greatly. But he didn’t bless us so that we would keep it all to ourselves. We are blessed so that we can be a blessing. It goes all the way back to Abraham and the covenant that God made with him. Life lived in this way can be challenging. But I promise you, it is also the best and most fulfilling way to live life. It is not for the faint of heart. But there is no better way to live.

This is what we are getting at as we are talking about stewardship. And when you begin to understand this, you begin to understand that what we are talking about here is bigger and more important than money.

Stewardship is a way of life. It is a relationship. It is a relationship that God begins with us in the waters of holy baptism. It is a relationship that he continues to live with us as the Holy Spirit works in our lives to make us more and more in the image of Jesus. It helps us to see God in our world and lives. It helps us to understand who we are and where we fit. It guides us in our daily lives and allows for us to grow and mature in our faith. It allows us to see our place in the story and understand the role that we have in joining God in the work that he is doing in our world. I am really genuinely excited about this. And I pray that it will be exciting for you too.

Do you feel like you now have a better understanding of what stewardship is? During the next couple of weeks we will talk more about what a steward is and what a steward does. The stewardship campaign will then culminate on that last week as we turn in our pledges and commitments. But not the emphasis and understanding of stewardship. Since it is a way of life, you can’t just leave it at a few brief mentions once a year. Stewardship is a way for us to grow and mature in our discipleship and faith. It is a way for us to talk about and work in mission. To join God in the work that he is doing in our world. We have some exciting things coming up in the next year.

I pray that as we live our lives out of the identity that God has given us as his baptized people, that we would find great joy and peace, hope and fulfillment, now and always. Amen.