?¨Remind Me Again, What Is a Steward??Æ May 14, 2006
First in a Three-Week Stewardship Series Pastor Mark Nieting
The Text is Luke 12: 42-48

Jesus said, ?¨Turn in an account of your stewardship. Give me a record of how you are handling the responsibilities that I have entrusted to you. I have discovered,?Æ Jesus went on,?Æ that people who are faithful in little things are also faithful in big things, but people who are not faithful in little things can not be trusted with big things. I will relieve such a person of the responsibility for the big things, because if you cannot be faithful with the little things of life (like money), how can you ever be trusted with true riches!?Æ

The Pharisees heard this?ñ.and because they were lovers of money first, they turned away in a huff. So do many people today?ñ..maybe even you. The question of the day revolves around one word, and that word is Steward. What is a Steward? The following are stories that involve stewards doing stewardship.

When Ben and Reba were very small, the time would come up for us to a teacher??s conference?ñ.without them. We faced the inevitable question all parents face: who??s going to take care of the kids, the house, the pets, the mail, the plants for a few days. Who is trustworthy enough to do it all?ñ.. and ?¨all?Æ is the important word. I might trust the kid across the street to bring in the paper and even the mail, but you don??t just ask anyone to take care of the kids. Stewards are people who take care of precious property that is not their own.

Another example. Jennifer Hubler is our early school director. Every morning 90 some parents drive up to the lower entrance and drop off their precious cargo: their children. During the days, these parents want to know that their children are safe and well cared for?ñ.especially all the little unseen details like the bruised finger, the book carefully read, the loving tone of teacher??s voices, all the crucially important details that will never show up in a written report. Stewards are people who take care of precious property that is not their own.

Long before there were children in my life, I was hired to ?¨dog-sit?Æ by a wealthy widow who lived in Kensington, Maryland. She had a Kerry-Blue Terrier that she loved dearly, and I was instructed on how to COOK for this dog 3 times a day, how to brush it twice a day, walk it three times a day, and all the steps that were needed to put the dog to bed! Caring for this dog, who was dearly loved, was a huge amount of work and this lady wanted it done right. Stewards are people who take care of precious property that is not their own.

It is with these stories that we approach one of Jesus?? stories about a steward. There are several of these in the New Testament, but we??ll focus on this one. 

?´Once upon a time a rich man, who owned a large villa, was going on a long trip. So he appointed a steward to take care of his property while he was gone. He gave the steward some specific instructions. There were no instructions about the house or the animals or the land, only instructions about making sure the servants were paid their food allowance while the master was gone! ?¨Don??t cheat my servants,?Æ the master exclaimed! Well, the master was gone a long time, but when he unexpectedly came back, he was pleased to find that the steward had taken care of the entire estate and especially pleased that the servants had received their food allowance. IF that had not been the case, Luke 12: 46 states, the master would have cut the steward to pieces and replaced him with a new one.??

When we think of Stewardship Sundays, we normally think of a Sunday or two when the pastor gives a ?¨fundraising sermon?Æ to bring in more money. The pastor in his stewardship sermon is supposed to be part dentist, applying just the right amount of Novocain to numb the pain and the then extract the money painlessly. 

Or we think of the Time, Talent and Treasure campaign where we are all asked to volunteer to teach 5 year-olds at Sunday School or put our names on the usher list.

That is the farthest from the truth. The truth is, I, as God??s called and ordained servant of the Word in this place, am trying to prevent you from being cut to pieces by the Master, who really owns everything anyhow. I am trying to keep you from being replaced with someone new?ñ.especially those of you who KNOW BETTER, who will, in Jesus?? own words, ?´be beaten with many blows!?Æ Anyone sign up for receiving blows when they joined our congregation? I doubt it!

Hear me, dear friends. Stewardship is not about that narrow slice of life we call offerings to the church. Stewardship is not about that narrow time of our lives that we work for the church. Stewardship is about taking proper care of every single thing that God has entrusted to you! 

The word Stewardship comes from the Greek word ?¨oikos,?Æ which means house. Stewardship is about taking good care of household matters. It??s being responsible for God??s household that God has entrusted to us for a while. A related word is ?¨oikonomics,?Æ from which we get the English word economics. Still another word is ?¨oicology,?Æ from which we get the word ecology, meaning caring for the things of the earth onto which God has placed us. Are you getting the picture?


Jesus wisely said, ?¨If you can??t handle the little stuff, like money, who will entrust you with true riches, like HEAVEN!?Æ To Jesus, it was the money that was the little stuff. The Pharisees, who were big lovers of money, laughed at Jesus and made fun of him. But let??s be honest. Many of us are just like the Pharisees. They were people who couldn??t really handle money, and neither can some of us.

On the surface it looks like the Pharisees did alright, because contrary to most Christians today, the Pharisees WERE actual 10% givers. They could be categorized as Biblical tithers. Sometimes I am tempted to say, especially when the weekly offerings are low, ?¨Give me a few more Pharisees in this congregation and we??ll get the bills paid around here!?Æ But that??s just in my weaker moments, because, you see, the Pharisees were good givers but LOUSY stewards. They ?¨loved money?Æ but they ?¨used God?Æ and they ?¨used people.?Æ God??s plan is just the opposite?ñ.we are to love God and love people and USE money simply as a part of our worship and our ministry. 

People who love money will NEVER know true riches: that of truly loving God and truly loving people. The poor old Pharisees gave their ten percent not out of love for God, but out of duty and so it would make them look good. Anyone who loves money and what it will buy will never know true love and true riches!
Jesus said, ?¨Give me an account of your money. Are you managing your money or is your money managing you? Do you love money so much you can??t let go of what I ask you to give? Could it be that you love money more than you love me??Æ

Let me share four Psalms of David with you, songs that reflect the heart of one of the greatest figures in all of Scripture:
Psalm 24: 1 ?¨The earth is the Lord??s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it, for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters!?Æ 
Psalm 89:11 ?¨The heavens are yours and also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it!?Æ
Psalm 75:1 ?¨We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near and people tell of your wonderful deeds.?Æ 
Psalm 118: 4 ?¨O give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His mercy endures forever!?Æ

What is David saying? It is just this. At the heart of all people who truly love God and are generous in their giving is the profound but simple awareness that everything in all creation was made by God and still belongs to Him. Out of love, He does entrust some His riches to people, some entrusted with more and others with less. You cannot be a generous giver unless you believe that everything there is belongs to God. Then, with a heart filled with thanksgiving for all God has done for you, especially through the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation purchased and won for you by the life, death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, you respond to Him with love and with generosity. Period. Plain and simple. It??s love at work, alive and well. It??s God??s way.