Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
Building A Life Of Christian Stewardship
Mark 12:38-44 November 12, 2006
What is stewardship and what does it have to do with us? First let me dispel some myths about
stewardship.
1) Stewardship is not just another word for giving. Stewardship is a defined lifestyle. It includes
everything in life from the most exciting to the most mundane. Giving is only a small part of it.
2) Stewardship is not a source of income for the church. It is a way of life for those committed
to Jesus Christ.
3)Stewardship is not so much about obligation as it is about your response to the love of God.
Stewardship doesn’t start in your life until it starts in your heart.
So what does the Bible say about stewardship? It says a lot. Jesus talked about stewardship far
more than any other subject recorded in the Gospels. So let’s look together at what Scripture can
teach us about building a life of stewardship.
Here is something to think about. Every structure, no matter what it looks like begins with the
same thing. It is in fact the most important piece of the structure, the foundation.
As Christians, our foundation is to be built on God. If you don’t know God, then there is no
reason to even consider the question of stewardship. You will naturally think that everything you
have is yours, everything you earned is yours and everything you can get will be yours. There is
no one else to think about. But, if you have God as the source of your life, as the creator of the
ends of the earth, as the lover of your soul, then you have to pause and think about what he wants.
It is kind of like being married or having a family. If you are single then you have no one to
answer to. You don’t need to think about anyone other than yourself. But once you make a
commitment to a spouse and begin to raise a family, then you need to consider how your
decisions affect them.
So if we recognize God as the author and creator of life, then we need to understand that we are
living in God’s creation. In the book of Genesis it says that God created the heavens and the earth
even before he created us. Then he created humanity and gave us dominion over all things. In
other words, it was his creation and he asked us to manage it for him.
To put it bluntly, all we have belongs to God. The definition of a steward is one who manages the
affairs of another. So as a Christian we need to understand that our homes, our finances, our
cars, our 42 inch high def television, all belong to God and he let’s us have full use of them as we
see fit.
Whoa, I know some of you probably want to get up and go home now. You didn’t need to hear
this today. You can barely make ends meet. You are busting your back working to pay off the
mortgage, putting your kids through school, paying the oil and grocery bills. You work hard, so
who am I to tell you that everything you have doesn’t belong to you.
Well I am going to take a page out of Rev. Freddie Price’s book. Don’t blame me. It is in the
Bible. You can do whatever you want, but this is what the Bible says.
Now it is not all bad. The truth is that God loves us. He wants us to enjoy his blessings. He
doesn’t hold it over us and make threats. He tells us to use what he has given us and live in joy.
It’s like this church building. We have a beautiful worship space. We come here every week and
praise God, lift up our prayers, sing the old hymns and greet our friends. Nobody pays for it
directly. It is a gift that has been handed down by the faithful who went before us.
In the Jewish synagogue, every member gets a bill. This is how much it costs to join. We don’t
do that. This place is a blessing, you heard Cliff speak, first the blessing. The same is true in your
life and mine. God has blessed us in so many ways, from our families to the material things we
enjoy.
In Cliff’s talk this morning he used a phrase - First the blessing, then the tithe. In other word:
God’s blessing always come first. Then we respond to them. Our response is the “thank you” to
God. In the Old Testament it was the tithe. Everyone who received a blessing from God was to
return a tenth to the temple as a thank you. It doesn’t matter if we are still under the tithe or not,
it is still important for us to say thank you to God for the blessings. That means that we will give
something back to God or do something in honor of God.
Jesus once told a story about ten men who were healed. They all went away glad and rejoicing.
Then he pointed out that only one came back to say thank you. We hear that story and can
identify with the feelings. How many times have you done something for someone and felt it
wasn’t appreciated? They never showed their gratitude. We feel that they’ve taken us for
granted. Well, so it is with God. Too many of us receive his blessings and never respond
accordingly, if at all. The truth is that we do take God for granted.
Well I want to tell you something that will amaze you. When we respond to God and live as
Christian stewards, God takes what we give him and blesses it and returns it to us many times
over.
There is a great story in John, chapter six that illustrates this point. A crowd had gathered to hear
Jesus speak. It was getting late and one of the disciples said to Jesus that everyone was getting
hungry and maybe they should send the crowd away so they could get some food. Jesus tells his
disciples not to send them away, but instead tells them to feed the crowd.
Can you imagine that? But as they were contemplating how they could feed the crowd, a boy
comes up offering five small loaves and two fish. I can almost hear the scoffing of the disciples
as the offer was made. But they bring it to Jesus and the next thing you know, a crowd of five
thousand were sitting down to eat, including the hungry disciples.
You see that is the amazing thing about God. He can make what little we have to offer go a long
way. Time after time in the Scriptures God takes what is offered and extends its reach far
beyond what anyone can imagine. You may think your offering is not substantial, but when you
give back to God, he turns it over and sends it right back to us ten fold.
I’m not making this up. It is in the Bible. And if you think the Bible is something of a history
book that doesn’t speak to today’s economy. You heard Cliff today. He lives by this principle. If
you were here the last few weeks you heard Curt and Fred speak. You see God doesn’t ask us to
give so that he can stockpile it up in a bank account somewhere. He takes what we give and
plows it right back into our lives.
You heard Fred’s story about the small funeral here last week. Our church was the place where
that widow met God in her grief. God used your giving to make it possible. You heard Curt’s
story about his aunt Ida bringing him here to Sunday school at age two or three. God used the
giving of people back then to turn our church into an incubator where God’s love was hatched in
the lives of countless children like him. And God continues to do this time after time.
Now I’ve spent quite a bit of time talking about building a life of Christian stewardship without
mentioning our text yet. But here it comes. This little story tucked away in the Gospels is so
beautiful because it points to a life that is sold out to God. You have to understand the context.
Jesus is teaching his disciples. He sits in the temple and in the back is the place where alms are
given for the poor. It is in a place where many can see. Giving to the poor has always been seen
as a virtuous act. It was seen as a way to earn brownie points with God. It was a good deed, a
mitzpah in Hebrew. The rich and powerful often came in and dropped gold into the basket to the
oooohs and aaahhs of the people.
On this day the widow stops by. This is a woman who certainly could be the beneficiary of these
offerings. And she does the unthinkable. She puts a couple of coins in the baskets.
The fact that this woman gave is incredible to me. You see, she was a widow. She had no sons or
other family in her life. Like Naomi in the Old Testament this widow had no one on which to rely,
so she was reduced to living off the kindness of strangers or gleaning from the fields.
She lived day to day and literally had nothing to call her own. Jesus, knowing this, said that the
two copper coins she put into the treasury represented all that she had to sustain her. Yet she
gave. In doing so she not only said thank you to God, but she also put her trust in him to provide
for her.
I think that is the biggest stumbling block to building a life of Christian stewardship: trusting God.
WE hold onto things because we worry about tomorrow.
And yet God says, “consider the sparrow… consider the lilies…”
He has demonstrated his love for us by giving the ultimate gift, his only begotten son. He showed
his love for us while we were yet sinners, strangers and aliens. He said I am going to do this to
show you my love.
The truth is that if we know God, then we know he will open doors, he will make a way for
blessings to flow. He will take care of us. Too often we say I’ll respond tomorrow, I’ll give later,
I will volunteer to help when I have more time. Well tomorrow may never come. We need to
trust God today. We need to live life like that widow, who as bad as things looked, knew she
could depend on God to take care of her.
The funny thing is that she was blessed in her giving. She walked away satisfied even though she
gave her all. She walked away knowing that God loved her. I pray that you and I can live that
way too. I pray that we will know that God loves us and that he will provide for us, so we can
respond and share generously.
Last year Bob Sullivan shared his testimony and noted that he was amazed as a newcomer and
how well we did in the church, with the little we received. We did far more than you might
expect. I suggest that’s because God’s multiplication factor was at work. As always, he takes
our offerings and multiplies them like the fishes and loaves.
But it always begin with something for Jesus to work with. When we give our love, in tithes,
offerings, talents and gifts, he turns around and gives it back to us as something beautiful,
something for us and something for the kingdom on earth that he is building.
Amen
Mark 12:38-44 November 12, 2006
What is stewardship and what does it have to do with us? First let me dispel some myths about
stewardship.
1) Stewardship is not just another word for giving. Stewardship is a defined lifestyle. It includes
everything in life from the most exciting to the most mundane. Giving is only a small part of it.
2) Stewardship is not a source of income for the church. It is a way of life for those committed
to Jesus Christ.
3)Stewardship is not so much about obligation as it is about your response to the love of God.
Stewardship doesn’t start in your life until it starts in your heart.
So what does the Bible say about stewardship? It says a lot. Jesus talked about stewardship far
more than any other subject recorded in the Gospels. So let’s look together at what Scripture can
teach us about building a life of stewardship.
Here is something to think about. Every structure, no matter what it looks like begins with the
same thing. It is in fact the most important piece of the structure, the foundation.
As Christians, our foundation is to be built on God. If you don’t know God, then there is no
reason to even consider the question of stewardship. You will naturally think that everything you
have is yours, everything you earned is yours and everything you can get will be yours. There is
no one else to think about. But, if you have God as the source of your life, as the creator of the
ends of the earth, as the lover of your soul, then you have to pause and think about what he wants.
It is kind of like being married or having a family. If you are single then you have no one to
answer to. You don’t need to think about anyone other than yourself. But once you make a
commitment to a spouse and begin to raise a family, then you need to consider how your
decisions affect them.
So if we recognize God as the author and creator of life, then we need to understand that we are
living in God’s creation. In the book of Genesis it says that God created the heavens and the earth
even before he created us. Then he created humanity and gave us dominion over all things. In
other words, it was his creation and he asked us to manage it for him.
To put it bluntly, all we have belongs to God. The definition of a steward is one who manages the
affairs of another. So as a Christian we need to understand that our homes, our finances, our
cars, our 42 inch high def television, all belong to God and he let’s us have full use of them as we
see fit.
Whoa, I know some of you probably want to get up and go home now. You didn’t need to hear
this today. You can barely make ends meet. You are busting your back working to pay off the
mortgage, putting your kids through school, paying the oil and grocery bills. You work hard, so
who am I to tell you that everything you have doesn’t belong to you.
Well I am going to take a page out of Rev. Freddie Price’s book. Don’t blame me. It is in the
Bible. You can do whatever you want, but this is what the Bible says.
Now it is not all bad. The truth is that God loves us. He wants us to enjoy his blessings. He
doesn’t hold it over us and make threats. He tells us to use what he has given us and live in joy.
It’s like this church building. We have a beautiful worship space. We come here every week and
praise God, lift up our prayers, sing the old hymns and greet our friends. Nobody pays for it
directly. It is a gift that has been handed down by the faithful who went before us.
In the Jewish synagogue, every member gets a bill. This is how much it costs to join. We don’t
do that. This place is a blessing, you heard Cliff speak, first the blessing. The same is true in your
life and mine. God has blessed us in so many ways, from our families to the material things we
enjoy.
In Cliff’s talk this morning he used a phrase - First the blessing, then the tithe. In other word:
God’s blessing always come first. Then we respond to them. Our response is the “thank you” to
God. In the Old Testament it was the tithe. Everyone who received a blessing from God was to
return a tenth to the temple as a thank you. It doesn’t matter if we are still under the tithe or not,
it is still important for us to say thank you to God for the blessings. That means that we will give
something back to God or do something in honor of God.
Jesus once told a story about ten men who were healed. They all went away glad and rejoicing.
Then he pointed out that only one came back to say thank you. We hear that story and can
identify with the feelings. How many times have you done something for someone and felt it
wasn’t appreciated? They never showed their gratitude. We feel that they’ve taken us for
granted. Well, so it is with God. Too many of us receive his blessings and never respond
accordingly, if at all. The truth is that we do take God for granted.
Well I want to tell you something that will amaze you. When we respond to God and live as
Christian stewards, God takes what we give him and blesses it and returns it to us many times
over.
There is a great story in John, chapter six that illustrates this point. A crowd had gathered to hear
Jesus speak. It was getting late and one of the disciples said to Jesus that everyone was getting
hungry and maybe they should send the crowd away so they could get some food. Jesus tells his
disciples not to send them away, but instead tells them to feed the crowd.
Can you imagine that? But as they were contemplating how they could feed the crowd, a boy
comes up offering five small loaves and two fish. I can almost hear the scoffing of the disciples
as the offer was made. But they bring it to Jesus and the next thing you know, a crowd of five
thousand were sitting down to eat, including the hungry disciples.
You see that is the amazing thing about God. He can make what little we have to offer go a long
way. Time after time in the Scriptures God takes what is offered and extends its reach far
beyond what anyone can imagine. You may think your offering is not substantial, but when you
give back to God, he turns it over and sends it right back to us ten fold.
I’m not making this up. It is in the Bible. And if you think the Bible is something of a history
book that doesn’t speak to today’s economy. You heard Cliff today. He lives by this principle. If
you were here the last few weeks you heard Curt and Fred speak. You see God doesn’t ask us to
give so that he can stockpile it up in a bank account somewhere. He takes what we give and
plows it right back into our lives.
You heard Fred’s story about the small funeral here last week. Our church was the place where
that widow met God in her grief. God used your giving to make it possible. You heard Curt’s
story about his aunt Ida bringing him here to Sunday school at age two or three. God used the
giving of people back then to turn our church into an incubator where God’s love was hatched in
the lives of countless children like him. And God continues to do this time after time.
Now I’ve spent quite a bit of time talking about building a life of Christian stewardship without
mentioning our text yet. But here it comes. This little story tucked away in the Gospels is so
beautiful because it points to a life that is sold out to God. You have to understand the context.
Jesus is teaching his disciples. He sits in the temple and in the back is the place where alms are
given for the poor. It is in a place where many can see. Giving to the poor has always been seen
as a virtuous act. It was seen as a way to earn brownie points with God. It was a good deed, a
mitzpah in Hebrew. The rich and powerful often came in and dropped gold into the basket to the
oooohs and aaahhs of the people.
On this day the widow stops by. This is a woman who certainly could be the beneficiary of these
offerings. And she does the unthinkable. She puts a couple of coins in the baskets.
The fact that this woman gave is incredible to me. You see, she was a widow. She had no sons or
other family in her life. Like Naomi in the Old Testament this widow had no one on which to rely,
so she was reduced to living off the kindness of strangers or gleaning from the fields.
She lived day to day and literally had nothing to call her own. Jesus, knowing this, said that the
two copper coins she put into the treasury represented all that she had to sustain her. Yet she
gave. In doing so she not only said thank you to God, but she also put her trust in him to provide
for her.
I think that is the biggest stumbling block to building a life of Christian stewardship: trusting God.
WE hold onto things because we worry about tomorrow.
And yet God says, “consider the sparrow… consider the lilies…”
He has demonstrated his love for us by giving the ultimate gift, his only begotten son. He showed
his love for us while we were yet sinners, strangers and aliens. He said I am going to do this to
show you my love.
The truth is that if we know God, then we know he will open doors, he will make a way for
blessings to flow. He will take care of us. Too often we say I’ll respond tomorrow, I’ll give later,
I will volunteer to help when I have more time. Well tomorrow may never come. We need to
trust God today. We need to live life like that widow, who as bad as things looked, knew she
could depend on God to take care of her.
The funny thing is that she was blessed in her giving. She walked away satisfied even though she
gave her all. She walked away knowing that God loved her. I pray that you and I can live that
way too. I pray that we will know that God loves us and that he will provide for us, so we can
respond and share generously.
Last year Bob Sullivan shared his testimony and noted that he was amazed as a newcomer and
how well we did in the church, with the little we received. We did far more than you might
expect. I suggest that’s because God’s multiplication factor was at work. As always, he takes
our offerings and multiplies them like the fishes and loaves.
But it always begin with something for Jesus to work with. When we give our love, in tithes,
offerings, talents and gifts, he turns around and gives it back to us as something beautiful,
something for us and something for the kingdom on earth that he is building.
Amen
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