According to Jesus, each and every one of us are stewards. 1) We are stewards of our wealth. 2 ) We are stewards of our natural abilities, experience and spiritual gifts. 3) We are stewards of our fellowship. 4) Of preeminent importance, we are stewards of the gospel itself. 5) Finally, We are stewards of our time.
“…..turn in the account of your stewardship….” Luke 16:2
On the surface of things, our text this morning is one of the truly difficult passages of the New Testament: The master in the parable of Jesus openly applauds the behavior of the unrighteous steward who swindles him in order to insure his own future.
If we worry about every nuance of this passage it will drive us batty. But there is a solution. Scholars tell us that the parables are intended to make “one” and “only one” key point. We ought not, they say, press the details.
And what is the “one” point of this parable? Jesus supplies it: “…the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” (Luke 16:9)
This is still true today. As children of this world, we spend an incalculable amount of time worrying about how the recession in Asia and the bear market will effect our Mutual Funds and our other investments, wondering if we will have enough to live on in retirement. As children of light we spend almost no time worrying about how we will fare when we come at last to “… appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body.” (2nd Corinthians 5:10)
The early Moravians spoke of “…a long dark night of the soul…” A time in the life of all true believers when we must struggle before God, not just over our salvation, but with what God would have us to do with the priceless capital of our lives. This kind of angst seldom grips us, today. We have sold ourselves on the idea that the grace that is ours in Christ is not only free, but cheap; and that our lives are our own to do with as we please. We hope not to be budged from these convictions.
But what the master said to his steward, God will someday say to each of us. “Steward,” God will say, “turn in the account of your stewardship!”
Now make no mistake about it, according to Jesus, each and every one of us are stewards. 1) We are stewards of our wealth. 2 ) We are stewards of our natural abilities, experience and spiritual gifts. 3) We are stewards of our fellowship. 4) Of preeminent importance, we are stewards of the gospel itself. 5) Finally, We are stewards of our time.
Now, if you were interested only in your financial security, you would no doubt be home speaking by phone with your broker. Since you are here, I am assuming that you are at least somewhat concerned with your eternal security. As your pastor, I would be remiss if I did not help you to “look over” the account of your stewardship (and mine) as it now stands. This morning I want to deal with just the first of the five things that I have mentioned, leaving the rest for the weeks ahead.
Let us begin at the beginning, with the stewardship of our wealth. God has provided us with a very easy way to measure our performance in this area. In the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, God uses the tithe, the practice of giving 10% of our income to God and God’s work in our world, in order to measure the minimum stewardship of our wealth.
Some people think that the tithe is something to which Christians are to aspire. This is wrong. The book of Malachi records that the people who are not tithing are robbing God! (Malachi 3:8,9) Of course, if we are robbing God, we are also short changing ourselves! God wants us to do better, not just for God’s sake, but for our own sake. God spoke to the people of Israel through his prophet Malachi saying:
Bring the full tithes into the storehouse….and thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. Mal 3:10
This promise of an “overflowing blessing” has never been rescinded. Some Christians go from financial difficulty to financial difficulty, and never once stop to “put (God) to the test.”
Is your faith weak? Would you like to test God? This is one way to do it. I told you before about the businessman who was just starting a new business. At the same time he was convinced that he ought to begin tithing. So he sat down and wrote 52 checks, dating one for each week of the year, and making it for an amount which he felt would be 1/10th of his weekly income. He then gave them to the treasurer of his church and said, “Cash one check each week.” Years later he reported to me that not one check bounced! And that at the end of the year he had to write a 53rd check, almost as large as the other 52. He put God to the test–and God was up to the testing!
Of course, according to the New Testament, the tithe is elementary. It is what we might call first grade giving. In the New Testament, our financial faithfulness is measured not by what we give but by what we keep. Christians may aspire to a goal set for himself by Andrew Carnegie, the benefactor of most of our public libraries. It was Carnegie who said, “It is a sin for one to die wealthy.” His philosophy was, “make all you can, save all you can, give all you can!”
Martin Marty, a professor of Church History at Chicago Theological Seminary regularly contributes a column of church bloopers to the “Christian Century.” This month’s issue recorded several that have to do with stewardship. One church recently featured an offertory solo entitled, “It Is Enough!” Every pastor and every trustee knows this is rarely the case. But another church committed a bulletin error that is much more truthful. One hymn was entitled, “My Gold, I Love Thee.” “The truth will out,” wrote Marty.
Of course, you and I think better of one another! I believe that, at the very least, each and everyone of you intends, at some point in your lives, to be a tither. You just don’t know how to start. Let me suggest three things.
First, decide carefully where you are going to give what you give. Are you interested in evangelism? You may want to give to Billy Graham, to the Cornerstone Campaign that supports new Moravian Congregations, or to Moravian Missions. Are you interested in “social concerns?” Then you may want to give to Sunnyside Ministry, Crisis Control, or the Samaritan Inn. What about care for the elderly? Salemtown–formerly Moravian Home, is a worthy call.
Of course, as you give, I hope that you will want to designate at least some portion of your tithe to New Philadelphia. I say that not because I want to protect my salary–I can always get another job; but because I myself want to believe in the life and ministry of this church.
I am concerned for the stewardship of the Whole Church of Christ. I particularly abhor duplication. It is a waste of money. Thus, there are times when I think it would be easy enough for all of us to move right down the street to that “big Baptist church.” It makes financial sense. They already have the fellowship facilities, and Sunday School Classrooms that we need. I suspect that they could find room for all of us in the pews. They would have to. After all, we preach and worship the same Christ. Indeed if the issue of baptism is the only issue that separates us, then we all ought probably to go down the street.
But–personally, I believe there are bigger differences between us than baptism. Most of the Baptist with whom I have to do tell me that they believe they are true to Christ only when they “take the Bible literally.” As far back as Zinzendorf, Moravians came to the conclusion that, though one must live in the Spirit of scripture, is impossible to “take the Bible literally.” If we did we would still be delighting in the thought of stoning to death the children of unbelievers who persecute us–as in Psalm 137:9, keeping slaves as in Ephesians 6:9, asking women to keep silent in the church as in 1st Timothy 2:12, and insisting that our Elders and Trustees be the husband of one wife as in 1st Timothy 3:2,12. This means that single men, divorced men, and no women would be permitted to serve on our boards or be ordained for ministry. Do we really want to “take the Bible literally?”
Personally, I don’t take the Bible literally, I take it seriously! After all, as a member of the Church that has endured for almost 2,000 years, I do not believe in Jesus Christ for the sake of the Bible, but in the Bible for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Why?
Zinzendorf, the founder of the renewed Moravian Church had a good answer. He said, “The Bible is a ragged old book, shot through and through with holes, but, in it, God speaks to (humankind) as nowhere else.”
Want the Reformed view? John Calvin once advised that any intelligent unbeliever could rip the Bible apart from cover to cover. “But,” he said, “if the same Spirit that inspired the writer inspires the reader (the Holy Spirit), then the Bible is truly inspired.”
Want a Lutheran perspective? Martin Luther wrote that the Bible is the cradle of Christ. We look in it to find Him. That any scripture that “preaches Christ” and measures up to him is inspired. That which does not is not.
Isn’t that what Jesus was getting at when he said, “You search the scriptures because, in them, you think you will find eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:35)
But let me get back to my comparison with the church that is right down the street. If That “big Baptist church” is a Coke, then I don’t want us to be an RC–a wannabe Coke that people only drink when eating a Moon Pie. I want us to be the Un-Cola. Why? Because I believe that some people will drink a 7-up who will never touch a Coke. Or, to put it plainly, I believe that some people may just find a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through New Philadelphia who will not be able to do the same through that “big Baptist church.” Their numbers may be fewer–That “big Baptist church” is a marvelous church with a fantastic ministry. Their ministry and their message is popular with a great many people. But Jesus himself said that when 99 sheep are safely in the fold, the Good Shepherd goes out into the cold to look for the 1 that is lost. (Luke 15:4f)
I believe it is because of our differences that we will reach some people who can never be reached by That “big Baptist church.” But I do not believe it will happen—-get this, unless we are as fully dedicated to Christ as the people of That “big Baptist church.” More than two centuries ago a Baptist by the name of William Carey went to an assembly of Baptist in England with a document entitled, “A Periodical Account of the Work of Moravians among the Heathen.” He slapped it down on the table around which they sat and said, “See what these Moravians have done–why can’t we do likewise!”
This morning I am not at all embarrassed to point down the street at what I believe to be a great church filled with good Baptist, and say, “See what these Baptist have done! Why can’t we do likewise?” We may be small, but we don’t have to think small! Jesus started with 12; but the 12 turned the world upside down, and opened the gospel to the many.
Consider this: If the percentage of tithers at New Philadelphia were suddenly equal to the percentage of tithers at that “big Baptist church”, then, I believe we would have the revival in our Moravian Church that some of us seek. Moravians would be serving God in the present with the same kind of zeal that Zinzendorf, and Spangenberg, and our ancestors served him in the past! We would have something contemporary to celebrate.
And some of you may say–”I would be tempted to do that, if I thought our church was worth it, and if I thought others would join me.”
Well–some things we must love for more than they are worth if they are ever going to be all that they might be, and churches are among those things. Jesus Christ certainly loved us far more than we were worth!
There is a second thing you can do as you start to move toward tithing. You can give regularly. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians saying that it was a good practice “to put something aside weekly.” (1st Corinthians 16:2) That is what my friend who wrote the 52 checks did. But he paid himself weekly. Some of us are paid monthly or bi-monthly. Some work solely on commission. The important thing is that, when we are paid, we sit down and take something off the top for God. We need to get in the habit!
Almost 27 years ago my wife and I received the first paycheck of our married life. I was a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Marines and for my service I received $430.00 in pay and allowances. At the end of the first month we were broke–we had $.25 cents in our check book. The next month, we decided to tithe. At the end of that month, we were able to save a substantial sum. Since that time, we have given on a regular basis. Elayne writes the checks all at once. She writes the checks for our giving at the same time that she writes the check for the mortgage on our home.
If you want to move toward tithing–start to give regularly. And, while you are at it, help the church to plan by pledging. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth to “arrange in advance” (2nd Corinthians 9:5 ) for a gift that church had promised “for the relief of the saints” in Jerusalem. Some people treat pledging as a terrible evil. The truth is, some of us don’t like it because we are afraid that we will not keep the pledge we make! But it is impossible for the church to make a budget if we don’t pledge. We need to learn to trust God in this matter. We need to learn to go out on a limb.
There is a third thing you can do as you move toward–or beyond tithing: Give according to percentage. Many of you will remember Bishop Herbert Spaugh. In his biography, The Boy, the Man and the Bishop, there is a schedule of giving established by the Bishop’s father. The figures are old, but in the 19th century he determined to give 10% of the first $5,000.00 he made. Then he then upped his giving by increments until, if he made $50,000.00, he gave 50%. Today the numbers would be different. But this table serves as a helpful reminder that the tithe is the minimum.
Still, I know that there are those who think they can’t afford even 10%. So, I will say to you what the unrighteous steward said to those who owed money to his master. If you don’t think you can give 10%, give 5%–this year, and 7 ½ % next year, and tithe the year after that. Some will criticize me for this soft approach. They will accuse me of making a place for myself by means of unrighteous mammon. They will accuse me of robbing the giver of the blessing of “putting God to the test.” But I sincerely believe that once a person begins to give according to a percentage, that percentage will increase. Besides, even the Bible makes a provision for delaying and redeeming the tithe. In the Old Testament there is a provision for people to keep back a portion of their tithe to be redeemed at a later time. In Leviticus 27:31 we read that, “If a man wishes to redeem any of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it.”
I believe my math is correct when I say that, if we keep back 5% this year of the 10% we owe God this year, then we are to give 16% in some future year. Of course, if we make this arrangement with God, we want to be careful not to fall too far behind! The dollars will soon start to accumulate almost as much as interest accumulates on an unpaid MasterCard or Visa!
There is a final word I would say about tithing: Glow over your giving! Don’t just write out the check. Consider where it is going–and calculate the good that it is doing.
My father has a wonderful project that he works on all year long. He asks people for bicycles that they or their children have outgrown. He has them repaired, then, at Christmas, he gives those bikes out to children who otherwise would never own a bike. There are few things better, he says, than driving through a neighborhood where he is visiting, seeing a young boy or girl on a bike that he has provided. But there are some things better. One of them is seeing a person who has been made whole in body, mind, and Spirit, because of some gift that we have given.
The money we put into a mutual fund will pay dividends as long as we live, provided we don’t touch the principal. The money we truly put into the hands of Christ will pay dividends to all eternity, and the principal? Well, it can’t be touched. We can’t take it with us, but we can, indeed, send it ahead. What better way to “… make friends for (ourselves) by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive (us) into the eternal habitations.”
Finis
Worth Green, Th.M., D.Min.
Everydaycounselor©
4440 Country Club Road
Winston-Salem, N.C. 27104