Being Good Stewards of God's Gift - The Church

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.

Once upon a time there was a young boy.  This boy grew up in a pretty ordinary family.  He had several brothers and sisters but he was the oldest.  His parents did all the right things.  They made sure that he was taught about God.  They made sure that he learned how to pray.  They regularly took him to worship.  All of their plans for their son were right on track.  And then one day everything changed.

Does this story sound familiar?  Does at least part of it sound familiar?

It should.  This story is told in much more detail in our Gospels.  It is also told over and over again, generation after generation.

Our Gospels tell us that Jesus’ parents made sure that they brought him to the temple to be taught about God.  They made sure that he went through all of the proper rites of passage.  He was circumcised and had his bar-mitzvah.  If Jesus were a Christian today, his parents would have had him baptized and he would have been confirmed on schedule.  And then everything would change.

When the time was right, Jesus stopped and looked at the world around him.  He looked at his worship life.  He looked at the way that people treated each other.  He looked at the needs of his people.  And with wisdom that had nothing to do with his years on this earth, he saw what changes needed to be made and how to make them happen.

Was it easy for him to make these changes?  (No!)  Was it easy to get people to listen to him?  (No!)  In the end, the only way that he could get enough people to listen was to die for them.  So why did he do it?

Because he loved all of God’s creation.  “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us.”

What do we call this kind of action?

What do we call it when we look at the world around us, try to figure out what isn’t working right, and then do whatever it takes to make it right?

We call it stewardship.

I know we usually talk about stewardship when we talk about money, but that’s not really what stewardship is about.  Stewardship is about taking care of the gifts that God has given us.  I’m not talking about financial stewardship today, or at least not directly.  I’m talking about other gifts that God gives us.

Can anyone name a gift that we have from God?

-         Family

-         The church

-         Friends

-         Money

-         Health

-         Creation

-         Time

And how do we take care of that gift (name it)?  How can we be good stewards?

For a moment, let’s focus on one of God’s gifts.  A gift that brought us all here today.  The Church.  How can we be good stewards of this gift?

“We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.  How does God’s love abide in anyone who had the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?  Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”

If we are going to be good stewards of this gift we have been given, we need to look carefully at what we are doing.  We need to discern whether we are serving God or serving ourselves.  We need to see what is working and what is not working.  And we need to make it right.  This is stewardship.

But how do we tell what is right and what isn’t?  There isn’t an easy answer.  But there is something that may help.  This past fall, I mentioned something called the “Five Marks of a Healthy Parish.”  I just mentioned this in passing.  I didn’t list what these marks are.  I’m going to list them and talk a bit about them, but don’t worry, you don’t have to remember what they are.  There are copies of them at the back that you can pick up after church.

So here we go:

The first mark is IDENTITY.  Our congregation knows who they are before God.

The assignment on the back of this month’s schedule is about this.  And I’m hoping that we can explore our identity together over the next little while.

The second mark is VISION.  Our congregation knows what it is called to do.

Lately I’ve been talking a lot about what we are called to do.  I can only say what all Christians are called to do.  You have to discern what this parish is called to do.

The third mark is FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP.  Our congregation has the resources and leadership necessary to carry out its calling.

Right now this is a struggle.  Usually, once you have the other marks in place, it is no longer a problem.

The fourth mark is WORSHIP.  People experience the power and energy of the Gospel in their worship and life together.

There are two key words here … power and energy.  I know that it is much more comfortable to have worship that is familiar, worship that doesn’t surprise us or make us work too hard, but where has that brought us?

The fifth mark is OUTREACH.  The activities of the congregation make a discernible difference in individual lives and in the world around us.

For me, this is THE key point in stewardship of the church.  We are called to come together in community to support each other and to work for the common good.  If we forget the second part, we stop being church and become a Christian social group.

Bishop Sue has added a sixth mark: CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION.  Our congregation can transform conflict into positive energy for the Gospel.

“Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”

We come together here because we all have faith.  We believe that God has a purpose for the church here in this community.  “We ought to lay down our lives for one another.”  I pray that we can all open ourselves to God’s call.  I have faith that God will help us figure out what his church is supposed to be doing in this place, and that when we have that figured out, God will make sure that we have the resources to do it.