Sermon Tone Analysis

One of the classic books of our time is the Lord of the Rings.

Frodo Baggins is entrusted with a ring of power, and he is to carry it across Middle Earth and drop that ring in the Mountain of Doom, to destroy it, so that the evil guy doesn’t get it and gain all of its power.

Quite the story.

Frodo has a friend Samwise Gamgee who has promised to accompany Frodo as a servant and as a friend.

Gandalf charges Sam to stick with Frodo and care for him.

And, he does.

He faithfully walks with Frodo through all sorts of difficulties.

Situations that would cause many of us to throw in the towel.

At one point, Frodo can’t keep going.

The ring is weighing him down emotionally and physically.

Sam says: I can’t carry the ring, Frodo, but I can carry you.

And he picks up Frodo and carries him over the rocks and up the mountain cliff.

Amazing part of the story.

Samwise Gamgee was a faithful friend and a faithful steward of the responsibility entrusted to him.

Today, in our passage, Paul talks about stewards.

Pray

Today in our passage, we will see that we are to be faithful stewards of the mystery of God.

We will define what that means and then explain it practically.

The Stewardship Defined

Let’s define this stewardship.

Technically, my translation does not use the word steward.

Instead it says, “those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.”

That word “entrusted” is the word for steward.

This steward is a servant with responsibility.

In America, we really don’t have a box for the Biblical position of steward.

We could consider a curator of a museum.

The Curator does not own the museum or the relics in the museum, but the curator is charged with taking care of the museum and everything in it.

They have to handle the finances wisely and keep up with updates and upkeep.

The curator is very close to a steward.

A caretaker of a garden or a cemetery would be another modern close-equivalent.

The steward was a servant or or a slave which handled the affairs of a household.

If you remember the Biblical character Joseph.

When he was sold into slavery and brought to Egypt, he was bought by Potiphar and placed in charge of Potiphar’s house.

We read in

Genesis 39:2–6 (NIV)

The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.

When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant.

Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.

From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph.

The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

A steward is a servant with responsibility, a responsibility to make sure someone’s household keeps running, handling the finances, doing the repairs, being in charge of the other household staff, etc.

I suppose the English butler would be a good example of a steward as well.

A steward has the responsibility to be faithful.

The faithfulness of a steward is to diligently complete the tasks required of him so that his master will look good.

His faithfulness is not to his own desires or his own priorities, but to his master’s.

This steward is a servant with responsibility.

They are entrusted with something important.

This Steward is judged by his master

Since a steward is to be faithful to his master, they look only to their master for approval.

Paul, speaking of himself as a steward, says

Jesus told a parable about a man who left for another country and gave his servants money to invest.

They had a stewardship: they had a responsibility.

One man was given five bags of gold and doubled it through investments.

One man was given two bags of gold and also doubled it.

The third man took his one bag of gold and buried it.

When his master confronted him about not being faithful with the stewardship, he responded:

The master condemns the steward for not being faithful to his task, and the servant is judged.

My question is: what was the servant afraid of.

He seemed to have a fear of failure and what his master might do if he didn’t meet unnamed expectations.

He feared life and his responsibilities.

This fear paralyzed him with anxiety, so he buried the gold to protect it.

What else could he be fearing?

Whatever we fear, we make into our master.

We are saying that thing controls us instead of our real master.

Paul says, as a steward, he will not have any other master other than Jesus Christ.

He will not allow the expectations or opinions of the Corinthians control him.

He will not allow his own insecurities or biases control him.

He will only submit himself, as a steward, to the control and judgment of his heavenly master.

This steward has a responsibility.

This steward is only judged by his master.

This steward will be shown grace

Paul concludes his paragraph:

I appreciate that Paul says: “each will receive their praise from God.” Paul rests on the grace of God.

He is not the fearful servant who hides his stewardship.

Paul is able to say:

“Yes, I am broken.

Yes, I am a sinner.

Yes, I do not meet God’s perfect standard for salvation or life.”

But, as he says in Romans 7:24-25

Romans 7:24–25 (NIV)

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

This steward faithfully serves his master, making his master look good, concerned only what his master thinks, instead of being filled with fear and anxiety for numerous reasons.

This steward who serves faithfully in that way can be assured that one day they will stand before Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ will reach his hand out to this sinful, yet faithful steward, and will say: “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into your rest.”

Can you imagine the freedom this brings?

Paul doesn’t second guess himself.

He confidently seeks to be faithful today, letting God take care of the past and the future.

There you go: the stewardship defined: This steward is a servant with a responsibility.

This steward is judged by God alone.

This steward will be shown grace.

The Stewardship Explained

Now that we have defined stewardship briefly.

Let’s talk about it practically.

Paul says:

Every person who is a follower of Jesus Christ is a steward of the mysteries that God has revealed to us and we are called to be faithful to that stewardship, instead of following any other master we could think of.

Jesus has left us hear on earth to wait for his return, but in our waiting we are to faithfully do what he has asked us to do.

Let’s briefly share 7 steps of stewardship.

By brief, I mean that it will take some time to cover all seven, but each point will be kind of brief.

Cherish God’s Grace