Believe - Stewardship (2)

Introduction

Everything I own and that I am is from God. Everything you own and all that you are is from God. But before we get to that, a question. What’s your favorite passage from the Bible that isn’t actually from the Bible? You probably know what I’m talking about. Examples include, the Lord helps those who help themselves. Or, we find these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Perhaps you know of another one. Which is your favorite? While there are many passages that we may think are in the Bible which aren’t, today we’re looking at it from another angle. We’re looking at a passage and concept that is in the Bible that we might just wish wasn’t in there. The Psalmist writes in

Psalm 24:1–2 ESV

1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, 2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

The idea the Psalmist is conveying is that we don’t really have anything that is ours. It is all God’s. Let’s start with an example. Our car. Our name is on the title. The money we used to pay for it was likely given to us by our employer through a paycheck with our name on it. If we stop paying our car payment the bank is not going to pray to God asking for money, they will be asking us for it. However, each one of us were created by God. If we weren’t created by God, we’d never be able to buy that car in the first. God also gifted us and gave us the ability to work hard to buy that vehicle. God also crated everything in creation, including the materials that went into that vehicle. God also is ultimately in control, and he could take the vehicle away from us if he wanted. We like to think that what we have is because we lived the right way and pulled ourselves up by our boot straps, but the Bible disagrees. All that we have is God’s. The question isn’t, how will we steward our resources? Nor is the question, how much of what we have will we give back to God? The question for today is,

How are we stewarding what God has entrusted to us?

Herschel Hobbs says, “Instead of needing our gifts, God gives us the things necessary for life—life itself, breath, and every material thing. True, the Bible teaches the stewardship of life and substance. However, God is not within Himself dependent on such. Stewardship is designed to develop His people, whose very gifts are a recognition that all belongs to Him and comes from Him.”

As we continue in our combined Sunday School and sermon series, the next step is what the Bible teaches about stewardship. In this series we have taken a step back from looking at what God teaches within one specific passage from scripture. Instead we are looking at the whole of scripture. So today we look at what the whole of scripture teaches us about stewardship. Specifically, we look at four different areas for our stewardship.

How are we stewarding our homes?

Romans 12:13 ESV

13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

There’s a few ways that we can steward our homes. In one sense, it can relate to how we are caring for and loving our families. Are helping them draw closer to the Lord or are we pushing them from the Lord. Paul in Romans seems to be talking about it from the standpoint of stewarding our homes with respect to other people. As in, how are we doing at hospitality? In Genesis 18, a man named Abraham provides hospitality to three men that appear near his home. Then he learns that he has provided hospitality to three angels who were sent by God. You never know the impact that hospitality can have on the people receiving and on us, when we are good stewards of the home God has provided us.

Michael Green tells about a seminary student who drove about thirty miles to church on Sunday mornings and would frequently pick up hitchhikers on the way. One day he picked up a young man who noticed that he was wearing a suit and asked if he could go to church with him. The student said, “Of course you can.” The stranger came to church and afterward was invited over to one of the members’ home for lunch and fellowship. While there, he received a hot bath, some clean clothes, and a hot meal. Talk about being hospitable. His hosts learned he was a Christian, but he had strayed from Jesus. He lived in another state, and he was passing through on his way back. Later in the evening, they bought him a bus ticket and sent him on his way. A week later, the seminary student received a letter from the hitchhiker. Enclosed with the letter was a newspaper clipping with headlines reading, “Man turns himself in for murder.” The young man had killed a teenage boy in an attempted robbery and had been running away from the law. The kindness and hospitality of Christians had convicted him. He wanted to be in fellowship with God, and he knew he needed to do the right thing. Little did those hospitable Christians know that by their faithfulness they had influenced a man to do what was right. They also helped restore his faith. The moral of the story is, stewardship of our homes and hospitality can have an impact on those who receive.

How are we stewarding our resources?

The Old Testament prophet, Malachi, writes,

Malachi 3:10–12 ESV

10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. 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 a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

Now let’s contrast this with,

Deuteronomy 6:16 ESV

16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.

So God tells his People, do not put me to the test. There is one exception to this rule though. The one time we are told by God to put him to the test is when it comes to the stewardship of our resources. Specifically, giving back to God a small portion of all he has given to us. God tells us in Malachi, “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 a blessing until there is no more need.” Now that said, Malachi isn’t teaching the prosperity gospel. He’s not teaching that if you give to God, you will become rich beyond your wildest dreams. Rather, God is giving to us what we need. This isn’t simply what we need financially. For example, by giving to God first, rather than with what we have left over, we are placing God first in our lives. The way we use our money is a reflection on where our priorities lie. It shows what is most important to us. So, where is God on your list of priorities?

Several years ago in an article in the Lexington Herald-Leader, the family living in a home in West Palm Beach, Florida, told a film crew they could use the front lawn as a set for filming a scene from a TV show. They knew cars would be crashing violently in front of the house. As the front yard was being blown up, the owner of the home was tipped off and called the TV crew demanding to know what was happening to his house. You see, it turns out that the house was a rental. The family who lived there didn’t mind the front yard getting blown up, after all, it wasn’t their home, but the owner of the property had a very different take on it. Similarly, we can live our lives under the mistaken impression that what God has entrusted us with belongs to us. But Paul tells us we were “bought with a price.” Therefore, we must live as those who know God will one day call us to account for how we have stewarded what he entrusted to us.

Therefore, here’s a few questions to think about. First, have you arrived at acknowledging all you have as God’s, or are you still telling yourself that what you have it yours? Secondly, how are your stewarding what God has given you?

How are we stewarding our health and our bodies?

Paul says in

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

God has given us a body, which is a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells with each one of us. Therefore, our bodies and our health is something that we steward.

Gregg Easterbrook shares that there are studies indicate that men and women of faith live longer than people of no faith. They have fewer strokes, less heart disease, less clinical depression, better immune system function, lower blood pressure, and fewer anxiety attacks. They are also less likely to commit suicide. These findings come from secular medical schools and schools of public health. What’s more, Dr. Harold Koenig of Duke University Medical Center has calculated that the lack of religious involvement has an effect on mortality that is equivalent to forty years of smoking one pack of cigarettes per day. And another study by researchers at the University of Texas found that those who regularly attended worship services lived an average of seven years longer than those who never attended.

Now frankly, I’m always a little skeptical when I hear these kinds of statistics. So I looked into it further, and it turns out that Google is overflowing with articles that back this up. Sandra Feder of Stanford news says, “ Research has repeatedly shown that people of faith report feeling better and healthier. One of the most striking findings in social epidemiology...is that religious involvement with God is better for your body in terms of immune functions and reducing loneliness.” Faith should have an impact on our health. This doesn’t mean that Christians will never have health issues or struggle with mental health or miraculously be cured. What it does mean is that our belief in Jesus Christ should impact how we care for our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit.

So here are a few ideas to think about when it comes to stewarding your body. How does your faith in Christ affect your diet? If we believe that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, then what we put into our bodies affects that temple. Here’s another question. Do you have any bad habits that impact your health? Because again, if the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, then those bad habits are impacting it. What are some other ways that we can make sure that we are taking good care of the physical body that God has entrusted us with?

How are we stewarding the Gospel?

Paul says in

2 Timothy 1:14 ESV

14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

As believers, God has entrusted a deposit to us. God has entrusted us with the Gospel. The work of the gospel in sharing the Gospel with others. We are also entrusted with growing in the grace of God. Another way to put this might simply be the fruit of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To grow in the fruit of the Spirit is to be a good steward of the Gospel. To share the gospel is to be a good steward of the gospel. Several years ago, a Kansas City pharmacist was charged with diluting cancer treatment drugs in order to make a larger profit. There are 20 felony counts filed against the pharmacist, Robert Courtney. He admitted to diluting the drugs during a period of time spanning from November 2000 to March 2001. This man held life-saving power in his hands, but for the sake of personal gain, he diluted it to the point where it was no longer helpful. As sad as the story is, what is just as sad is when we do the same thing. We have life-saving truth about God in hands. But do we share it? And, do we apply it within our lives? In other words, how are we stewarding the Gospel?

Conclusion

So today we’ve been asking ourselves, how are we stewarding what God has entrusted to us? To dig deeper, we first ask, how are you stewarding our homes? Second, how are we stewarding the resources God has given us? Third, how are we stewarding our health and our bodies? Finally, how are we stewarding the Gospel?

Jesus says in,

Matthew 6:24 ESV

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Who are we serving today? Are we serving and stewarding for God? Or, are we serving and stewarding what God has entrusted us with to serve ourselves and our families? After all, everything I own and that all that I am is from God. Similarly, Everything you own and all that you are is from God. Ron Blue says that “Stewardship is the “use of God-given resources for the accomplishment of God-given goals.”