When I Think It's Mine

In 2017 a group of Psychologists from Northwestern University in Illinois partnered with scientists from the University of Zurich in Switzerland and conducted a series of experiments on generosity and health. The results were published in an academic journal. The basic control of the study was this. For a period of one month a group of people were each given $100 every week. Half of the people were instructed that they must spend all of it on themselves. The other half were instructed that they must spend all of it on other people. The scientists then used a series of MRI brain scans, survey questionnaires, and medical health measurements to track every participant in the study.

What they found was that those who could not spend the money on themselves but had to spend all of it on other people showed signs of being physically healthier and reported feeling happier than those who got to spend all of the money on themselves. Generosity had an effect on the giver. The study shows that generosity causes a person to be healthier and happier. And it wasn’t just in the actual act of generosity. The benefits carried forward even into the planning stages, the preparation for generosity. All the study participants were hooked up to machines monitoring brain activity and then given a form to help them plan and think about how they would spend the money. Those who had to spend the money on themselves had to make lists of what it is they wanted to buy for themselves. Those who had to spend on others were told to make lists of who they planned to spend the money on and what they planned to buy for them. The people spending on others measured a higher sense of satisfaction and pleasure than those spending on themselves, even in the act of just thinking about it.

Physical benefits measured in the study showed that those who practiced generosity had lower blood pressure and reported less anxiety. Multiple studies link stress and anxiety to having an impact upon personal health. People who think about, plan, and then follow through on acts of generosity saw positive gains in physical, mental, and emotional health.

Also significant to the study is the finding that this benefit increases over time. Whereas spending on oneself may cause a hit of dopamine pleasure initially, the benefit wore off quickly and could not be increased with repetition of buying more things. But the opposite is true when it comes to generosity. The regular practice and repetition of generosity increases the benefit. The occasional giving of a gift does not have the same positive effect as a regular routine habit of giving.

This is all science. There were no pastors or theologians involved in this study on generosity. I haven’t even mentioned any Bible verses yet. The act of generosity provides all those benefits for us that have been shown by scientific study. But here in the church we a rather unique view to generosity that helps us see the act of giving even more clearly. We don’t just talk about giving as generosity. We have another word. We talk about giving as stewardship. That is what we want to focus on in this month of November. The next four Sundays leading up to the holiday of Thanksgiving will be a time for us to consider all the ways in which God calls us to be good stewards. Generosity for us is about more than giving. Generosity is about stewardship. To get us started this week with a focus of stewardship I am going to read just two verses.

Psalm 24:1–2 NIV

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.

This is where stewardship begins. It begins with a very simple idea. The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. It is a simple phrase. It is very easy to say it. It is also very easy to forget. How very quickly we all fall into thinking that the world is mine for the taking. I don’t necessarily mean taking in the sense of stealing. Although often we do rationalize and explain away our robbery of the creation. Most of the time we view the world as an entitlement. I am entitled to everything that I have. I have worked for it. I earned it. I deserve it. That makes it mine. Stewardship shrivels up and is choked out whenever entitlement takes over. But the simple and immediate correction for entitlement is always to return again to this simple and foundational truth; the earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. It is not mine. It all belongs to God. I don’t own it. Rather, God has appointed me to be a steward of it.

There are some word pairs in the opening verses of Psalm 24 that are meant to show comprehensive totality. Earth and world used together reference the entirety of the created universe. Founded and established used together reference the creative act of bringing the universe in existence belongs to God alone. Seas and waters used together reinforce the point that even the farthest reaches of all creation come from God and belong to God. stewardship begins in remembering that the world is not mine. It all belongs to God.

Stewardship is not my investment

Stewardship is often a term that we use in reference to the wise use of resources. Whenever we carefully look at all resources available, and then prudently make use of hose resources without waste to produce the most beneficial result – we call that good stewardship. This is a word we use here at this church with the Administrative board when we talk about budget. We say that we want to be good stewards with the church’s resources. And I think what we mean when we say is that we want to carefully and wisely use what we have without waste to achieve the most beneficial result.

It is not a bad thing to think of stewardship this way. But it doesn’t get us all the way to what the Bible tells us about stewardship. This idea of stewardship all by itself does not immediately remind us that the earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. When we forget that part—the part about everything belonging to God—then stewardship starts to become something more of an investment. It starts to become something which is weighed by what is gained in return.

But let’s be clear. Stewardship is not my investment. Investments are always made with an eye towards what is gained. I invest money into an IRA account because I expect to get a return upon that investment sometime later. That’s the point of an investment; it looks for a return; it gets something back.

what do I expect in return for my generosity?

Do we sometimes think about generosity that way? Are there times when my generosity is guided by what is received in return for my gift? This return can come in many forms. Sometimes it is a benefit provided. When I lived in Kalamazoo, the school there was having a fund drive to renovate some deteriorating feature in the gymnasium. Some of the bleachers needed replacing. One of the ways they found to get donations from some of the older supporters of the school was to adjust the bleacher design to include a section that would have backrests. On Friday night home games, the backrest section of seats was reserved for older patrons who might otherwise struggle to sit through a game on bench seats. People donated; and they got a little something beneficial in return. We do this all the time; every time there is a fundraiser auction or a golf-benefit or a gala dinner. These events all support good causes, but it all gives back a little something in return – some auction items purchased, a round of golf at some lovely course, a fancy dinner at an elegant banquet hall.

Sometimes the expectation of return for generosity comes in the form of notoriety or preferential treatment. Think of how many buildings in this town carry the name DeVos or Van Andel or Prince. Back when the Conference Grounds was gradually replacing its old cottages with the new ones you see there now, the construction of those cottages was made possible by donations. If you have ever tried to sign up to rent one of those cottages for a week at the Conference Grounds, you know they book up pretty fast and sometimes it can be hard to get one. The donors who helped fund those cottages had an option in the first year to have first pick of reservation. There was a guarantee they could get a cottage on the week they wanted to be at the lake for that year.

Maybe I shouldn’t be too harsh. Afterall, what is wrong with showing an expression of gratitude towards those who are generous? There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, expressions of gratitude are a good thing. The question here is really about expectation. Do I expect to receive something in return for my generosity? Once I begin expecting something in return for my generosity, then it turns from being my gift into being my investment. Stewardship is not my investment.

religion as transaction:

Investments are transactional. You know what a transaction is. Whenever something is exchanged it is a transaction. Every time you check out at the store, a transaction is made. I give you this, and I get that in return. We run into transactions all the time; our days are filled with transactions. Students work to complete homework and study diligently for tests, and in return get good grades. You go to your job every day and complete your tasks, and in return you get a paycheck. We deal with transactions all the time.

In some sense, religion itself can be seen as a transaction. I will go to church and volunteer my time and give an offering. And in return you give something to me. I get a worship experience with uplifting music and a Bible teaching that gives me some new insight on scripture or an inspirational message. And if for whatever reason I feel like those things did not meet my level of expectation, I walk away thinking I didn’t get much out of church today. And the only reason I would ever think that is because I approach religion as a transaction. I give you this, and you give me that in return.

I sin against God

temple sacrifice is given

I receive forgiveness

You know, there is actually some backing for this idea of religion as transaction. That is what the Levitical codes of temple worship in the Old Testament are all about. The people sin against God. God must provide justice to punish the sin against his perfect holiness. The people offer sacrifices at the temple to atone for their sin. God receives the sacrifice and provides forgiveness. The people go out and sin; and the whole process begins all over again. It seems like the whole process of temple worship activity in the Old Testament is entirely about transaction. In fact, it sort of seems like every religion of the world is built on some kind of system of spiritual transaction. So then, is it really wrong for me to walk into church today and expect some kind of transaction to take place?

This is where Christianity is completely different. Jesus takes this whole religion of transaction and turns it completely around. You see, it’s not that Jesus gets rid of transaction. It’s just that in Jesus, the transaction is already done. In Jesus, the transaction has already happened. In Jesus, the transaction is already complete. The entire religion of the Old Testament was built around going back and repeating this religious transaction over and over again. But not anymore. In Jesus, the transaction of atonement for sin is completed once and for all. We come to church today and it is no longer about making any kind of transaction because we come here today celebrating that the transaction is already done.

Now then, it is time for us to get past this idea of seeing our act of stewardship as some kind of transactional investment. Our stewardship is not about making any kind of deal with God. The transaction that was needed for our salvation is already done in Jesus. Everything we do here in church should celebrate that and reinforce that. And this includes the way we go about stewardship. It is not my investment. It is not a transaction. it is not about anything entitled to me at all.

centers upon blessings entitled to me

Stewardship is being a caretaker

What, then, is Biblical stewardship? How are we supposed to practice generosity in ways that honor God? It comes back again to remembering this; the earth in the LORD’s, and everything in it. I can catch myself in that line several times every day whenever I mistakenly claim anything and everything in the world as mine. Whenever traffic tries to merge in front of me and I think, this is my lane, I was here first. When I see the neighbor behind my house blowing his leaves to the back edge of his yard so they fall down the hill into my yard and I think, this is my property, I own it. When I see the tax bill that comes for my house and I think, that’s a lot of money, I shouldn’t have to pay so much, this is my money. At the core of every single one of these statements is a correction. The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it.

If I profess that Psalm 24 is the biblical truth of God, then none of those things belong to me. Nothing in this world is really mine at all. Everything I have is not just given by God but belongs to God. This is what stewardship is all about. The word steward means caretaker. A steward, or caretaker, is someone who looks after the possessions or affairs or business owned by someone else. When my family heads out of town for a week and the neighbor looks after my house and comes in to feed and check on the cat, it doesn’t mean that the neighbor takes over owning any of it. They just take care of it in my place. This is at the heart of stewardship. It is a generosity that recognizes we are here as caretakers of a world that does not belong to us.

creation mandate (Genesis 1:28)

This is not a new idea. In fact, it is a very old idea. It comes all the way back from Genesis 1:28. This verse is sometimes referred to as the creation mandate. This is where God creates Adam and Eve and gives them instructions to fill the earth. God tells them to subdue the earth and rule it. The meaning of these Hebrew words include the notion of cultivating and developing the earth as well as caring for and maintaining the earth. Humanity is created by God to be caretakers of his world. We are here as stewards to cultivate and develop and care for this world which belongs to God. That is what stewardship is and that is where stewardship begins.

religion as shalom (flourishing)

This gives us a slightly different angle for approaching religion. If religion in the Old Testament was all about a transaction, then religion in the New Testament is all about the rebirth of shalom. Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace. But it means more than peace. Shalom is about flourishing. It is about God bringing about the conditions in which all he has made can blossom and grow and thrive in every way his creation intends. Flourishing. That’s shalom. In Christ, the transaction of religion is already done. Now we are born again and set free to return once again to our creation mandate; to cultivate and develop and care for God’s world. We are set free by God on a task to seek his flourishing shalom. James declares in his letter that true religion is this, to look after widows and orphans, and to not be defiled by the world. The objective of our stewardship and generosity is to pursue the shalom flourishing of God’s world.

care for God's world:

material possessions

people

environment

Our stewardship care for God’s world extends in every direction. It is evident in how we care for the blessings of material possessions and wealth. It shows up when we use the blessings of these resources so that his world can flourish and thrive. Our acts of stewardship generosity also extend to the ways in which we care about people—the shalom flourishing of all people. It shows up in the ways we advocate for the unborn, and for the refugees and immigrants at our borders, and for the poor and disabled in our own communities so that they may flourish and thrive. It shows up in the way we care for the environment. We extend stewardship to the creation when we reduce waste and unnecessary pollution. Stewardship includes creation care so that nature may flourish and thrive as God has created it.

This is a form of stewardship that always remembers; The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it.

centers upon blessings entrusted to me

There is a shift that takes place here in the way we view stewardship. Transactional investment stewardship is always focusing on the return. It is a stewardship that centers on entitlement. I give this to you; and in return you give that to me. There is a better way. There is a way of approaching stewardship that does not center on something entitled to me.

The shift is Christ is to embrace caretaker stewardship. This is a stewardship that does not focus on a transaction, but rather focuses on shalom flourishing. This is an approach to stewardship which centers upon blessings entrusted to me—not entitled to me. The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. And in this world which belongs to our Lord, we have been entrusted with the sacred task of pursuing the shalom flourishing of all creation.

Our generosity has a goal. Our generosity has a purpose. What we share and what we give ought to always press toward the flourishing and thriving of God’s world. Because the earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it.