Stewardship
A steward is one who manages things belonging to someone else. The word in Hebrew in the OT translates to “possessor” or overseer. It is translated in a similar way in the NT and the word very much related to a person in charge of the household affairs. If you remember the TV programme, Upstairs-Downstairs then Hudson fits that bill just right. He didn’t own the household but managed it for Richard Bellamy MP.
In the bible we are told that as Christians we are stewards of our:
Time - Col 4:5 making the most of our time
Body – 1 Cor 6:19-20 Not your own bought with a price
Money - Mal 3:8 bring the whole tithe into the storehouse
In the Bible money is often used as a gauge of people’s attitudes and priorities in life. Jesus tells two parables about stewardship in Matt 25:1-13 of the 10 virgins and 14-20 about the talents. The first parable stresses the point of being ready and prepared - something a steward should always be - and the second parable is about a person who before going on a trading journey gave three staff members some money to invest. On his return he asked each person how they had done. The one with five added five more, the one with two added two more and the person with one did nothing and said,
“Why should I do that for him? If he wants more money let him get it himself, I’m not going to do for him.”
Then there’s the young man who asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life.
“Go, sell all that you have and give it to the poor and come and follow me,” Jesus told him.
We read that he went away sad as he owned very much. After that, Jesus said those time immortal words of it being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.
In spite of what we may think God is not against profit. Isa 48:17 says I am the Lord who teaches you to profit.
I believe that God is not worried about the making of profit but is concerned as to how it is used. The nation of Israel was in most things a prosperous nation and even today a Jewish person is often considered to be wealthy.
In the Old Testament the principle of tithing was set up to maintain the Levites or priesthood. Set-a-side was nothing new. It was declared in the OT when everyone was expected to set a side a tenth of their income and give it to the priests. This was started by Abraham when he returned from a victorious time of getting Lot back, to give a tenth of his gains to Melchizedek who was both a priest and king of Salem. Jacob too vowed to give a tenth to God after his ladder dream, out of gratitude for being kept safe.
We could go on to the many chapters and verses dedicated in Numbers Leviticus and Deuteronomy to the principles and practice of tithing but one real feature in all of them is that the people gave willingly. I’ll read just one verse from Chronicles concerning the building of the temple.
1 Chron 29:6-9
Then the rulers of the fathers' households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the overseers over the king's work, offered willingly; and for the service for the house of God they gave 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, and 10,000 talents of silver, and 18,000 talents of brass, and 100,000 talents of iron. And whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, in care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the LORD with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly.
Again when the temple was rebuilt after the Babylonians destroyed it again the people gave willingly and joyfully out of gratitude to God for what he done for them.
Ezra 2:68-69
Some of the heads of fathers' households, when they arrived at the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to restore it on its foundation. 69 According to their ability they gave to the treasury for the work 61,000 gold drachmas and 5,000 silver minas and 100 priestly garments.
All these acts of giving were part of the law of God but today we are no longer under the law but under grace, as Jesus came to fulfil the law. For those people who choose to follow Jesus, God no longer sees sinners that should die for their sins, because His son Jesus died in their place. Death is no longer the end because Jesus showed the way to everlasting life through His resurrection. Look at the words of the Creed we will all say shortly: For us and for our salvation he came down…..
Even though we are now under grace and not law, the principles of gratitude to God for what he has done for us are still as real as they were when Abraham returned with Lot. The principle of tithing in the New Testament is as strong and real as the Old and the examples of people giving out of gratitude, joy and thankfulness abound. The Pharisees were challenged for neglecting tithes and in Romans we are told to pay our taxes and to give to whom honour is due. The church in Corinth was encouraged to give a right attitude and we read that Paul was excited by the way they gave to him.
Paul tells the Corinthians that they are enriched with liberality which causes thankfulness to God and the reports of the new Christians distributing their possessions to those in need in Acts would today be headline news. In the New Testament we see that the early Christians’ approach to money was very outward. They viewed it as God’s possession that they were stewards of and shared it with joy.
There were some stern warnings to church leaders about their stewardship of money. Paul’s instruction to Timothy was that an elder should be free from the love of money and manage his household well and Heb 13:17 says they must give an account of their dealings to God. I am not aware that anywhere in the NT does it say that we should withhold our offerings to God because we don’t agree with the leaders. Leaders too, like us, are stewards of what they are given but with far more serious consequences if they get it wrong.
I read the other day of a notice outside a farm gate. It said Christmas turkeys and geese - Bed and breakfast. I should think they are the most pampered farm animals in existence! When writing to the Christians in Corinth Paul reminds them of the generosity of God. You have been enriched in every way he says, through faith in Christ they have every spiritual gift they need. This whole theme of wealth and generosity is through so much of the NT and the disciples at the very beginning shared their experiences with their brother or friend. Even their very life was one of sharing out of the joy of doing it.
Remember the small boy in the feeding of the 5,000? He gave up all his lunch to the disciples and look what Jesus did with it. The widow’s cruise of oil in 1 Kings 17:12 flowed day after day and she provided her local community with oil and flour in a time of famine. Once she used her last drop on food for Elijah. These people gave their all into the hands of someone else and God multiplied it many times over. We don’t read that the disciples wrestled with the small boy or tricked him into giving away his dinner, neither do we read that the widow said to Elijah,
“You must be joking, find your own oil!”
They gave freely and willingly, just like the widow and her mite or Hannah and her longed-for son Samuel.
The small boy thought he was giving his lunch to the disciples and the widow a meal to the prophet Elijah but they weren’t, they were giving to God.
Matt 25:37 & 40
Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?.....
inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.
Mal 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
The challenge of Malachi 3 is to be just stewards of God’s money and bring the whole tithe into the store house so that there is food in God's house. Then God will open the windows and doors of heaven and pour out a blessing the like of which we have never seen. Giving can be such a joy. As beacons of God's love to a world in desperation, we need to give freely, not be seen as always “wanting your money”. Let’s be a church community that shares Gods love in practical ways by blessing those in need and showing His generosity out of our storehouse. It is important in a service like this that we do things out of an act of worship and thankfulness for all that he has done for us.
Soon in this service we will say the “Yours Lord is the greatness, the power, the glory, the splendour and the majesty. For everything in heaven and on earth is yours. All things come from you and of your own do we give you”.
May the Spirit of God lead us into a deeper experience of His love for us so that we can continue to give abundantly out of a grateful heart to fill His storehouse.
J.A