"Stewardship as a Way of Life"

          This Sunday, October 13th, our Christ United Methodist faith community embarks upon a three-week exploration of the Christian concept of stewardship.  In our reflections, we will define stewardship as the role and task of caring for those gifts, with which God has blessed us.

            In the church, we usually have one or two senses in which we typically invoke the word, stewardship:

1.      Frequently, within the institutional church, we refer to stewardship as the amount of money we pledge—or, give to the church—to help with church expenses and in recognition of how much God ha blessed us financially.

2.      More and more, we may also refer to stewardship of the natural world; of Creation.  We recognize that God has entrusted human persons with care, or stewardship, of the rest of nature.

Yet, when we broaden our understanding of stewardship “as the role and task of caring for those gifts, with which God has bless us,” then the scope of our stewardship role is correspondingly increased:

1.      For instance, if God has blessed us with our physical bodies, then shouldn’t we expand our vision of stewardship to include taking good physical care of our bodies through physical exercise, as well as watching our diet and what we put into our bodies and avoiding smoking or excessive drinking.

2.      Or, suppose God has blessed us with a special gift or ability.  Perhaps God has blessed us with a natural ability to perform surgery or to teach.  Then, shouldn’t we expand our vision of stewardship to include developing those special talents we have, in order to serve God and humanity.

3.      Finally, suppose we are blessed with a splendid, supportive family that loves and cares for us.  Then, shouldn’t our vision of stewardship be expanded to taking special care of our special family.

When viewed from this perspective, then perhaps faithful discipleship includes seeing and living stewardship as a way of life.  In Psalm 24, the psalmist begins:

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
   the world, and those who live in it;
for he has founded it on the seas,
   and established it on the rivers.”

At the beginning of this psalm, the psalmist affirms that God has blessed us with many, many blessings in nature, in the world, and in our lives.  The proper response from those who love God is to adopt stewardship of all these blessings as a way of life.

If you live in the Lincoln, Nebraska area and do not have a place of worship, then I invite you to come and join us at Christ United Methodist Church this Sunday, October 13th, as we begin our exploration of what it means to be a good steward of all God’s blessings to us. 

Christ UMC is located at 4530 “A” Street.  We have three worship services on Sunday mornings at 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00.  The 8:30 and 11:00 services feature a traditional worship format and the services are held in our Sanctuary.  “The Gathering” at 9:45 is held in our Family Life Center (gym), and it is more informal and interactive.   

Come, join us.  Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.