Our Primary Stewardship

A friend of mine told me one time how his first appointment went [yes this is a true story]. He said it was the hardest years of his young life. Partially because of his attitude. He said that in his first sermon he “let the congregation have it.” He was critical and stressed the urgency of the church’s complacent life style … but no one listened. He refused to be deterred and decided that on his 2nd week, he would preach the same sermon. Sunday came, Sunday gone, he still did not receive any comments. He continued this for 8 weeks. It was on the eight Sunday that several members of the church board approached and asked simply stated: “Pastor … we really like your preachin’. It is really Biblical. But why have you preached the same sermon word for word for 8 weeks straight.” He looked at them smiled and simply said, “I will continue to preach it until the church gets it.” (Pause) In this church in a part of Kentucky smaller than our grand community, he said that the Lord had placed this message in his heart. He said that he must help the people to understand. Even though it caused trouble between him and the church, he reminded everyone, including himself, that he worked for the church, but he served God. He served God and so should we.

Serving God … is that not what it is all about. We are to put our full trust in the Lord and know that He will always provide for us. In an ideal world, to quote Forest Gump, that would be “all I have to say about that.” Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world. In the real world, we typically have two types of people and this is what they look like.

Suppose you had hired Jim to come and work for you. During the interview, Jim told you, “I just can’t wait to get in there and work on the job.” Then on day one here is what we see: The first thing Jim does is to visit the office and wait in line only to ask when the 1st break, lunch, and 2nd break would be. Also, Jim goes for a smoke break or restroom break at least four times between each of these main breaks. He then ends his day by entering the boss’s office and states: “I will be coming in a little late tomorrow morning and I have to have this weekend off for personal reasons.”

Well, suppose you had hired Jan instead. At the interview, she did not show any real enthusiasm, but she wanted the job. On day one, she punched in early, worked so hard that she had to be reminded to take a break, came back first from lunch, and was the last one to stop working at the end of the day.

If you were the boss, which one would you have preferred to have working on your shift? (Pause) Truthfully, God has many Jims and Jans in the world. Some want to serve, others just want others to believe that they serve. The wonderful thing about God is that when God calls us to work, he has already decided to ‘put up’ with both the Jims and the Jans. He is patient with us and believes in giving us many chances to serve Him. God puts up with our failures when we just don’t totally ‘sell out’ to Him and He celebrates when we sacrifice all for Him.

Sacrificing … suffering as Christ did for the church. This is what all people who call themselves Christian agree to do. In our denomination alone, we have each heard these words: “I agree to uphold the church by my prayers, my presence, my gifts, and my service.” These are the words we give when we join the United Methodist Church. In essence, we agree to follow and serve God (which is our primary task), we state that we truly believe that Jesus Christ is the source of salvation, we confess that even though we are many groups (Methodist, Baptist, Catholic), we are all part of the universal body of believers in Jesus Christ. In addition, we affirm that we will uphold our local church, our denomination (thru prayers, gifts, thru service). Even though these words are spoken and often acted on, over time we each tend to move away from these words. We begin making excuses and give reasons ‘why or why not’ for any church decision. Ultimately, it comes down to one question which we must continually ask ourselves: Will I be a good steward or a bad steward of what God has given me?

This is the question found in today’s scripture reading. “The parable of the Vineyard is not a parable about salvation but a story about our service to God, and why we give that service.”¹ The context of the story begins in chapter 19 where we find that Jesus has ‘ran into’ a young man. The man wanted eternal life and he wanted to serve God. He asked Jesus, what do I need to do to go to heaven? (Pause) The first requirements made him feel great. Jesus said obey the commandments and the young man knew that he had done this. He then asks Jesus what else must be done. At this point, Jesus replies, I can tell that you love your money and your things far more than you love God. Therefore, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven.

The truth is that we all reach this point or a point similar to this in our lives. We should not be hard on this man. Sadly, his actions are better than most today. He just turned and walked away. Today we often find people who act as hypocrites and say they follow God but do not fully trust Him. Like this man, so many of us are so close, but we are still so far away. We too want to trust God, but when we are given the chance, we are unwilling to take that final step, that great leap. (Pause)

We say we trust God. We say we are faithful members of the church. We say we are willing to uplift the Gospel. But do we really? It is this time each year in the United Methodist Church that we are truly pressed to answer these questions. At any point in the year, we may be called upon to service with time and with prayers, but at this point in the year, must turn their eyes to gifts (which we call money). We say we trust God, but we can’t wait to check the balance in the bank verses the rise in fuel, the pastor’s salary, the electric and water bills, and yes those repairs which have crept upon us. We say we trust God, but when someone knocks on the door of the church to ask for something, we have to take inventory and ask for a background check. We also say we are faithful to the church. But when the conference asks for gifts or even worse, the apportionment bill arrives, we often cringe … yet we agreed to give these things as a sign of faith. When we are asked to uplift the Gospel by knocking on doors or spending some one on one time with the children of the community, we are reminded of the many things at home which we ‘really need to get done.’ Sadly, when this happens, it is this that people remember. Do we truly give all we have and trust fully in Jesus Christ? Or do we just go through the motions?

This question most likely is answered differently by everyone here this morning. It is a personal issue … faith is. It is not something that anyone ‘corner’s the market on,’ but rather something we all continually strive to increase in. No matter where we are right now, God is a patient god. He waits for us, he helps us. I want say that if you give this here or spend time there that God will automatically place you in the drawing for the Super Heaven Lotto Jackpot, your church may not explode in numbers, but your faith, your discipleship, your stewardship, will pave the way for you to get heavenly rewards.

Mowrystown: When we take this action known as faith, we remember what Jesus gave for us and it reminds us that we each have something to give to him. If you would please stand and join with me in our closing hymn: Something for Jesus — Page 418

Buford: When we take this action known as faith, we remember what Jesus gave for us and it reminds us that we each have something to give in return. One is money, but that is just one of the gifts we bring. When we go out and people see just how ‘Christ we really are.’ It is then that the words of our closing hymn ring true: It only takes a spark. If you would all join with me in singing our closing hymn: Pass It On on page 572.