This is Stewardship Commitment Sunday which many people understand is a time when we dedicate our financial pledges to the church for the next year. There is some truth in that understanding for we do indeed ask God's blessing and approval upon our projected financial offerings to the church for the next year. However, this piece of stewardship commitment is merely a very small part of what is meant by stewardship commitment.
We need to begin at the 27th verse of the first chapter of the Bible. God creates men and women in God's image. This does not mean we look like God who is Spirit. Rather it means we are to act like God. God blesses us and tells us to be fruitful and multiply. We are to fill the earth and subdue it which does not mean to abuse or destroy it but to care for and manage it the way God would. God is the owner. We are the stewards whose job it is to do God's bidding. When God finished creating, God pronounced it was all very good and God placed all of it in our care because God believed we were very good as well.
From all my studies and years of observation I have not been able to find any evidence that God has changed the Divine mind. God still believes in the goodness of creation and of the creatures; and you and I are still entrusted with the responsibility of caring for it realizing that none of it really belongs to us yet all of it is available for our wise and proper use.
In the culture and tradition of our Old Testament ancestors the idea gradually arose that God was only entitled to the first fruits so the first of the crops and the eldest son were dedicated to the Lord. This dedication of the first fruits grew to be a tithe of 10 percent. We no doubt will be surprised to learn that the people were then to use this in the following ways:
- A portion was to be used for them to have a feast to remind them of how well God provided.
- A portion was to be used to help those who were in need.
- Every so often all land was to be given back to its original owners or their children so that all people would have the opportunity to earn their own living. A portion of the tithe was used to balance out the loss that came to those who had to give up accumulated land.
I find it very interesting that the tithe ended up not really being for God but for God's stewards to help them through difficult times and to serve as a reminder that God cares and God provides. This method of distributing wealth is no longer used by us so many truly wonder if God does provide while many others believe what they have really belongs to them.
A few months ago I was doing some research on the Internet. I came across an article on tithing. I wasn't working on that subject but I started to read it anyway. I quickly got hooked because the author was giving a very convincing argument that since the coming of Jesus Christ tithing was no longer an acceptable practice. I continued to read the lengthy article hoping to find a loophole showing the author was wrong. I was really getting frustrated because his biblical arguments were somewhat out of context. However, he fully convinced me with his last sentence. "Since the coming of Jesus we no longer are expected to give God 10 percent; we are expected to give God everything including our very lives."
The giving of things, no matter how large, without the giving of our self is meaningless. The poor widow in our Gospel for today was down to her last few cents. She gave it all to God which was to say, "I am completely placing myself in your care. The widow of Zarcphath in Sidon was down to her last meal for herself and her child when Elijah the prophet asked her to feed him. She gave him what she had which was everything and Elijah blessed her so that her supplies lasted throughout a long drought and famine.
When Jesus went to the cross God gave everything God had for us. Nothing was held back. God trusted we would respond in kind by giving all we have. The rich young man in Scripture wanted what Jesus had for him but he was unable to let go of anything he already had so there was no room for anything more.
Jesus doesn't want your money. Quite frankly, if the truth were known, that is also true for the church. If you give your money to the church it is quite possible nothing very important will happen to you as a result of it. If you truly give your life to Jesus you will discover blessing and the church will have no need to worry about meeting budgets. What matters is not the size of your gift — it is the seriousness of your commitment.
Two weeks ago I spoke about Bartimaeus who was blind and who survived by begging. When he realized his chance to come before Jesus, he gave up all his earthly possessions in the hope he might see again. When his eyes were open he saw Jesus. Accepting Jesus was what he really needed. When he came to that realization he surrendered himself to Jesus who gladly welcomed him.
In Matthew 5:3, Jesus lists the first Beatitude by saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Later in Matthew 19:24, Jesus says, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God." Just being rich doesn't keep one from heaven. It is when you are rich and do not think you need anything but your riches that you are in trouble. Someone who knows they are poor in spirit realizes what is missing in their life is a vital and intimate relationship with Jesus.
When a person truly realizes and accepts this, they quickly offer their very own self to God and everything that goes with it. That, my friends, is true stewardship commitment. |
