Called to be Stewards, of What? Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter, 2021 Custer and Hill City, SD

Second Sunday of Easter, April 11, Year of Our + Lord 2021

Called to be Stewards, of What?                                                  

John 20:19-31 and Acts 4:32-35

Our Redeemer and Our Savior Lutheran Churches

Custer and Hill City, South Dakota

 

Christ is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia! 

Christ is risen, so let’s talk about stewardship.

    You might think I’m suggesting we consider stewardship this morning because of our 1^st reading, from Acts 4, when the believers said that all the wealth and material blessing they had was common property of all the Church.  Those who owned properties were even selling them and laying all the proceeds at the Apostles’ feet, for the care of less fortunate brothers and sisters.   Seems like an obvious stewardship text.  But that’s not what I’m thinking about.   

    Because Christian stewardship isn’t about giving money to the Church, at least not primarily.  No question, it takes financial and other human resources to do the work of the Church.  But that is a secondary issue, important, but not really the heart of Christian stewardship. 

    A month or two ago, when I was meeting with one of our newest communicant members, David Hill, the topic of Christian Stewardship came up.  I asked David what he understood stewardship to be about.  I expected to hear him say something about members giving financially to the Church, or perhaps he would think more broadly and speak of giving of our time, our talents and our treasure to support the ministry of the Church.  But not David.  He thought for just a moment, then said “stewardship has to do with how we get the message of Christ out to the world.”  Bingo!  Nailed it! 

    First and foremost, stewardship is about what we are doing with the one true treasure we have as Church, which is the Gospel.  The only pure and lasting treasure we have is the Good News of the free forgiveness of sins, won and revealed for all sinners by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s Son made man.  If all our members gave 10% or more of all their income, and the Church was rolling in cash, and yet we did not proclaim Christ Crucified for the forgiveness of sinners, then our stewardship would be terrible, totally worthless.  Consider an extreme example: our Mormon friends and neighbors give tons of money, and time and talent, to the Church of the Latter Day Saints, as they call themselves.  But instead of proclaiming the free forgiveness for sinners, the Mormon’s teach a straightforward works righteous salvation.  They say salvation isn’t a free gift, but rather it is must be earned by our good works. 

    This contradicts the Bible.  Even more, it robs Christ of glory, and it robs us sinners of hope.  So, despite the fact that financially, the LDS Church is a powerhouse, there is no Christian stewardship going on there.  Christian stewardship involves Christ and His Gospel, first and always.      

    Our Collect of the Day is a prayer for good Christian stewardship.  It goes like this:  Almighty God, grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.   

    Amen indeed, that’s Christian stewardship, in line with David Hill’s excellent definition:  Christian stewardship is to seek, as a congregation, as families, and as individuals, to organize our life around showing forth in word and deed the risen Lord Jesus.  This prayer helps us see that the main stewardship text in our readings today is not the 1^st reading from Acts concerning the amazing financial gifts the earliest Christians made to the infant Church.  That’s great, and it is a necessary part of stewardship.  But the main stewardship text comes from our Gospel, when Jesus says to the Apostles, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." ²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,  "Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”  Jesus sent His Apostles to be stewards of the Gospel.  Think of the many parables Jesus taught His disciples about stewardship.  You will discover that almost always, if not every time, Jesus wasn’t teaching them how to handle money, but rather what they will do with the Gospel that Jesus was fulfilling before their eyes. 

    Consider the parable of the talents in Matthew 25.  Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 

    What’s a talent?  A “talent” in first century Israel was about 80 pounds of silver, an incredible amount of money, perhaps 16 years’ worth of daily wages.  Read through the Bible carefully, no where will you find that Jesus left the Apostles with any sum of money. Rather, Jesus is using a story about money to teach how the Church is to use the treasure He did leave us, which is the Good News of His forgiving love.  If we invest the Gospel, then, as happened with the first two stewards, who invested their silver, then the Holy Spirit will generate a return.  His Word does not return to Him void. 

   If we put the Word of Law and Gospel to work in the world, God will do great things.  But to bury it in a hole in the ground, as the third steward in this parable did, that is, to keep the Gospel bound up in a book that never gets spoken out loud so people can hear it, well that is a sign of unbelief.  It would be like someone having a pill that prevents cancer, or the coronavirus, but they kept it locked up in a lab, unwilling to share it with anyone.  Except being selfish with the Gospel is far worse.  Cancer and corona might end your earthly life, but not having the Gospel will lead to eternal suffering and separation from God, and every good thing. 

    So, the first and primary stewardship concern of the Apostles, and so also of the one Holy, Christian and Apostolic Church, is the stewardship of the Gospel, proclaiming, to each other and to all the world the clear and pure teaching of salvation in Christ alone, given to sinners by God’s grace alone, received when sinners repent of their sinfulness and believe the Good News of free forgiveness.  

   Now, to be able to give something away, first you must have it.  To share mercy, you must receive mercy.  To be a steward of the Gospel, first you must possess the Gospel.  Thomas had to be rescued from his doubt and convinced of the Resurrection before he could be a good steward of the Gospel.  So, how can you be a better steward?  Get more Gospel, and the Holy Spirit will make you a better steward.  Thomas needed a face to face, “put your hand in my side” encounter with the Risen Lord to be broken out of his unbelief.  Blessed are you, who have not seen, and yet have believed.  It is faith in the risen Savior that sets us free to share the Gospel, because He makes us realize that no matter how much we give it away, there is always more for us.  There is no running out of the Gospel, because the Son of God and His limitless forgiveness is the source.       

   What does being a steward of the Gospel actually entail?  Well, first, it isn’t a burden.  Your salvation doesn’t depend on your stewardship, for your salvation depends on Christ alone.  But God does want to work through each of you to grow His Kingdom.

   Each Christian has a different role in God’s Church.  All of us are called to grow in faith, and so be prepared to confess Christ to others in our daily lives.  But not all of us have the exact same role in the Church, and no particular role has more or less honor.  We all gather to hear of Christ and receive His gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation.  I am called to serve you, you are called to serve each other and your neighbors.  Here in the congregation, some provide music, pass out bulletins, take care of the altar, or run projection slides.  Some maintain the building we use, the list goes on. 

   We all share the responsibility to make sure the Gospel that goes out from this place is the true Gospel.  There isn’t any Christian stewardship if we aren’t teaching and preaching the Truth of Christ.  And of course there’s the question we all face, again and again in our day to day lives: Can I speak the Gospel?  Dare I?  What if I don’t speak well?  What if I’m rejected? 

   Well, remember that Jesus was rejected, too, and yet in the end He won the victory for you.  Don’t be concerned that you will confess Christ imperfectly, I can assure you that you will make mistakes.  But the Holy Spirit can overcome your mistakes. 

   Above all, remember, the Master who will return to see how our stewardship has gone is the same one who went to the Cross for us.  He loves you, He forgives you, and He goes with you.  So yes, with the help of His Spirit, all of us can show forth Christ by word and deed.  To get ready, we might start by praying for His help, perhaps even using the collect for today:  Almighty God, grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God, Amen.  Confessing in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God.  That’s Christian stewardship in it’s essence. 

   But then, what about those early Christians, selling valuable property and giving it all to the Apostles?  Well, let me say two things about that.  

   First, their context required such extraordinary generosity.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t make extraordinary gifts to the Church, if you are able and if the Lord has put the desire in your heart.  Go for it.  But we also see that making such tremendous financial gifts was never made into a law.  We don’t hear of it in the rest of the New Testament.  It’s helpful to remember that the earliest Christians were converted Jews.  By their confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they cut themselves off from their Jewish families, culture and the Jewish economy.  They were a small, persecuted band of believers who had to stick together to survive.  And so they did, including some people of means who made extraordinary gifts.  Praise be to God. 

   We are called to share the same love with each other.  But sharing the same love one for another amongst us today does not necessarily mean we must have all our material wealth in common.  What does our context require?  No one among us is starving, or being persecuted for confessing Christ as God and Lord.  No one is in prison, yet. 

   This doesn’t mean our stewardship is any less critical, including the part of stewardship that does have to do with contributing your time, talent and treasure to support the preaching of Jesus as God and Lord. What we need to always do is focus on our common treasure of Christ and His Gospel, and the Spirit will lead us to just the right financial stewardship.   

   Second, a word of caution.  If we read on in the book of Acts, right after our reading, in chapter five we will hear about Ananias and Sapphira.  Do you remember Ananias and Sapphira?  They wanted the prestige and honor they thought was gained by those who sold properties and gave all the proceeds to the Apostles.  But they didn’t want to actually give all the money.  So they lied about their donation. Sadly, they lied to the Church and to God, giving a portion of the proceeds of a sale, while claiming that they were giving all of it.  They were seeking to purchase favor and honor, as if God had not already given them eternal and infinite favor in Christ.  Ananias and Sapphira died for their scheming and lying. 

   So, never lie to God about your generosity.  Don’t turn financial stewardship into an idol. Never seek the praise of men by your gifts, and never think that you are earning favor or special status by making large gifts.  Simply reflect on what God in Christ has done for you, and give as you are able and your heart desires.  Give what you desire in your heart to give, and rejoice, for God loves cheerful givers.

   God has given you life, both your earthly life, and His eternal life.  He will not abandon you or let you go.  So you are free to be a good steward of the Gospel, in your daily life.  You are also free to be a good steward of your material blessings, time and abilities, in support of the Gospel ministry, here, and around the world.  When you struggle to be a Christian steward, come confessing your struggle and your sins, and receive more Gospel.  Get more of God’s Word.  Come to His Table, dig in and drink deeply from the Word of forgiveness and life, the Word of Jesus, who has won the Kingdom of Heaven for you.  Your sins are forgiven, including your sins of doubt and resistance.  Rejoice, and pray again with me: 

   Almighty God, grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.