In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
Stewardship is the 800-pound elephant in the room. Everyone knows it is there, but no one wants to pay it any attention. We know we should give back to the Lord a fair portion of what He first gives to us. Ten percent is the Biblical standard of stewardship. When the word “stewardship” comes from the preacher’s mouth, it sounds like he is begging. Jesus doesn’t think so. The point of His parable in Luke chapter 16 is to make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.
Mammon is an excess of surplus. You might need only one set of measuring cups in your kitchen. The kitchen utensil drawer or cabinet has three or four sets of measuring cups. That’s mammon. Even if your house is perfectly organized and neat, let alone if you cannot walk through your own home because piles of stuff and hoarding, mammon may have control of you. Can you give away the excess? Can you live on necessities alone?
What is overlooked in our Lord’s Words are these four words: that when you fail. You will fail to impress Almighty God with your mammon. He doesn’t want what is leftover. He wants the first fruits. Jesus’ point is not for you to live like a monk who owns nothing. His point is to use what you have, especially if you have a surplus of excess time, treasure, and talent, to help those who have less than an excess of surplus.
You are the unjust steward in Christ’s parable. You are entrusted with goods that do not belong to you. The Master of the goods wants you to take good care of them. He wants you to have just enough for you and your family. What is left is either unnecessary or may be given to those who are without. When you have enough, it is never enough. There must be more food. There must be more clothes. There must be more shoes, cars, animals, land, televisions, computers, toys, tools, books, music, and money. No wonder storage facilities are in great need these days. There is too much stuff and not enough places to store stuff. You can’t unlearn stewardship unless you want to live like a man of the world while calling yourself a Christian. It’s impossible to have both ways. You live like a man of the world and collect more stuff for the love of collecting stuff, or you consider surplus stuff an opportunity to help your needy brother.
Jesus does not condemn stuff. All you have belongs to God. If you have mammon, let your neighbor who does not have enough have it. Doing so makes friends with unrighteous mammon. Nevertheless, you love your unrighteous mammon so much that you won’t let go. Consider these words from the apostle James: If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Sounds like nonsense, doesn’t it? It is not nonsense when you hoard your goods while wishing your needy neighbor well with smooth talk.
The unjust steward backed up his smooth talk with shrewd action. He knew the ax was about to fall. He needed a soft place to land. He called in his master’s debtors and had a fire sale. Fifty percent off a bill of oil here. Twenty percent off a bill of wheat there. Even the unjust steward’s master admired his former steward’s deed. It’s shrewd to reduce the bill of debtors in order to keep a line of safety and security open for the future.
Saint Paul says in today’s Epistle: these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. He then goes on to list a number of events in Holy Scripture where God’s people put mammon before God and suffered the consequences. Paul continues: let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. When you put your excess of God’s gifts before God’s face and dare to call them your god, you are headed for a fall.
Jesus Christ had the opportunity to put mammon and earthly power ahead of His Father. Recall what the devil promised Him when He was tempted. Jesus responded: away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ Jesus Christ had the opportunity to come down off the cross and show His adversaries that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus remained on the cross; all the while remaining the Christ, the Son of the Living God, for the Christ must suffer and die for the sin of the world.
Jesus knows you will hoard mammon. He knows you will say one thing and do another to your neighbor. Instead of holding your sin against you, He takes your sin upon Himself and becomes the ultimate sin offering for you. Jesus has the riches of heaven and earth in His Hands. Instead of clutching grace as if it was precious, He stewards the priceless treasure of forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.
Jesus stewards His means of grace in Word and Sacraments through His called and ordained servants of the Word in the Office of the Holy Ministry. You steward your mammon to those in need as a testimony of God’s love and mercy dwelling among you. Life is not about how much stuff you have. Life is about what you do with the excess stuff God gives you.
The author to the Hebrews puts it this way: let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Stewardship begins with the lips, singing the never-ending sacrifice of praise to God for all He does for us and gives to us. Stewardship goes from the lips to the hands, giving to those who are in need the sacrifice of praise through doing good works and sharing good things.
Stewardship is a joyful thing, flowing from the stewardship of forgiveness and life given by a loving and gracious Lord Jesus Christ. All attempts to do good and share with our neighbor will fail unless the love of Christ breaks through our love of mammon, just as the hymn teaches us to pray:
We give Thee but Thine own, Whate’er the gift may be; All that we have is Thine alone, A trust, O Lord, from Thee. And we believe Thy Word, Though dim our faith may be: Whate’er for Thine we do, O Lord, We do it unto Thee. - Lutheran Service Book 781:1, 6 -- Rev. David M. Juhl Our Savior Evangelical-Lutheran Church Momence, IL http://oselcmomence.googlepages.com ___________________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_ _attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <MoM [at] lists (dot) cat41 <dot> org>
