Saint James UCC of Hamburg, NY

Scriptures: Matthew 25:14-30

Pastor Alva Looze
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Everything belongs to God. Isn't it amazing that we are have a choice in what we give or do not give. What are our possessions, our responsibility to the ministry of Jesus Christ and what do we return to God? In my early years as a working adult I had a hard time putting an amount aside especially for God. If I put that money aside each week I was ok, but if something came in my way and I had to make it up the following week it was a problem but when I changed my way of thinking. When I learned to take it off the top giving became easier. Our God is a generous God, he let us decide what to give, sets an example but its up to us.

Sometimes stewardship is treated as a yearly necessity, like a trip to the dentist. The Hebrew ancestors understood that the earth is God's. Land was loaned to families for the well being of all the people. In a similar way, Christians believe that all we have in our possession really belongs to God, who has loaned it to us for the enriching for the world, not merely for our own amusement.

Dan R. Dick writes, "God has high expectations for the way we use what we have been give. God is the giver of gifts, and we are created in the image of God. Therefore, God expects us to be givers as well. Everything we have, we hold, is by the grace of God. Certainly, we work hard, strive for success, and achieve many wonderful accomplishments, but ultimately we reap our bounty for God's abundance. And our God is deeply interested to see how we will manage what we have been given.

Stewardship isn't about supporting the church, keeping the doors open, the pastors paid, the lights on, Sunday school supplies stocked, and a few dollars floating out to support mission work. Stewardship is about becoming the body of Chris for the world, taking what we have been given as Christian disciples and using it to serve God's kingdom building purposes here on earth. We gather here as a community of faith where the environment is formed, empowered and deployed.

Our stewardship is lived out in our homes, schools, workplaces, even more so than our churches. In church we sit, worship, listen to scriptures, sermons, partake in hymns and prayers. It is when we go out into the world that we put our lessons to work. The more we are aware of what we haven been given, the more grateful we will become, and the more heartfelt and meaningful our worship will be.

The most valuable resource in our world to day is time, not money. Learning and helping people how to manage time, prioritize, set goals, and give time for good and worthy causes may be one of the most critical ministries we can provide.

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that we are to be stewards of the fruit of the Spirit, "Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control". Stewardship is about becoming the body of Christ for the world. We don't make an offering to God, we become an offering to God. Romans 12:1-2 instructs: "Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that we should offer. Let us not conform ourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform us inwardly by a complete change of our minds. Then we will be able to know the will of God, what is good and is pleasant to him and is perfect".

Whenever we gather as the church, we should extend an invitation to serve, to give, to share, and to bless others. This is putting our faith into action.

Another important part of stewardship is how we grow together. Without the support and nurture of a Christian community it is impossible to fully live as the body of Christ. In our scripture lesson this morning we talked about the parable of the talents. It is a lesson about our attitude and responsibility, about stepping out with God's treasure in our hand and risking it all of the sake of others, for the sake of God. Do we use the gifts we have been given to build up the church and to bring praise to God? Or do we use those gifts only for our own benefit? Do we invest for God?

There is a little piece that has been reprinted in various forms in different church newsletters. It goes like this: What would the church be like if every member we just like me? Would our church be empty on Sunday, or full to overflowing, if everyone attended as I do? How much Bible Study and prayer would occur if everyone took the time I do? How many bruised, hurting, lonely people, would be touched by the church if every member acted exactly as I do? Would we need more ushers and offering plates if everyone gave like me? How many children would be led to faith through the Sunday school and church if everyone had my priorities? Would the church just be an attractive social club, would it be closed, bankrupt, out of business; or would it be a dynamic force for Jesus Christ in our community and our world if everyone were just like me? What would the church be like if every member were just like me?

Our God gives us many things. Why he does is not always clear but what God expect is clear. God expects us to invest what he has given to us in his work, so that everyone might experience the blessedness of life. When we invest in God, and with God we are investing in a good mutual fund. God gives us companions, friends, counselors, our church, the Holy Spirit and his living Word. So that we like the servants of the parable, can together create and bestow new love and new hope upon the world.

God, like the master in today's parable believes in us. He trusts us to do well with his love, to develop the gifts he gives us so that all the citizens of his kingdom may benefit from them.

Do not fear failure because even if we personally do not double the goodness we have received; even if we do not personally conquer all our problems and together solve all the crises we face, if we have tried to work with what God has given, if we have invested ourselves as well as we are able in his work then God will be pleased with us and he will invite us to enter into his joy and give to us even more than we first received from him.

One of the gifts God gives us is our church, our congregation and fellowship. How well we manage this great gift can make all the difference in the world.

PRAYER
Thank you God for gathering us here this day to hear your word and teaching us how to be your disciples.

Amen