{"id":1551,"date":"2021-08-29T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-29T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2021-08-30T09:09:27","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T16:09:27","slug":"stewardship-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/29\/stewardship-sunday\/","title":{"rendered":"Stewardship Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Stewardship-Sunday-08-29-21.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Matthew 22:15-21<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Christian Stewardship\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Caretaker\u2019s&nbsp; Response to God\u2019s Grace!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.&nbsp; They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.&nbsp; \u201cTeacher,\u201d they said, \u201cwe know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.&nbsp; You aren\u2019t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.&nbsp; Tell us then, what is your opinion?&nbsp; Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?\u201d&nbsp; But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, \u201cYou hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?&nbsp; Show me the coin used for paying the tax.\u201d&nbsp; They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, \u201cWhose portrait is this?&nbsp; And whose inscription?\u201d&nbsp; \u201cCaesar\u2019s,\u201d they replied.&nbsp; Then he said to them, \u201cGive to Caesar what is Caesar\u2019s, and to God what is God\u2019s.\u201d (NIV1984)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear fellow stewards of God\u2019s grace,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A couple of days after my Grandma\u2019s funeral, her immediate family gathered in her home for a very solemn yet very common task\u2014 the distribution of her \u201cthings.\u201d&nbsp; Unbeknownst to me, my Grandma had a notebook in which she had written down everyone\u2019s name and under their name she listed the material possessions she wanted them to have.&nbsp; One of the items my Grandma left to me was a beautiful old mantel clock.&nbsp; As soon as my aunt revealed that Grandma had left the clock to me, my older sister ran out of the room crying.&nbsp; When I went to find out why, she said that years ago she was up in the attic with Grandpa. &nbsp;When Grandpa saw her admiring that clock, he told her that someday it would be given to her.&nbsp; I immediately told my sister that she could have the clock.&nbsp; She refused.&nbsp; Grandma had left it to me.&nbsp; Since I lived in Miami at the time and the rest of my family lived in Minnesota, I asked my sister if she would hold on to the clock and take care of it for me.&nbsp; She quickly agreed\u2014 as long as everyone knew that someday I would take possession of the clock.&nbsp; That was the day that my sister officially became\u2014 The Caretaker of the Clock.&nbsp; Although she knows that the clock is technically not hers, I am confident that she will love it and cherish it and take care of it as if it were.&nbsp; And eventually, some year when I do decide to take possession of the clock, I know that my sister will give it back to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, my friends, as we gather together on this Stewardship Sunday, I\u2019d like us to take that situation between my sister and my clock and apply it to our entire lives as children of God.&nbsp; Using these words from Matthew 22 let\u2019s see that when it comes to our role as Christian stewards all we really need to remember is this:&nbsp; <strong><em>Christian Stewardship Is A Caretaker\u2019s Response to God\u2019s Grace!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whenever we are talking about Christian stewardship one of the very first truths we need to emphasize is that we do not \u201cown\u201d anything!&nbsp; We are merely \u201ccaretakers\u201d of whatever the good Lord decides to temporarily place into our hands!&nbsp; How can I say that?&nbsp; Because that\u2019s what God\u2019s holy Word says!&nbsp; Through His servant David God tell us, <em>\u201cThe earth is the L<\/em><em>ORD<\/em><em>\u2019s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters\u201d<\/em> (Psalm 24:1-2).&nbsp; As the Creator of heaven and earth and as the Giver of all life, the Lord our God is the One who truly \u201cowns\u201d absolutely everything\u2014 including us!&nbsp; As Christians we also recognize that not only has God created us, not only has God given us physical life, but the Lord our God has redeemed us\u2014 He has \u201cbought us back\u201d from the power of sin, death and the devil not with gold or silver but with the holy precious blood of the innocent Lamb of God.&nbsp; (Pointing to the cross)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As proof that we do not \u201cown\u201d anything is the fact that when we die, all of our \u201cthings,\u201d all of our \u201cstuff,\u201d will be given to others who will in turn eventually hand them over to someone else.&nbsp; Caretakers, managers, stewards\u2014 whatever term you want to use makes no difference.&nbsp; They all emphasize that everything we have is only ours temporarily.&nbsp; In reality, the rightful \u201cowner\u201d of all things is the Lord God of heaven and earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With that truth clearly before us let\u2019s turn to verses 19-21 of our text.&nbsp; This is where we see how Jesus responded to the Pharisees who were trying to <em>\u201ctrap him in his words\u201d<\/em> (22:15).&nbsp; We read, <em>\u201c\u2019Show me the coin used for paying the tax.\u2019&nbsp; They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, \u2018Whose portrait is this?&nbsp; And whose inscription?\u2019&nbsp; \u2018Caesar\u2019s,\u2019 they replied.&nbsp; Then he said to them, \u2018Give to Caesar what is Caesar\u2019s and to God what is God\u2019s.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Jesus\u2019 response to the <em>\u201cevil intent\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 22:18) of the Pharisees is quite familiar to us, we may not automatically associate His response to our life as Christian stewards.&nbsp; How does <em>\u201cGive to Caesar what is Caesar\u2019s and to God what is God\u2019s\u201d<\/em> help us as we strive to remember that Christian stewardship is a caretaker\u2019s response to God\u2019s grace?&nbsp; It is actually quite simple, my friends.&nbsp; While the Scriptural teaching of Christian stewardship leads us to recognize that everything we have\u2014 including our time, our talents and our treasures\u2014 have been given <strong>to <\/strong>us <strong>by <\/strong>God, at the same time the Scriptural teaching on Christian stewardship leads us to realize that God also guides us on how He want us to <strong>use <\/strong>the things He has given to us\u2014 including our time, our talents and our treasures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus makes two very specific applications of this truth when He says to you and to me, <em>\u201cGive to Caesar what is Caesar\u2019s and to God what is God\u2019s.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Since I want us to focus on the second application, <em>\u201cGive to God what is God\u2019s,\u201d<\/em> I encourage you to read Romans 13:1-7 when you get home.&nbsp; This is where the Lord gives us much greater detail into what we as Christian stewards owe our government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cGive to God what is God\u2019s.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Since we have already noted that absolutely everything in heaven and on earth rightfully belongs to God, we don\u2019t even need to ask the question, \u201cWhat is God\u2019s\u201d?&nbsp; The question we do need to address is this\u2014 What did Jesus mean when He said, <em>\u201cGive to God what is God\u2019s\u201d<\/em>?&nbsp; For me the answer to that question is found in the words of Proverbs 23:26, <em>\u201cMy son, give me your heart.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; (See also Micah 6:6-8)&nbsp; While our God could easily appear to us in awesome overwhelming displays of power and majesty, justice and glory and demand the allegiance of our heart, He doesn\u2019t!&nbsp; Purely by the grace of God you and I are the dearly beloved adopted sons and daughter of the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth.&nbsp; In His grace He sends us sunshine and rain.&nbsp; In His grace He provides us with so much more than just our daily bread.&nbsp; In His grace He gives us opportunities for both work and for pleasure.&nbsp; In His grace He gives us our time, our talents and our treasures.&nbsp; In His grace He gives us His Son as the atoning sacrifice for all of our sins.&nbsp; (Pointing to the cross)&nbsp; And in His grace He says to us, \u201cMy son, my daughter, give Me your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you see, my friends, Christian stewardship truly is a caretaker\u2019s heartfelt response to God\u2019s grace!&nbsp; We look at all the things which the Lord our God has given <strong>to <\/strong>us, we look at all the things the Lord our God has done <strong>for <\/strong>us and through the power and the guidance of God the Holy Spirit, we respond to this awesome display of God\u2019s grace by giving Him our heart.&nbsp; Once the Holy Spirit has empowered us to give our heart to the Lord then our entire life will be&nbsp; a visible act of stewardship.&nbsp; Once the Holy Spirit has empowered us to give our heart to the Lord then we will joyfully embrace the fact that a caretaker\u2019s response to God\u2019s grace will have a positive three-fold impact in our life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, once the Holy Spirit has empowered us to give our heart to the Lord then the way in which we prioritize our time will reveal a caretaker\u2019s response to God\u2019s grace.&nbsp; As a caretaker of the time which God has given to us, worship, Bible study and prayer will be at the top of our spiritual priority list.&nbsp; To let days or even weeks go by without talking to our heavenly Father, without listening to our heavenly Father, without worshiping and praising the God of our salvation will be unthinkable!&nbsp; As caretakers responding to God\u2019s grace we freely chime in with great King David when he says, <em>\u201cI rejoiced with those who said to me, \u2018Let us go to the house of the L<\/em><em>ORD<\/em><em>\u2019\u201d<\/em> (Psalm 122:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Secondly, as caretakers of the talents which God Himself has placed into our minds, our tongues and our hands, our heartfelt response to God\u2019s grace will be to use those talents in service to our Savior God and in service to our fellow human beings\u2014 especially our brothers and sisters in the faith.&nbsp; I personally have a great deal of difficulty understanding how any child of God could say that their heart is dedicated to the Lord, but they just can\u2019t seem to find a way to use their God-given gifts, talents and abilities in service to the Lord\u2019s Kingdom.&nbsp; There are so many ways to serve our Lord!&nbsp; If you cannot stand up in the front of church and lead the worship service, you can support and encourage your brothers and sisters in the faith by gathering together alongside of them to worship and praise our God.&nbsp; If you cannot serve as a missionary in far away lands, you can share the sweet simple message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people in your own community\u2014 especially your children and your grandchildren.&nbsp; If you cannot visit the ill or the elderly you can call them on the phone or send them a card in the mail.&nbsp; There are so many ways to serve our Lord by using your gifts, talents and abilities to serve in His Kingdom!&nbsp; With that reality clearly before our eyes, a caretaker\u2019s response to God\u2019s grace will lead us to joyfully ask, \u201cWhat may I do to help?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yes, although we don\u2019t always like to talk about it, a caretaker\u2019s response to God\u2019s grace will include using the earthly treasures which our Savior gives to us to support the Gospel ministry of our congregation and through our congregation we support the Gospel ministry of our Synod.&nbsp; Both our Old Testament lesson (Exodus 35:20-29) and our Epistle lesson for today (2 Corinthians 8:1-7) give us clear insight into how a caretaker\u2019s response to God\u2019s grace guides and directs what we give as an offering to our Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look once again at those two portions of Scripture.&nbsp; In our reading from Exodus the Holy Spirit gives us a real-life example of what He would inspire the apostle Paul to write to the Corinthians, <em>\u201cGod loves a cheerful giver\u201d<\/em> (2 Corinthians 9:7).&nbsp; Look at what the Holy Spirit led Moses to record for you and for me, <em>\u201c\u2026everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought an offering to the L<\/em><em>ORD<\/em><em>\u2026All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds\u2026Those presenting an offering of silver or bronze brought it as an offering to the LORD<\/em><em>\u2026All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the LORD<\/em><em> freewill offerings for all the work the LORD<\/em><em> through Moses had commanded them to do.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; In our Epistle lesson the Holy Spirit led the apostle Paul to write, <em>\u201cOut of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.&nbsp; For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability\u2026But just as you excel in everything\u2026see that you also excel in this grace of giving.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the offerings that we bring to the Lord are an accurate reflection of the faith, the love and the thankfulness that is in our heart then our offerings are pleasing and acceptable to the God of heaven no matter what those offerings may be.&nbsp; But if our offerings are given out of a sense of obligation, or if our offerings are a more accurate reflection of what is left over <strong>after<\/strong> we\u2019ve paid all our bills and <strong>after <\/strong>we\u2019ve had all of our fun, then our offerings no longer fall under the description of a caretaker\u2019s response to God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of these years I will go back to Minnesota, I will go over to my sister\u2019s house, and I will ask to see my clock.&nbsp; I may even decide to take it back and bring it home with me.&nbsp; Until that time arrives, however, I am very content in knowing that as The Caretaker of the Clock my sister will take good care of that clock for me\u2014 enjoying it and loving it as if it were her own.&nbsp; In a similar way, one of these years the Lord God of heaven and earth will ask us to give an account of how well we have taken care of the time, the talents and the treasures which He has graciously yet temporarily placed into our possession.&nbsp; May God grant that when it comes time for us to give that account that it will be very easy for the Lord to see that we truly understood that Christian stewardship really is a caretaker\u2019s response to God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To God be the glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matthew 22:15-21 Christian Stewardship\u2014 A Caretaker\u2019s&nbsp; Response to God\u2019s Grace! Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.&nbsp; They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.&nbsp; \u201cTeacher,\u201d they said, \u201cwe know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.&nbsp; You aren\u2019t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-service-podcast"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1551"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1559,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions\/1559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}