Pentecost XX
Fr. Philip Eberhart
Trustees of The Kingdom
Audio file click here
As I thought about this second sermon in our series for
stewardship, I got stopped by the word itself – “stewardship.” It’s one that we don’t see or hear much these
days in our common every day, run-of-the-mill conversation. We kind of have a foggy notion of what it may
mean, but it’s often associated with sermons like this or that time in the TV
program of your favorite TV preacher when “the ask” happens.
This morning I want to fill out the concept of stewardship a
bit for us, but by using a different term:
TRUSTEE.
Many of us have had dealings in the legal world of one kind
or another. A trustee by definition is “one, such as a bank, that holds legal
title to property in order to administer it for a beneficiary.” Let me bring that down to our level this
morning: A Trustee is one, such as YOU,
that holds legal title, that is power over God’s property, (Time, Talent,
Treasure) – in order to administer it for a beneficiary (The Kingdom of God!)
Did you know that you are a trustee of God’s grace – of His
gifts? Have you ever thought about the
fact that God has had to put ultimate trust in YOU?
Recently I’ve been talking to people about voting in the
upcoming election, as many of us have I think, on one side of the aisle or the
other. The point is voting – taking part
in the trusteeship that our constitution places in the individual, so that, as
Lincoln said at Gettysburg, “government of the people, by the people and for
the people shall not perish from the face of the earth.” We have a sacred trust which is coming due on
us in about 3 weeks that determines the fate of that kind of government – and
it happens every time the polling places are open, or every time the ballot comes
in your mail box. Not to vote in any
election is an unconscionable dereliction of the trusteeship that our county
has placed by constitutional mandate in your hands.
Likewise you have been given a sacred trust by God Himself
as well! God trusts in you! Now there’s
a twist on our national motto! But let’s
look at a foundational few verses, that we usuaChrist
Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in
them.”
God has placed a deposit with you, my friend – a deposit of
GRACE (God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense).
GOD’S RICHES
So what is the substance of the riches that God has placed
in our care?
God is rich in MERCY
(Eph 2:4)
Paul asks the Romans, “do
you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not
knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (2:4)
He goes on in chapter 9:
[God] endured with much patience
vessels of wrath… and he did so to make known the riches of His glory upon
vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us … !”
(22b-24a)
God is rich in GLORY!
A little later in Romans, Paul again exclaims: “Oh,
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and
unfathomable His ways!” (11:33)
God is rich in WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE!
And back in the letter to Ephesus Paul repeatedly references
these riches!
1:18 “the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints”
2:7 “the surpassing riches of His grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
3:8 “to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable
riches of Christ.”
4:19 “And my God will supply all your needs
according to His riches in glory
in Christ Jesus.”
in Christ Jesus.”
Paul later instructs Timothy with these words:
1Ti 6:17 “Instruct those who are rich in this present
world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches,
but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”
Friends, there are literally hundreds of references
throughout scripture to the riches of our God, both in material wealth and in
mercy, in gold and in grace, in cattle and coin, as well as in kindness shown
to us by the grace of an unfailingly loving Father, through His Son Jesus
Christ.
But we are told not to confuse the two types of wealth. One type is flighty and uncertain, destroyed
by moth and rot in time, while the other is timeless, held for us by God in
heaven and given to us by Grace on the earth.
Where your Treasure, So Your Heart
Jesus, as He taught on this issue of trusteeship – of our
position of trust as partners with God in the enterprises of the Kingdom – set
up the account for us and made the initial deposit.
By His sacrifice of blood on the cross, Jesus won our
salvation and gave us access to heaven and all its stores! In Him we have our own PIN number!
Now we have to understand that this treasury work a bit
differently than our normal bank account here at Wells Fargo or Keybank. It’s different than your local credit union.
Your “savings” are associated with you have given away, NOT
what you have put away!
In Luke 12, Jesus warns us of our normal way of doing
business:
Luk 12:19-21 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you
have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and
be merry."' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your
soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' "So is the man who stores up treasure
for himself, and is not rich toward God."
As trustees of God’s riches, we see “treasure”
differently. Just a few verses later
Jesus concludes his statements with this wisdom:
(v 33) “Sell your possessions and give to
charity; make yourselves money belts
which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes
near nor moth destroys.”
As trustees of God’s riches we need to always be mindful
that they are never “for us” as a personal possession, but they are for others,
through us! It is in this way that we
make deposits of that treasure which is ours in God to an eternal account.
(v 34) “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Why do you think that Jesus made such a big deal out of the
two-cents worth of the widow, as she was putting her little in the offering
plate that morning, alongside those who were putting in so much more?
Because she got it right!
Her treasure wasn’t the two copper coins that she dropped into the
offering baskets that day; her treasure was the Kingdom of God and the ONE who
she trusted in for her sustenance.
Jesus singled her out to His disciples and made an example of her
devotion and sacrifice, because “she gave
all that she had.” In that moment,
she made a deposit in Heaven – in the Kingdom of God, the same kind that God is
asking us to make.
Friends, the treasure we seek and which we have in Christ is
not a treasure of this world, but a treasure of the Kingdom of God. Let’s go
back for a second to the thoughts that Paul shared with his protégé,
Timothy:
I mentioned earlier 1 Tim 6:17: “Instruct
those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their
hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all
things to enjoy.”
Paul goes on to fill out that thought: “Instruct them to do good, to
be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for
themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may
take hold of that which is life indeed.” (18-19)
Let’s look at a couple of these thoughts a bit closer:
DO GOOD
Do you think that there is ample instruction in Scripture
about what these two words might mean?
Do you have an idea of what Paul might be talking about when he says,
“Do good!”? Let your imagination run
wild!! In fact he says,
BE RICH IN GOOD WORKS!
Here is the work of the trustee in the Kingdom. Here is a picture of the true riches that we
have administrative responsibility for.
In our first reference from Ephesians 2:10 we were told that
God “created us in Christ Jesus, for good works, that we should walk in them.”
BE GENEROUS AND READY TO SHARE
This is the character of the trustee of the Kingdom of God –
generosity that is uncharacteristic of the world and its system of hoarding and
selfishness. How we approach our life of
giving speaks volumes to those around us about who we are as trustees of God
and His riches in the Kingdom.
We have classes on building wealth – we have professionals
who come alongside us to help us with our wealth building – all in the name of
our future! Our retirement accounts are
of ultimate value and anything that threatens those “treasures”, threatens our
foundation for the future. But the
Kingdom of God turns it all upside down – or is it upside RIGHT?
Jesus told us that our life doesn’t consist in the things we
own or make or wear – in the things that so easily pass away in the fire of
trial or the end of life. Our LIFE – life that is life indeed – consists of
the treasure of the Kingdom of God and what we do with that treasure as its
trustees.
Friends, We have commitment cards on the table at the
back. They are a tool for us who are
planning for this next year, for the ongoing salaries and expenses of our life
together.
They are a sign of your trusteeship. You are a trustee of the Riches of God, made
available in Christ Jesus. What you do
with those riches is up to you – you can be like the one sea in Galilee that has
a inlet and an outlet, receiving and giving its bounty to the Jordan valley and
river - or you can be like the other sea
in Israel – one which takes and takes and takes, but never gives.
They call it the Dead Sea!
Shall we pray:
Give us grace, O Gracious God, to see and understand the
riches you have given us in Jesus Christ our Lord; Riches of Mercy, Grace, Wisdom, Knowledge,
Redemption and Sanctification. Make us
rich in good works, O Lord, for your sake and for the sake of Your Kingdom. Help us not to grasp that which we can never
truly own, but to give that which is not ours, that we may gain that which is
Yours, a lasting treasure held in heaven. Meet our earthly needs, we pray of
Lord, by the grace of your hand that we may come to share in and do the works
you have prepared for us to walk in.
Help us to continually see the treasure you offer which is life indeed
and to set our treasure in heaven, that our hearts may there be set also.
For the sake of your Kingdom, Jesus and the fame of Your
Name, we pray.
Amen.
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