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CHAPTER 1

Section I

Theology of Stewardship

What Is Stewardship?

When church attenders hear the word "stewardship," some immediately tightly grab their wallet or checkbook. Yet stewardship is much more than money. A steward isn't an owner, but is instead a manager of what the owner has left in the steward's care. In a church setting the three things members, as stewards, must manage are time, talents or abilities, and money, including the stuff money buys. Some members practice stewardship well, some poorly. At times members may become anxious about how they are using their time, abilities, and our money.

In sermons I have preached on stewardship in parishes of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, I have asked this rhetorical question, "Is there anyone here who has more money than they know what to do with? If so, please see me or your rector following the service and we'll have some ideas for you." Members of the congregation smile and laugh. And guess what? No one has ever spoken afterward to me or to the rector.

Unlike the variability in the amount of money we have, everyone has the same amount of time. We are all given just twenty-four hours a day. Come midnight, today is gone. There are no time-saving machines. All of us have twenty-four hours, no matter how rich or poor we are. As stewards of our time, we are responsible for how we spend these twenty-four hours. Come midnight, if we did not call our mother or our son, if we have not written that thank-you note, or if we have not told our spouse, our children, or our parents how much we love them, these opportunities are lost for today.

In my stewardship sermons, I often ask the question, "How many of you use computers in your work? Please raise your hands." Normally about half of the hands go up. I then comment, "It is good to be with so many people who have to work only 30–35 hours a week for a full salary." I am met with incredulity. I remind them that when computers were first introduced, we were told that with the efficiency computers provide we would need to work fewer hours to complete our work. Of course, this proved to be false. Instead, many people work forty to fifty hours each week or more. We are more productive with computers, but it just means we accomplish more work during those hours. We don't save any time.

I then ask how many took a computer class in college and some hands go up. How about in high school? Fewer hands are raised. Elementary school? The fewest of all. It is very clear that the majority of us learned computer skills after college using the abilities God has given us. In fact all of us, as we have matured, have learned new skills for the new challenges that were not present when growing up: mobile phones, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. This ability to learn new things is a gift from God.

Another statement I pose is, "Raise your hand if you don't want to be happy." Never has a hand gone up. I ask, "If we all want to be happy, why aren't we happy all the time?" I don't believe we can will ourselves to be happy. If we wake up and say to ourselves, "I am going to be happy today," and then we go into the kitchen for breakfast and there is no coffee and no milk for cereal, and then on the way to work, a huge traffic jam stalls us and makes us late for an important meeting, our happiness disappears.

Finally, I ask them, "Are you a thankful person? Do you count your blessings?" I challenge them to take the risk and ask their family and friends, "Do you believe I am a thankful person?" I challenge them to take the risk to hear how they are perceived. I firmly believe that being thankful gives us the key to being happy.

Involving ourselves in a church community will offer us the opportunity to become more thankful, more appreciative, more gracious, and more generous. We may become a person who will more fully appreciate God's blessings in our lives. In a healthy church community, a spirit of compassion dwells and works of mercy will be practiced.

The question for all of us who are active in a congregation is, "How much should I give to support God's work in my congregation, especially to encourage the spirit of compassion and to foster the practice of the works of mercy?"

What Is the Biblical Basis for Stewardship?

When I consulted Walter Brueggemann, the renowned scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures, he suggested these texts: the story of God providing manna to the Israelites in the desert (from Exodus 16) and Psalm 145:10–19.

"I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.'"

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.'" The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed. (Exod. 16:12b–18)

The story tells the Israelites to gather an omer of manna every day and on the sixth day gather twice as much for the seventh day, the Sabbath. God's abundance is demonstrated in that each person had enough to eat. But it could not be stored up, because worms infiltrated it and made it stink. God's provision of manna reminds us of the words of the Lord's Prayer, "Give today us our daily bread." We are not asking for more than we need so we can hoard it. We ask God to meet only our needs today.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your faithful shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power, to make known to all people your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds. The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them. (Ps. 145:10–19)

The psalmist empathizes with those who are hungry and addresses these words to God, "The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing." God's abundant generosity works by providing food as food is needed. Like the psalmist, we need to thank God for our blessings, for his good works.

These passages about God's abundance from the Hebrew Scriptures foreshadow Jesus's teaching about men and women and their possessions (money). He teaches more frequently about people and their possessions than any other subject including heaven, forgiveness, and healing. People living in Palestine during Jesus's time had to pay high taxes, buy food for their family, care for their children, and pay for a home, just like we do. Then, as now, most families and marriages have issues concerning money.

Jesus speaks not about scarcity but abundance. My favorite Gospel story is the feeding of the five thousand. It is the only miracle found in all four Gospels. This is the version found in John 6:1–13:

Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over," ... they filled twelve baskets.

Five thousand people are fed, and there are twelve baskets gathered of the leftovers. This is abundance, more than enough! The twelve baskets of leftovers provide the central message: everyone ate as much as they could eat and there is still more. However, I have identified my ministry with the young boy who offers his two fish and five barley loaves to Jesus. God has blessed my gifts and enabled me to have an effective ministry. My gifts of body, mind, and spirit, which at times I have felt were somewhat limited, have been multiplied and enhanced during my over forty-eight years of ordained ministry.

Now I offer a bit of humor related to this parable. When I was asked to speak at a Regional Stewardship Conference in the Diocese of Northern California and El Camino Real, I needed a theme and chose the feeding of the five thousand. I knew I could find five loaves of pita bread locally, but I needed two fish. I visited a Korean market and got two salted fish for my visual aids, packing them in my suitcase for the plane ride. When I arrived in California, I found my suitcase was missing. The airline did find it and delivered it the next day. Despite my careful wrapping of the fish, my clothes stank — God's fragrant abundance!

Another example of God's abundance comes from John 2:1–11:

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Jesus turns about 120 to 180 gallons of water into wine — an abundance of wine — much more than even those guests could drink. Some ask, "What happened to the leftover wine?" I like to imagine we share it each Sunday at the Eucharist.

In Mark's Gospel we find the parable that Jesus tells to illustrate the "largest gift" in the New Testament. When I ask about this in a sermon, someone usually answers (correctly), "the widow's mite." Here it is from Mark 12:41–44:

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."

Actually, Jesus was not watching but rather listening to what people gave. I understand that offerings were made by worshippers coming up to a large metal tuba-type receptacle with a pipe leading to a safe where the coins were stored. Each would come forward and throw their coins into the metal receptacle. Large coins would make a loud clanging sound. Small coins would only make a ding. In the parable, the widow comes forward and puts in two cooper coins as her offering. Jesus commends her for her gift, because she gave all that she had to live on. As a percentage of her assets, she gave the largest gift in the Gospels.

In my first parish as rector, I had an eighty-year-old parishioner who was, most likely, the poorest person in the parish. She lived in a small cottage, cut her own firewood, and took in laundry. She charged twenty-five cents for a laundered shirt. She was given some land to garden by a parishioner and kept chickens in a coop in her backyard. She sang in the choir, and as she came up the aisle in procession, she held on to each pew for support. Every Thanksgiving, our congregation took a food basket to her home. She pledged and put her envelope in the plate every Sunday. What I found remarkable was every month she put in an additional envelope for the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, the precursor of Episcopal Relief and Development. She was the only parishioner who did so. She knew what it was like to live to hunger and truly gave the widow's mite. She gave her offering in the spirit of abundance.

Finally, we turn to what I like to call the second largest monetary gift in the Gospels — Zacchaeus's offer to repay people he cheated — found in Luke 19:1–10.

He [Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

By committing himself to pay back fourfold those people that he has cheated and then giving half his fortune to feed the poor, Zacchaeus responds to Jesus's acceptance with unbelievable generosity. Is this where today's billionaires get their inspiration? Zacchaeus's relationship with Jesus changed not only his life forever, but also the people to whom he made recompense.

In Palestine and Israel when you are invited for dinner, you do not clean your plate. You always leave a little food on it. If you clean your plate, your host will pile on more food until you finally leave some. There always needs to be abundance — more than enough. God's grace is like that.

How Has the Offering Changed?

In 1997 the offering plate would be passed by an usher, and parishioners would put in their envelopes with a check or cash inside. People without envelopes simply would put in cash or a check. A faithful parishioner was one who attended every Sunday except for illness or vacations. Now a faithful parishioner is one who attends twice a month. The commonly used measure of parish health — average Sunday attendance — can decline even as your parish grows with new families. I found as rector of St. Thomas', where I served as rector of eighteen years, when one of my faithful older members died, I would need a family of three to replace them for the same yearly attendance. And three new families might not contribute as much financially until they understood the spirit of thanksgiving and generosity needed to keep parish ministry vital.

Another interesting take on the stewardship of the church in non-financial terms comes from the Rt. Rev. Chilton Knudsen, assistant bishop of the Diocese of Maryland. She advocates Average Weekly Impact (AWI) as a measure of a church's vitality. Churches should be measured by how they are impacting the community they serve, rather than by just Sunday attendance. AWI means counting those who attend an AA meeting, those who come to a food pantry, those who attend Boy and Girl Scout meetings, and those who attend a Bible study and choir rehearsal. A small church can have a real impact beyond those who gather for worship on a Sunday morning.

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Excerpted from "One-Minute Stewardship"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Charles Cloughen Jr..
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