For the past four weekends, we have immersed ourselves in the theme: “Rethinking Stewardship: Stewardship as Discipleship.” We’ve explored how stewardship is an act of faith, an act of gratitude, an act of generosity, and an act of justice. All acts that pertain not only to our lives within “the church,” but acts that pertain to our every day lives as disciples of Christ.
But before we transition into the many festival Sundays that the end of the church year puts before us (Reformation Day on Oct 30, All Saints Day on Nov 6, Christ the King Sunday on Nov 20), I wanted to share the above Bible verse with you (1 Peter 4:10, NIV). When I first learned about stewardship, stewardship was often equated with the way I use the time, talents, and treasures entrusted to me. As a child, I understood “treasures” to imply money.
But what if we have been entrusted with even more than that?
Each week, as we gather for worship, we dare to claim that God has entrusted us with Christ’s grace: a gift given to us so that we might live liberated, forgiven, and renewed. And, as we go forth from worship, we dare to claim that God has entrusted to us his mission on earth. That’s quite the task. And yet, God has chosen to entrust that work to us…trusting that we will live as stewards of God’s mission at SOTC and within the broader church.
So this week, as we transition to Reformation Day in which we remember the work of the Holy Spirit ever reforming and re-shaping us, consider how you are a steward of God’s grace…and how you are a steward of God’s mission. These two gifts are huge gifts entrusted to us. And yet, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to not only receive these gifts but live into them – for our sake, for the sake of our neighbor, and for the sake of the world.