Today, we continue our look at stewardship. In introducing this series, I realized that maybe I overlooked defining something and that has created some confusion. One of the things that I want to make clear about stewardship is that it is not just about money. I like what Lynn Miller says about this topic; “Stewardship is the act of organizing your life so that God can spend you.”
Last week we looked at the topic of spiritual gifts and how that relates to stewardship. Today, we will be looking at relationships. If I were to define stewardship, it would be how we take care of what God has given us. The question then becomes, “What has God given us?” God’s word tells us “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” God has given us everything, so it is our job to manage what He has given us and that would be everything. Howard Dayton who founded Crown Financial Ministries said of stewardship “What I possess, God owns.” It’s not a matter of what we own or what we possess because ultimately it is all God’s anyway. Oswald Smith said it this way, “It’s not how much of my money will I give to God, but how much of God’s money will I keep for myself.” We could paraphrase this and say, “It’s not how much of myself will I give to God, but how much of myself will I keep for myself.” Stewardship is what we do with the resources that God has given us.
A second thing that needs to be defined before we go on is this idea of Kingdom. Some of you probably wonder what I am talking about when I speak of the Kingdom. This is doing God’s mission. When I speak of building the Kingdom, I’m not talking about building facilities, but building people – building relationships. We are given the account of Jesus in Matthew 9:35, “ 35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Jesus was announcing the Good News. What is the Good News of the Kingdom? Let’s go to Romans 5, “ 1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory…6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” The Good News of the Kingdom is that Jesus came to earth – that Jesus died on the cross for our sins – that Jesus rose again to free us from the bondage of sin – that Jesus took the keys of death, hell, and the grave – That Jesus ascended to heaven to a prepare a place for his people and that He is coming back again. In that process, he has commanded us to make disciples of the whole world – baptizing them (that signifies that they are true disciples) and teaching these disciples everything that Jesus has taught us. Since Jesus is coming back for His church, we are to live for Him – to give God the glory and to take as many people with us to heaven as we can. That is the Good News of the Kingdom. It’s not about buildings – it’s not about money – in fact, listen to what Jesus tells his disciples to do in Matthew 10: “ 5 Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: 7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received! 9 “Don’t take any money in your money belts—no gold, silver, or even copper coins. 10 Don’t carry a traveler’s bag with a change of clothes and sandals or even a walking stick. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed.”… 16 “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. 17 But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. 18 You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. 19 When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. 20 For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
Kingdom building is not about building buildings, collecting money, or doing a whole host of other things. Kingdom building is about relationships. It is about building relationships with people. That’s what Jesus did as he toured around Galilee and Jerusalem – he built relationships with people. He built relationships with people on several levels. He was very close to a few (the disciples), but he also had the crowd and he desired to bring them into the fold – he had compassion on them. The lesson for us today is that if we are desirous of being good stewards, then we must build relationships – first, with God – second, with ourselves – third, with those outside these four walls.
On the wall behind me, you see a cross – this is a great reminder of the relationships we need to build. What do I mean? First, you have the pole – the vertical – this reminds us that first and foremost, that we need to have a relationship with God. This is the vertical relationship we have with God. Second there is the horizontal cross bar. This is the horizontal relationship that we have with others (both our fellow believers and those outside these walls.) Both the vertical and the horizontal pieces of the cross are needed to make a cross and in the church and in Kingdom building both pieces are needed.
In a conversation that I had recently with our District Superintendent, Pastor Greg, he asked me the question – are you building relationship with those outside your church – in other words, do you have cruddy buddies? In order for the church to be effective in continuing to build the kingdom, we must continue to build relationship with those outside our four walls – Are you creating intentional relationships with those who do not know Jesus. Let me make this clear, I’m not saying that we should buddy up to someone present the gospel and then let them go. That’s not what we are talking about. We are talking about building real relationships with people who don’t know Jesus as Savior – and then as the Holy Spirit gives us opportunity to share the gospel or Good News with them and then – not cut them loose but then to disciple them in the things that Jesus taught.
My answer to Pastor Greg was that yes I have people that I am intentionally creating relationships with – that as the Holy Spirit leads, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. This past week I had the opportunity to pray with a co-worker. Now, I know I have the advantage of being a pastor – but there are times (and they were many in New York) where being a pastor put me at a disadvantage. Why do I say that? Because in New York, especially the area in which we lived, people were suspicious of anyone “religious.” There are times that are like that here. I say all of that to encourage you to be intentional about building relationships with those around you who do not know Christ and build the Kingdom. In building these relationships, we need to be careful – we need to make sure that we are Christ-like in all of our dealings, because let me warn you – those who don’t know Christ can spot a phony a mile away. We need to be authentic and real in our Kingdom building.
So if we are to build God’s Kingdom – First, we must have a relationship with Christ – that is first and foremost. Do you have a relationship with Him today? If not, you could receive Him this morning. The Bible tells us that, “All who call upon the name of the Lord, will be saved.” We are told that we cannot save ourselves – because all of us have sinned and all of us fall short of God’s glorious standard. We have to acknowledge the fact that we are sinners and ask God to forgive us of our sins – then we need to believe that Jesus is who He said He is. That He is the Savior – that He is the Great Shepherd. And then we need to confess with our mouth that He saved us – that we are not what we once were, but we are a new creation and that we desire to love and follow Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Right now I want to give you an opportunity to do that – in the quietness of this moment – without any singing – would you receive Jesus today?
Second – we must commit to building relationships – building solid, godly relationships – There is a world that so desperately needs what we have – Jesus has asked where are the workers – the fields are ripe for the harvest – So I ask you, “What are you willing to do today to build relationships with those who are outside our four walls.” Building the Kingdom of God is a partnership – Yes, I am quite aware that my job as pastor is to build relationships and to shepherd the flock – but in reality all of us are ministers – each one of us has a responsibility to each other to love and to care for each other – sometimes this will involve correction – other times it will involve loving on each other. There are relationships to be built both inside of our fellowship and outside our fellowship – As I have said – my agenda is not to build a Kingdom for myself – my agenda is to build God’s Kingdom – to reach people with the Good News – that Christ has come – Christ was crucified – Christ has risen. That should be the agenda for each one of God’s people. Is this your agenda?
