Weekly Bulletin

The earth is the Lord’s, 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.         Psalm 24:1,2

 

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.  He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.   “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”      Luke 21:1-4

 

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.      1 Peter 4:10

 

 

About fifteen years ago, a group of Christians representing several area churches assumed leadership of the small food pantry which had operated in Winchester for many years.  (Several of those Christians were Friends from this Meeting.)  The elderly person who had been running the pantry was unable to continue doing so, but the churches and individuals who had been supporting it financially did not want the community to lose a vital ministry to residents who struggled to afford adequate nutrition.  Meetings were called, a governing board was elected, volunteers were recruited, and the pantry’s operation transitioned to new leadership with the lofty goals of improved efficiency, accountability, and quality of service – in other words, better stewardship.

 

The new board got right to work.   They saw that, in addition to random food items donated by individuals and churches, the retired leader was giving out staple items which had to be purchased from grocery stores with donated money at retail price.  The board initiated membership in the area food bank which enabled access to free government commodities and the purchase of food more affordably, sometimes at one-fifth of the retail price, and delivered right to the pantry.  The new board learned that donors to the pantry received little information as to how their gifts were being used, so letters began being sent to acknowledge donations and give details of the numbers of households being served.  Eventually, the board completed the laborious process of obtaining 501c3 status as a nonprofit organization to enable tax-free donations.  Instead of just two or three people operating the pantry, twenty or more volunteers began helping out in shifts each month.  And despite very limited cold storage space, the pantry placed much greater emphasis on providing healthy fresh food instead of highly-processed, less healthy items. 

 

After a year of serving ever-increasing numbers from a tiny room in the former hospital building, the pantry board decided it was time to seek a larger facility.  One was needed which could accommodate more cold storage and dry goods storage, and a more discreet waiting area for clients.  Over several months, board members visited area buildings which were for rent or for sale.  In each case, the price being requested and the alterations needed would have cut deeply into the money people had donated for purchasing food for hungry families.  After a lot of deliberation and consultation, the board decided to construct the environmentally-friendly building now known as the Shalom Center on the campus of Winchester’s St. Vincent hospital.  Because providing healthy food to low-income families fit nicely into their corporate mission, the hospital kindly made land available to the pantry board for a token annual fee.  Some businesses and organizations made early contributions to a building fund.  In an effort to practice good stewardship of legacy funds donated to the Meeting but not immediately needed, Winchester Friends agreed to loan the board, without interest, whatever funds had not been raised and were needed to start construction.  Ground was broken in early 2012, and the Shalom Center finally opened in late 2014.

 

Holistic Stewardship      When I think about stewardship, one of the first things that comes to mind these days is that food pantry.  For me, it is a good – though certainly not perfect – illustration of the stewardship of all things, not just money, which God desires and empowers from those who love and serve him.  The pantry preserves and distributes food to people who need it, food which might otherwise spoil or be discarded, and people who might otherwise unnecessarily go hungry.  Most of the people who built the new pantry donated their construction skills and labor, taking no payment for countless hours of hard work.  Working and serving in the pantry now lets the volunteers donate their time to share compassionate ministry with others, and their skills for efficient service, rather than using them just for self or lesser concerns.  The Shalom Center stands as a tribute to many in this community who felt the Lord’s leading to help fund a building which practices stewardship of the environment by using far less electricity and natural gas than conventional structures of that size, leaving more donated money for purchasing food items.  Funding the initial construction costs with loaned legacy funds was an expression of stewardship of that money.  And money donated in good stewardship by churches, organizations, and individuals certainly does matter, too.  It takes somewhere over $50,000 each year to serve the number of households being helped at the current level.  The faithful, holistic stewardship of many people is making a significant difference in the lives of hundreds of families in our county.

 

Holistic Spiritual Stewardship      A lot of outstanding secular philanthropy occurs nowadays to support efforts like the food pantry (and much bigger projects), and we all should be thankful for that.  Some of it is motivated by deep humanitarian concern, some by tax benefits, and some for political influence or other reasons.  Spiritual stewardship may look similar, but it is distinct from secular philanthropy in some essential ways.  The basic definition of spiritual stewardship used by Christian scholars makes that quite clear – it is “the careful, responsible management of life, resources, and spiritual gifts given and entrusted by God to human beings, not owned by them.”  Spiritual stewardship is a matter of using God’s resources in the manner and for the purpose for which he entrusted them to us.

 

It’s All God’s     David proclaimed in Psalm 24:1,2 that “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,” because he created every molecule of it.  Some people mistakenly assume or say that the “sacred things” belong to God, but the rest they can do with as they please.  Paul affirms the Psalmist’s word that it’s all sacred with his wise questions in I Corinthians 4:7, “What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”  Paul goes on to state in I Corinthians 6:19,20 that we are not our own; we belong to the One who bought us with the price of his own life.  Holistic spiritual stewardship must begin with acknowledging and accepting the Lord’s ownership of everything we are and have, and acknowledging our privilege and responsibility to be faithful stewards of those gifts.  We do that by using and caring for his gifts exactly as he wants them to be. 

 

Listening and Waiting for Direction      How can we know how God wants his gifts treated?  In Luke 14:28-30, Jesus told a crowd of listeners that a wise builder who wants to construct a tower will first sit down and “count the cost,” carefully discerning whether and how to proceed.  Jesus in Luke 21 pointed out and praised a poor widow who put two small coins (the only money she possessed) into the temple offering.  He told his listeners that her gift was greater than those of the wealthy who were putting in a lot of money, but held onto plenty more.  The rich gave in compliance with the Law, but the widow gave from a heart of gratitude for what God had done for her.  Giving without waiting to be led can leave the recipient weaker, not stronger, as stressed in the 2011 book Toxic Charity.  Spiritual stewardship requires that we listen and wait for the leading and prompting of the Spirit, rather than assuming.

 

Faithfulness and Holy Obedience      Paul wrote in I Corinthians 4:2 that “those who have been given a trust must be faithful.”  Once we have accepted that Christ owns all our resources, and have sensed through patient listening his leading for how they should be used, we must faithfully channel those resources to the concerns he wants addressed.  We usually think of good stewardship as not spending on expensive or lavish things, but John 12 indicates that’s not always accurate.  Mary (the sister of Lazarus) brought a jar of costly perfume to a dinner shortly before the events of Palm Sunday and Easter and anointed Jesus’ feet with it.  The disciples’ treasurer Judas Iscariot had a fit, saying the money for that perfume should have been used for the poor.  Jesus told Judas to leave Mary alone, because she had been spiritually led to anoint him symbolically in preparation for his looming death and burial.  Sometimes, obedient spiritual stewardship means spending more, not less.
             I don’t disagree at all with the scholars’ definition of stewardship above, but I like to think of it as “cooperating with God’s created intention for all things — for his glory, not ours.”  I also see stewardship as “getting to obediently invest the Lord’s resources in ministries which will accomplish his purposes for the world, for the Church, and for my life.”  It’s investment, not philanthropy. 

 

Often-Overlooked Assets      We all may not have lots of financial resources, but we all do have many assets which God would like to use in the work of his kingdom.  My guess would be that all of us have time during our days that could be better used to listen for the Lord in prayer and Bible study, or to visit lonely neighbors, or to help someone with small chores.  It is likely that all of us have skills and talents God could use for his kingdom, if we’d offer them to him.  As Jesus’ disciples, it is a certainty that we all have a spiritual gift or gifts which the Spirit has placed in our hearts and within our capabilities (I Corinthians 12:7-11) for use in strengthening the Body of Christ, the Church.  All of us who are reading this are breathing, meaning we carry within our bodies the gift of physical life, an asset which God expects us to “manage responsibly” in gratitude for his gift.  We all enjoy human relationships in our families, our workplaces, and our communities.  Those relationships are gifts from the Lord which are to be cared for and treated as God created them to be treated.  We all breathe the air and drink the water God has provided to sustain life.  We all are responsible for careful stewardship of his gift of our planetary home to keep it clean and unpolluted for the generations still to come. 

 

 

 Queries for Worship-Sharing and Reflection

 

1)  What other often-overlooked assets do you see in life (besides those above) which should be stewarded?

2)  Why would spiritual stewardship sometimes mean spending more, not less?

3)  Why is spiritual listening through prayer and study such an essential part of good stewardship?

4)  What do you see as the differences between secular philanthropy and spiritual stewardship?