Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you!
This weekend the 8th graders will be confirmed. During the last few classes, we talked about what it means to be a Christian and a member of the church.
There are five aspects of congregational life, and I remember it by the acronym WIFE’S.
Worship (receiving forgiveness of sins and, in response, singing praises)
Instruction (studying the Word from God privately and with others in small and large groups)
Fellowship (sharing time and your faith with one another)
Evangelism (serving others in love and telling other the good news of salvation)
Stewardship (understanding that all you have is owned by God to be used in God pleasing ways)
The students were excited to look back and see how they have grown during the confirmation program which includes all five aspects! Worship, instruction, and fellowship are easy concepts. Evangelism and stewardship are more challenging.
We are called to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others, and we are called to be good stewards of all we have been given. Stewardship is really ownership!
This understanding of ownership is crucial to our understanding of what it means to be faithful stewards. As stewards, we acknowledge that who we are and what we have are gifts from God. God’s Word tells us that nothing actually belongs to us.
Granted, it is difficult to remember that God really owns everything, because we work hard for our incomes. We have sweated and toiled in our jobs and focused energy on our careers, which has allowed many of us to increase our net worth.
But the truth is that we came into the world with nothing, and we will leave with nothing. Only for a short time that God gives us on this earth will we have possession of a few things. These possessions belonged to somebody before us, and they will belong to others after us.
The air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we live on are gifts we enjoy out of the overflow of God’s love. The love of God, the gift of God’s Son, Jesus, the forgiveness of sins, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and life eternal are gifts to us from God.
This understanding that all of life is a gift and that God owns everything prompts a shift in our understanding of stewardship. We no longer see stewardship as just acts of giving. Through faith, we see stewardship as faithfully receiving and taking care of all that God entrusts to us.
What a privilege it is to enjoy, use, and manage what belongs to God. Everything ultimately belongs to God. It isn’t the other way around at all. We only think it is.
God be with you!
Pastor Hartwig