OK, admit it. When you hear the word ‘Stewardship’, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? Was your answer: fun? No? Not surprising…it took years before I could see the fun in stewardship. Before then, the words that would automatically come into my mind included: obligation, duty, burden, sacrifice, one more request for my limited resources. Early on, I would often think about the story of King Solomon who had to solve the dilemma of one baby claimed by two women. “OK, Lord”, I would pray. “Just how do you want me to divide up the baby this year?” I was a young mother, with lots of family demands and a limited budget. When it came to thinking about stewardship, I would often feel inadequate and discouraged and definitely stuck in a scarcity mentality. In my mind, I didn’t have enough time, talent or money to meet the needs of my Church, say nothing about the world, and so I would live with feelings of guilt and failure.
But all that changed when I learned the true meaning of living as a Christian steward. I was reminded that first and foremost, I am a cherished child of God and I have been given soooooo much- uniquely so! No one I know has the same set of personal abilities, talents and interests; the same education and life experiences; the same history, family and friends as I do. The first thing that made stewardship fun for me was to remember the incredible uniqueness of every single human being that ever has or will walk the face of this earth. WOW! That’s fun to think about. Why do you think God designed it this way?
The second part of seeing the fun in stewardship was to understand that stewardship is not the same as giving, which was my original context. Giving is just one of 4 actions that comprise stewardship as a way of life. When I learned the fuller definition of stewardship, everything changed. I was attending a workshop back in 1990 when I learned that in Jesus’ time, a steward or oikonomos was one to whom the owner of the household would turn over responsibility for caring for the property, managing affairs, making resources yield as much as possible, and sharing the resources with others. The position involved trust and accountability. When we become disciples of Jesus through baptism, we also become his stewards or caretakers of the unique life we have been given.
The Bishop giving the workshop then gave us a definition of the Christian steward that I will never forget. He said a Christian steward is one who:
· receives God’s gifts gratefully
· nurtures, cares for and develops God’s gifts responsibly,
· shares God’s gifts in justice and love and
· returns to God those gifts with an increase.
It is an active life of receiving, developing, sharing and returning- sometimes over and over again- with each and every gift God has given me. And as I learned to surrender to the cycle, life got a whole lot more interesting and fun.
So, here is my question: Which of the 4 actions do you enjoy the most- receiving, nurturing, sharing or returning- and which is most challenging?
This Summer the children of St. Mark’s Summer Sunday School are planting a garden. The theme for the Summer is Renew and it follows the parable of the sower. The children are learning about what is a good seed, what is a bad seed and what makes the seeds grow. They are discovering that the environment is something to be treasured and we all should be good stewards of the Earth.
In a time when tensions are on the rise around issues of U.S./Mexico border security and controversial immigration policies, a group of 25 people from St. Mark’s made their annual trip to El Florido, Mexico in order to live, work, play, worship, sing, pray, laugh, and feast together with the people of that border community just east of Tijuana. In the process, four small homes were built for needy families and relationships of love and care were created and renewed. About fifty children from the community also took part in the daily Vacation Bible School (VBS) hosted by members of our St. Mark’s group. Our VBS leaders had met some of these children nine years ago when St. Mark’s began these annual mission trips. Making the trip every year has also allowed us to develop strong ties with members of El Redentor and Principe de Paz Lutheran Churches. Both of these vibrant congregations are living witnesses to the love and compassion that God gives us to share with the world around us. During our time with them, we enjoyed several communal meals and opportunities for singing and praying together as brothers and sisters in Christ. When each of the homes was blessed at the end of the week, a quilt made by members of St Mark’s was presented to the families who will live there. As always, these quilts served as a beautiful symbol of our common identity as children of God and of the love that surrounds us every day. We are already looking forward to our next trip in 2011.
