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Stewardship: A Way of Life—Act On It

Pastor: 
Pr. John Gerike
Sermon audio: 
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Sermon: “Stewardship: A Way of Life—Act On It”
October 29 and 30, 2011
 
 
Well, game 7 was exciting.
            Quite a season.
                        And I didn’t even think they’d make the playoffs.
 
But what sticks in my mind
            from the Cardinals’ great run
                        was game 6.
            And particularly David Freese
                        in game 6.
 
With the pop fly to him
            at 3rd base.
                        Routine play.
            And he missed it.
                        Painful.
 
And then,
            on the flip side,
                        the triple
            with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the 9th—
                        --to send the game to extra innings.
            And then the home run in the 11th—
                                    --to win it.
           
 
As I was watching all that,
            you know what I was thinking?
                        Probably what you were thinking, too.
            I was thinking:
                        Simul justus et peccator.
 
 
Do you know what that means?
            At the same time saint and sinner.
 It seemed to fit for David Freese.
            Dropping the ball,
                        and hitting the home run.
 
 
And that’s what we are, too.
            At the same time Saint and Sinner.
 
And then I thought some more
            about our religious language
                        and the World Series.
            And I thought,
                        we might even say that David Freese
                                    redeemed himself
                        when he got that triple
                                    and home run.
           
            In fact,
                        as I watched the game,
                                    I was saying to both David Freese
                                    and Matt Holliday—
                        (well, actually I was just saying it to the TV—
                                    --they couldn’t hear me)
                                    --I was saying,
                                                get a home run
                                                            and make up for your error.
 
 
But you know what?
            When we talk about our relationship with God,
                        we can’t redeem ourselves.
            We are redeemed.
                        But not through anything we do.
                                    We are redeemed
                                                through grace.
                                    Through God’s love for us.
                                    Through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
 
 
We like to think that we can redeem ourselves.
            But that’s not how it works.
                        We need God to do that.
 
 
Maybe it’s like another thing we talk about
            when we think about baseball.
                        We talk about picking someone up.
                                    Not literally picking them up.
                        But—when one person doesn’t get the job done—
                                    --doesn’t get a hit with a runner in scoring position,
                                    --and then the next player does
                                    --we say they pick up the one who failed.
 
 
 
True for us, too.
            It’s God who picks us up
                                    again and again and again.
            We fail.
                        We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.
                                    But Jesus doesn’t give up on us.
                                                God picks us up.
                                    Redeems us.
                                                And sends us out to serve.
 
 
We can’t pick ourselves up.
            To change images,
                        I like the phrase:
            An empty bucket can’t fill itself.
 
 
We can’t fix ourselves.
            But God reaches out to us in grace.
                        And God picks us up.
            When things are going well.
                        And especially during tough times.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Psalm 46—5:30 and 11:00)
 
            the first line reminds us of that.
 God is our refuge and strength.
            A very present help in trouble.
 
 
And then in verse 10:
            Be still, then, and know that I am God.
 
 
 
When we think that it’s up to us
            to redeem ourselves.
 When we think it’s up to us
            to fix things.
 When we think it’s up to us
            to make everything better—
                        --then we are reminded that we can’t.
                                                But God can.
 
 
Be still and know that I am God.
 
Theologian Walter Brueggeman
            was talking about this passage.
                        He said that what it really is talking about
                                    is being at peace,
                                    not worrying,
                                    not being anxious—
                                                --even in the midst of troubling times.
            “Be still,”
                        doesn’t mean
                                    “Don’t do anything.”
 
            “Be still,”
                        means,
                                    “Trust in God.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Howard Thurman was a Baptist pastor
            and part of the Civil Rights movement.
 He tells the story,
            about when he was a young boy.
                        He was picking berries in the forest
                                                near his home.
                        And they were good.
                                    Pick a few.
                                                Eat a few.
                                    Go deeper in the forest to find more.
                                                Pick a few.
                                                            Eat a few.
 
 
 
 
And, in the midst of the picking and eating,
            he didn’t notice that it was getting dark,
                        and that a storm had blown in.
 Then came the lightning and thunder.
                        And he realized—
                                    --he didn’t know where he was.
                        He was lost.
 
You know what he did?
            He panicked.
                        And started running.
            Didn’t know where he was going.
                        Just ran.
                                    And got more lost.
 
 
And then,
            he remembered some family wisdom.
 He remembered his mother saying to him:
            --when you’re lost,
                        stop and be still,
                                    then look around and listen.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And so he stopped.
            Stood still.
                        And the lightning flashed.
                                    And then again.
                                                And again.
            And as he stood still,
                        and saw the landscape
                                    lit up by the lightning,
                        he looked around.
                                    And then he saw something familiar.
            And with each lightning strike,
                        he walked a few steps closer—
                                    --until he found his way home,
                                                guided by the storm that had frightened him.
 
 
 
 
When we’re lost in the storms of life,
            we need to “Be still and know that God is God.”
   When we’re lost in the darkness,
            our only hope is to see things
                        with the light God gives us.
                                    The light of the world.
 When we are afraid,
            we are reminded that it’s not up to us.
                        We can’t redeem ourselves.
            God is our refuge and strength.
                        And we can be still,
                                    and know that God is God.
 
 
It’s not up to us.
            It’s up to God.
                        And that is amazing good news.
            Because even though we have all sinned
                        and fall short of the glory of God,
                                    we are justified by God’s grace
                                                as a gift.
            As a gift.
                        A gift from God.
 
 
 
 
 
So what does this have to do with the title of the sermon this week—
            --Stewardship—A Way of Life—Act on It?
   What is Stewardship?
            You know what I think it is.
                        I think Stewardship is our response
                                    to what God has done for us.
            Stewardship is living as the people Jesus loves.
                        Stewardship is active.
                                    But not active in order to earn something.
                                                That’s not how it works.
                                    Active in response to something.
                                                And in response to what?
                                                            In response to what God has done—
                                                                        --and continues to do—
                                                                        --for you and for me.
                                                            Active in response to God’s love
                                                                        for you and for me.
 
 
 
 
 
Philip Yancey writes about this in his book,
            “What’s So Amazing about Grace?”
 He writes:
 
Not long ago
            I received in the mail
                        a postcard from a friend
                                    that had on it only 6 words.
            Do you know what those 6 words were?
                        “I am the one Jesus loves.”
 
 
Philip called his friend
            and found out that the slogan came from
                        author and speaker Brendan Manning.
            At a seminar,
                        Manning referred to the Apostle John,
                                    identified in the Bible as
                                                “the one Jesus loved”.
 
 
 
 
 
Manning said,
            “If John were to be asked,
                        ‘What is your primary identity in life?’
            he would not reply,
                        “I am a disciple,
                                    or a fisherman,
                                                or an evangelist,
                                                            or the author of one of the 4 Gosepls.”
            Rather, he would reply,
                        “I am the one Jesus loves.”
 
 
 
What would it mean,
            (he writes),
                        if I, too, came to the place
                                    where I saw my primary identity as
                                                            “the one Jesus loves”.
            How differently would I view myself each day?
                        How would my life be different?
 
 
 
 
How is your life different
            in those times when you clearly see
                        that you and the one Jesus loves?
            What difference does that make?
 
And how can you live that difference
            today and tomorrow and the day after that?
 
 
 
Would you do this for me?
            In a presentation I heard not long ago,
                        the speaker said—
                                    --“You can’t change everything all at once—
                                                --for now, change one thing, and stick with it.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What’s one thing you could do
            this next week,
                        to respond to God’s love for you?
            What’s one thing you could do this week
                        to live as the one Jesus loves?
            Write it down.
                        Start with one thing.
                                    And live in response to God’s love
           
That’s Stewardship.
            It’s a way of life.
                        Act on it.
 
 
In Jesus’ name,
            Amen