Oct. 30 - Nov. 5, 2006

 SOLI/Update

    www.stewardshipoflife.org

 

(Here is an archive column from 2005.)

Stewardship of your life - now more than ever

"I think we're living in the end times," a friend said with an earnestness that was alarming even over the phone. As proof, he ticked off all the natural disasters the world has endured recently, plus the unending war on terror worldwide.

I'm no fan of the "end-times" craze, which seems more hype and fear-mongering than Gospel and trust-in-God, but I have to admit the disasters sure have been piling up like cars in a rush-hour collision. Maybe we are living in the end times? Maybe we are not living in the end times? But that's never the big question for a Christian. The big question we each must ask is, "If Christ came tomorrow, would I be ready?"

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus teaches us that we are to live as if Jesus would return any moment. That means that daily, hourly, minute-by-minute and second-by-second we are consciously to love God with all our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

For too many of Jesus's followers, the end-times hype promotes a kind of fatalistic hunkering down, a disengagement from the world and all its problems. Why care for the poor? Why fight injustice? Why look for an end to war? Why worry about global warming? All those problems count for nothing if God's big clock is about to run out anyway.

"Left Behind" devotees subscribe to the dubious notion that just before the world decays into a final state of sin and chaos, God will scoop up faithful people and ferry them to paradise. This lulls many of God's people into thinking of their lives as a sort of cosmic waiting room, where they will read a magazine or watch TV until the time of God's rescue.

In fact, Jesus calls us not to disengage from the world, but to embrace it as Jesus embraced it. We are saved by faith through grace not so that we can live insular, protected and privileged lives in our safe and comfortable waiting rooms, but rather that we leave our comfort zones and walk this earth with confidence and boldness and strength and vision and service and love, just as Christ did. 

The past year's spate of disasters may, indeed, signal the end times, but that's not the issue. Whether the earth lasts another year or another ten thousand years, our instructions are exactly the same: Be vigilant, be ready, be fearless, be generous; enjoy free lives of service and love and caring. In other words, be good stewards of your life.

--Rob Blezard, editor and webmaster
(c) Copyright 2005, The  Rev. Robert Blezard. Reprint rights granted for nonprofit congregational use. Please include the copyright notice and the phrase "Used by permission."

New This Week:

The Pony-Express Stewardship Program
Billed as an alternative to the every-member canvas, this model takes inspiration from the Pioneer-era mail system to bring stewardship appeal materials to members of a congregation. It's an approach that builds on the strength of the personal touch of people within a community of worship. Click here for "The Pony Express Stewardship Program, from    The Orthodox Church in America

God promises us riches, but not wealth
"Jesus tells parables about a man who wastes his life accumulating wealth and then dies.  And the message is that what he accumulated will perish with him, but that there are greater riches in the kingdom. And Jesus also tells us that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven.  So if God wants us rich maybe it is because God doesn't want us in heaven?"  Click here for the latest weekly column by Pastor Dana Reardon. To read past columns, click here.

Finding your spiritual gifts self-assessment
Stewardship is more about how we use our lives than how we use our money, but how can congregations help their members discover their full lives? This spiritual gifts self-assessment helps people map their strengths and weaknesses in spiritual living. It's easy, and it's free online. Click here for "Finding your spiritual gifts," from The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Tithing: A Step in Walking the Way of Christ
"Jesus did tell his disciples to pay their taxes to Caesar; rendering to him the coin that has his face on it, but giving to God what is God's.  I guess that raises the question: what part of your life belongs to God?  Have you given it all to God, or just part of it?  Is Jesus the ruler of your life, or someone you follow on Sunday from 10:30 to noon?" Click here for "Tithing," by the Rev. Dr. Walk Jones, pastor of Northminster Presbyterian Church, Pensacola, Fla. This week's Treasure Chest offering.