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| A member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America | ||
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October 2003 In downtown Decatur there is a sculpture depicting an elderly couple sitting on a park bench. From the look on their faces and the way the man has his arm around the woman and she has her hand on his knee, there is no doubt that they are still very much in love. But there is more to it than that. You get the feeling that they still take good care of each other, still attend to each other, look after each other. And how I would finally describe them is with a phrase that you would think would be the last phrase that would come to mind: they are good stewards of the gift of life they were given. And I call them good stewards because at its heart stewardship is about falling in love and taking care of the gift love gives. Frankly, stewardship will always be a foreign concept to us and almost impossible to practice unless we understand this. When most people hear the word stewardship, they immediately think of money and brace themselves for the dun that is sure to come. Yes, stewardship does involve money — and time and talent as well — but before all else it is about love. Think of the old couple on the park bench. They consider their life a gift, take good care of each other and give themselves to each other, because years ago they fell madly in love and are still in love. It’s the same with being a Christian. To fall in love with Christ, as the first disciples did, and to know Christ’s love is to suddenly see life itself as a gift, to see that we are here by grace and mercy, to see how much we are blessed with and to want to express our love and thankfulness in return. It is to want to care for the gift of the earth and life itself, to be attentive to others, to give of ourselves for the sake of Christ and offer our time and abilities and money to help and heal and give life to others in the name of Christ. Of course when you fall madly in love, your world has a way of getting turned upside down and you do wonderful, crazy things. And the same is true with being a Christian. Let’s be honest, all the emphasis in our culture today is on keeping: keeping what we have earned, keeping ourselves to ourselves, keeping ourselves safe within our little worlds. It’s a culture that judges self-giving, risking ourselves for the sake of others, caring for the earth and its people to be crazy. But love does crazy things and really doesn’t care what others think. So being a good steward in our world today will seem crazy to many people. But it’s a craziness our world desperately needs. How we need people crazy in love with Christ, people who are attentive to others, who give thanks for the gift of life, who use their lives and resources to build hope in this world, who see beyond their own lives and self-interest to what interests God. Sunday, October 12, is Dedication Sunday, the day we place on the altar our pledges of time and talent and money to help us continue to be Christ and bring Christ to others. Really, we are declaring our love and pledging ourselves to be people of hope and thankfulness and joy.
God be with you, Jeff
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