Stewardship is personal. With one paycheck we tithe, care for our personal finances, and take care of the only body we’re ever going to get this side of heaven. Apart from finances we are also charged with deciding how to spend each of the 1,440 minutes of every day. That’s personal! But there is a sense in which stewardship is also corporate or community oriented. In other words, the Lord has provided groups, like the Church, with resources that are to be stewarded responsibly.

When God provides resources to his people, all the personal agendas have to be set aside. God can do amazing things through committed groups and churches that are obviously functioning as a team, in unity of spirit and purpose. The 33 Chilean miners are a great example of a group of people with limited resources to steward. They are alive because they used their resources wisely and thought of the group before themselves. These 33 men made 48 hours worth of food last for 17 days while they were waiting for rescue crews to find them. They conserved and shared the batteries on their headlamps. They even hired an accountant, while still a half mile under rock, to help them share donations and proceeds from their situation.
 
Consider the encounter between the prophet, Elijah, and the widow in 1 Kings 17. At the time, God had been allowing a great drought to cover all the land. God tells Elijah to travel to Zarephath and visit a widow who will feed him. Elijah implores the widow for water and bread:

12 “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” 

13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’ “ 

15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

The Lord led the widow to serve his kingdom before she served herself and her family. His response to her obedience was to miraculously meet her family’s needs. The same applies to the Church today. We sacrifice to serve God’s mission and trust that he will meet our personal needs. And he always does!

A morning meeting with the insurance agent was all about possessions. She encouraged me to buy a policy so that if anything happened, my family could replace our possessions. I thought to myself quietly, if she could see my possessions, she’d think losing them would significantly improve my quality of life.
Even though my junk is junk, it is my junk. Like most people, I’m attached to it; the Bible instructs us to not get too attached to our possessions. In God’s Kingdom, ownership is about stewardship and is in the context of God’s ownership of us. Christians are simply caretakers – stewards – of the Lord’s possessions. The Lord blesses us with resources. The blessed then steward or manage the resources. “And remember, the land is mine, so you may not sell it permanently. You are merely my tenants and sharecroppers!” (Leviticus 25:23, TLB)
Three kinds of behaviors are associated with possessions: hoarding, collecting and giving. Hoarding is a sickness. Hoarders make themselves, as well as others around them, miserable. Hoarding is the acquisition of and failure to use or discard such a large number of possessions that it causes clutter and impairment to basic living activities. The hoarder feels best when piling up stacks of worthless stuff that makes life difficult and is in the way. A new reality show on the A&E channel explores the lives of hoarders. The show captures the deep emotions of people whose attachments to worthless possessions seem irrational. It is scary, rather than entertaining, for someone like me who is borderline dysfunctional in this area. The devil would like to prey upon my weakness and make me a hoarder. Possessions can become precious beyond all reason.
Our possessions must not possess us. We are warned in the Bible, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money,” (Matthew 6:24, NIV). Jesus also instructed, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions,” (Luke 12:15, NIV).
A step removed from the hoarder is the collector. Collecting is a hobby. Collectors experience joy in ownership and perhaps share that with others. Collectors can spend years locating, acquiring, organizing and displaying items of interest. I recently met a man who wanted to purchase a cast iron skillet that I owned. We negotiated a price and exchanged the skillet. I wished him well with his skillet and told him that it would make his bacon and eggs especially tasty. He informed me that he wouldn’t be cooking with it, but would be adding it to his collection that already consisted of 5,000 cast iron skillets. My question, “If you already have 5,000 cast iron skillets, why mine?” was obvious. Apparently mine was rare because it had grooves in the bottom and dimples on the sides. He had never seen one like that. For him, it was satisfying to find and own a rare skillet. For me, I now had enough money to buy a pound of bacon and a dozen eggs, which are just two eggs short of a Saturday morning breakfast in the Lail household.
Distinctively different than hoarders and collectors are givers. Giving is a lifestyle. Givers produce joy in themselves, in their recipients and often in others. Former president Bill Clinton wrote a book about them called “Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World.” A gift is a transfer of property, without any need for compensation. Giving is a voluntary act that requires nothing in return. Scientists have proven that the good feeling derived from giving is biological. The reward center of the human brain actually doles out a dose of euphoria called dopamine along with a hormone called oxytocin that stimulates love and trust. Most Christians don’t need neurologists to explain the obvious – giving is enjoyable.
Giving feels great in most situations, but especially when possessions are shared with those in need. Christianity and generosity have walked hand-in-hand since the earliest days. “And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything with each other, selling their possessions and dividing with those in need. They worshipped together regularly at the Temple each day, met in small groups in homes for Communion, and shared their meals with great joy and thankfulness,” (Acts 2:44-46, TLB). Giving is spiritually healthy. It is in the nature of the redeemed to give with gracious hearts. Those who walk with Christ have possessions, but they put them in their proper place. Possessions aren’t necessary for being happy and content. While possessions are a necessary fact of life, they don’t have to be a distraction. Paul said, “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation, whether it be a full stomach or hunger, plenty or want; for I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power,” (Philippians 4:12-13, TLB).
I bought the insurance. Now, in the event of a catastrophe, I can replace the Lord’s stuff.

Sports and I have a strange relationship. Through the first 12 years of my life, I was distant from any sport that didn’t involve a dirt bike. In 8th grade, my sudden growth spurt made me a candidate for basketball. I proved early that awkwardness and enthusiasm does not make an athlete. While it took a couple of years for the coaches to harness that energy into substantial playing time, I wound up more of a fouling machine than a scoring machine. By varsity, I helped lead the Felicity Cardinals to a 2-18 record.

As a not-so-involved sports fan, I determined that as a pastor, I would learn enough to interact with the sports fans in my congregation. The connectivity was important and worth my effort. It also yielded its own form of embarrassment. I once engaged in an Ohio State conversation with the question, “Is Woody the quarterback?” Ugh! And another time, “Is the Masters [Tournament] going to be in Kansas City next year?” Ugh! After enough dumb looks, I learned to check and recheck every sports-related fact prior to using it as a sermon illustration; I probably never fooled anybody.

However, if giving were a sport, then … the billiards giver gives strategic, precise and well-calculated gifts. The skeet giver responds very quickly to needs and hits the target with a bang. The soccer giver gets an enthusiastic celebration for a long-anticipated, momentum-shifting gift. The marathon steward gives very consistently and for the long run – and in the end is entirely spent. A baseball giver sometimes strikes out; sometimes hits a grand slam. The football giver gets a kick out of giving. And the Nascar giver goes round and round about giving, rarely taking time for a quick pit stop.

The Apostle Paul, a sports fan himself, told the Corinthian church about a particular kind of giver of which God is a fan! In fact, God loves the cheerful giver:

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work,” 2 Corinthians 6-9.

The great apostle had other nice adjectives at his disposal, such as BIG giver, faithful giver, consistent giver, regular giver, or champion giver, but he chose the simple word “cheerful.” Cheerful, from the Greek, hilaros, means merry, happy, prompt, willing and even hilarious! Now there’s what giving and sports have in common. They are joyous, merry, often hilarious events. God loves the hilarious giver! I realize it’s a stretch of the imagination, but please allow me a little slack here – I have pastored many nice sports fans and personally witnessed them on the edge of their seats, physically moved to jump up and make some noise at a great moment in sports. The joy is universal, whether it is the Major Leagues or a parent watching the bat make contact with the T-ball.

Does the Lord get a kick out of our generosity? Imagine the Lord, along with some of the heavenly host, watching over the earthly kingdom, preferably on 60 inches of HD. There’s a young couple that just tithed their income for the first time and God is on the edge of his seat. There’s a retiring farmer who deposited life assets into a charitable gift annuity and the Lord stops clapping just long enough to do one of those ear-piercing whistles that requires two fingers. A family on a modest income, barely above poverty themselves, sacrifices their own needs in order to help a friend and the Lord gets so excited he spills his Diet Coke on some nearby saints.

If giving were a sport, if donors were athletes and if generosity were a game, the Lord would invite us to a game we can all play. God loves a cheerful giver. The cheerful giver learned to trust the Lord with the gift. The cheerful giver trusts the church with the gift. Let’s win one for the Lord!
–
Mark E. Lail, director
Stewardship Ministries

The last 19 days of travel included lots of interaction with friends, family and co-workers. Several conversations centered on people or things in either a state of restoration or deterioration. My brother-in-law is down to the finishing touches on the frame-off restoration of the vintage Jeep and is anxious to get started on the 1952 pick-up truck. Restoration! The barn is in bad shape, but its usefulness doesn’t merit paint and repair. Deterioration! My nearly 81-year-old dad presented me with a set of old carving chisels sporting his distinctive, hand-turned walnut handles with leather rings and brass ferrules. Restoration! Three times, I learned that friends are in some stage of dismantling their marital vows. Deterioration! An aunt and uncle, after a 40-year diversion, made their way back into a Christian church and are involved in leadership. Restoration! My sister has cancer. Deterioration!

Restoration is so much more pleasant than deterioration. Not everyone is as “born to restore” as the Lail family, but the gratification of a genuine rebuild seems universal. Perhaps it is a reflection of the image of God in us. The Bible indicates that God is both a restorer and a destroyer. While his wrath is real, harsh and certain, his plan for death-deservers is restoration to life – full, abundant and eternal. As soon as we brought death upon ourselves, the Lord graciously implemented a plan for restoration to life. He spent centuries patiently bringing the nation of Israel back into its glory. Jesus restored withered hands, reversed deafness, corrected eyesight without surgery and even straightened out the confusion of the mentally ill.

Stewardship means to take personal responsibility for the care of someone or something. Our heavenly father demonstrated his care for us by including us in his plan of restoration. As Christlike disciples, we have the privilege of engaging in the Lord’s restoration project! A Sunday School class gathers at a hospital for pre-surgery prayer. Restoration! A child prays for salvation at Vacation Bible School. Restoration! A young couple intentionally commits to tithe their income. Restoration! The Church of the Nazarene restructures itself for organizational efficiency. Restoration! A local church insulates and shifts to low-consumption light bulbs. Restoration! A couple on the edge of marital disaster allows love to overcome hurts. Restoration!

“Restore us, O God;

make your face shine upon us,

that we may be saved.”

(Psalm 80:3)

In this world of constant change, everything is either improving or wearing out. Yesterday it was our home’s AC that displayed its state of deterioration. The prognosis is probably going to be the dreaded not-worth-fixing-may-as-well-just-replace-it. Thankfully, the Lord who restores, also never gives up!

Blessings,

Mark Lail (One of God’s true fixer-uppers!)

Spending a little time with my dad, Charles Lail, and hearing the stories of his dad, Charles Lail, May 7 1888 to September 7, 1955. He was know to have repeated the following quotes several times in life. Read closely and you’ll see the connection to stewardship:

• I wear this world as a loose fitting garment.
• Keep going, you can rest when you die.
• This world is a goose and those that don’t pick, don’t get any feathers.
• If you don’t work, don’t expect to eat.
• If liquor was free, I still could not afford to drink it.
• I would want to be a Christian even if there was no hereafter.
• Thank the Lord for a glass of good, cold milk.
• If it’s somthing too bad to tell to a child, don’t tell it to me.

Hope this blesses! Do you have grandpa quotes to share?

Mark