“Dancing to Our Tune or God’s Tune”—Matthew 11.12-19, Oct. ’12 Reformation Day

 

1.        Please pray with me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this day we observe the Festival of the Reformation is taken from Matthew 11:12-19 and it’s entitled, “Dancing to Our Tune or God’s Tune,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ. 

2.        No matter what the Christian Church teaches and preaches, someone will object to the message and use it as an excuse for not going to worship and being in fellowship with other Christians.  John the Baptist fasted and stayed away from wine.  Because of this, some of the religious leaders of his day said that he was possessed by a devil.  Jesus went to the homes of his friends and also sat down to eat with tax collectors and other sinners, and these same people said He was a glutton and a drunkard.  By this text in Matthew 11 we learn that you can’t please everyone, especially those who are looking for something to find fault with. 

3.        What should we do then?  Nothing?  That would be the easier course.  But, that’s not a God pleasing way to face objection and criticism.  So what should we do?  Continue with patience and determination to teach, preach and carry out what God has directed us to do in His Word.  The rest we leave to God.  We’ll never be able to please everyone.  This Jesus experienced for Himself and He was the sinless Son of God.  Matthew 11:16-19 says, ¹⁶“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, ¹⁷“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ ¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

4.        Jesus probably shook His head when He heard the criticism of His opponents.  “To what shall I compare this generation?” we hear Him say.  They act like children who say you can’t play in our yard because you don’t play by our rules.  We’ve played our music and you’ve not danced according to our tune.  This holds true today as well.  Many have played—they want an easy Christianity with preachers who say “smooth things.” (Isaiah 31:10).  Many want sin condemned as long as it’s not their own sin that’s being spoken about.  It’s fun to sit in the pew and hear the pastor shoot darts at those who absent from worship.  But, he must not say anything against our conduct.  It’s too much when the pastor brings up that we have spoken bad things about our neighbor and tried to hurt his reputation.  It’s too much when he brings up how we have lusted after other people, desired things that don’t belong to us and how we have hated our neighbor in our heart.  When he says these things this strikes too close to home.  We want the pastor to dance to the tune we play.   In order better to understand Jesus’ perspective on an unbelieving world, he likens the world to children who refuse to play any game in the marketplace, whether they’re invited to mourn or dance.  Jesus Wants to Move Us from Mourning Our Sins to Celebrating Our Salvation, but will we mourn—or dance? (vv 12–17).

5.        We’ve mourned, but you haven’t lamented.  This is another tune many play.  They want an easy going Christianity.  They come to worship to be entertained and to be catered to.  And yet, they never lift a hand for anyone.  But, let them have some kind of problem, and they expect everyone to jump and come to their rescue.  We mourn, and when we do, we want the church.  We look for an emergency device that will take all the bitter pain out of our lives.  In sickness, we want the help of the church to be near to us.  When death comes to our door, we want the services of the church and the pastor to say nice things to us.  Are we only looking for a church membership that will bring the service of the church in times of crisis?

6.        On this day we observe the Reformation we remember Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses that he nailed to the Castle Church at Wittenberg in 1517.  These theses were a funeral song calling the Church of his day to repentance.  Rather than face the total desperation of man before God, the need for a savior, the Church was offering a save-yourself-for-cash scheme: indulgences.  Luther declared this to be foolish, calling instead for personal repentance and faith in Christ.  But, the Church’s response was to excommunicate Luther.

7.        We can refuse to mourn when God sings the sad song of our sin, the Law.  God’s Word sadly describes the brokenness of our sinful condition (Rom 3:19–20).  God calls us to turn away from our sinfulness and to him in faith—repent.  But so often we instead cling to our sins and convince ourselves they can’t really be so bad. Surely we can make up for them somehow.

8.        We can be like children who refuse to dance to a flute (v 17a).  God plays his happy tune through the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus is the Lord and Messiah who has come (Mal 4:5).  Jesus “plays a tune” of healing and good news of forgiveness (Mt 4:23).  But, rather than believe and receive their Savior, the Jewish leaders condemned him (v 19a), finally condemning him to die on a cross.

9.        This beautiful Gospel of Christ was Luther’s great discovery.  There’s no need to invent some save-yourself scheme, for Jesus has done it all for us by his death and resurrection.  Through passages like Romans 3, Luther came to realize that we have eternal salvation by faith alone, simply believing in Christ’s work of dying for us and rising again.  But the Roman Church refused to dance to this beautiful music, even condemning to hell anyone who says that we are saved by faith apart from our works (Council of Trent).

10.    We can refuse to dance when God plays the happy tune of our salvation, the Gospel.  God’s Word clearly preaches the gift of salvation (Rom 3:24).  God calls us to trust in Jesus’ person and work for our eternal life.  But too often we take the good news of Christ as too simple to be true, thinking something more must be necessary for our salvation.

11.    God wants us to mourn and dance.  It’s not enough for us simply to hear God’s song and dance.  “Wisdom is justified by her deeds” (v 19b).  We are saved by faith alone (Rom 3:24–25).  Genuine faith will manifest itself in the lives of believers (James 2:14–26).  God wants us to mourn our sins.  He wants us to agree with him that we have sinned and fallen short of his glory (Rom 3:23).  He wants us to grieve over our sins so that we leave them behind.  He wants to wash away our sins through Baptism (Mt 3:6).  He wants to forgive us through the blood of Jesus (Rom 3:25).  God wants us to celebrate our salvation.  He wants us to hear the good news.  He wants us to receive the free gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation (Rom 3:24).  He wants our salvation to manifest in our lives.  He wants this message to go to every nation.

12.    John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and he was faulted for his conduct.  Jesus ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners and He was accused of living a loose lifestyle.  Some people can’t be pleased they want someone to dance to their own tune and not God’s tune.  No matter what the church does, it’s wrong in the opinion of such faultfinders.  “To what shall I compare this generation?”  Jesus says.  The crowd is critical.  No matter what is done, it’s wrong.  If we are joyful, then we are taking our Christianity too lightly.  If we’re sad, then we’re told about the joy of the Gospel.  But, these faultfinders of 2,000 years ago didn’t harm Jesus and His Gospel.  They only closed the door of home and salvation upon themselves.  We don’t want to make the same mistake today!  

13.    The gift of the Reformation is the clarity of the good news through Martin Luther. Like Luther, generations could hear the song and dance of God clearly and without confusion. We can take comfort in the fact that we are not saved by paying our way or by crying and lamenting our sins during endless hours of confessing our sins before a Pastor; we mourn for our sins, knowing God is leading us to celebration. We do not live with the false hope that our amended lives of good works will earn our salvation; we dance because Christ has already played the happy tune of salvation as a free gift. We dance because Jesus has already lived a perfect life, died for our forgiveness, and risen again so that we, too, will have eternal life. We have a lot to celebrate! Now we can dance to God’s tune and His gift of salvation through our Savior Jesus and not to the tune of our own sinfulness.  Amen.

 

 

“The Steward’s Purpose”--Luke 16:8, Oct. 14th, 2012

1.             Please pray with me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer.  Amen.  The text for the second week in our three-week stewardship sermon series, “Living Each Day as a Steward” is from Luke 16:8: “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.  For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.”  The message is entitled, “The Steward’s Purpose,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.             Many of the parables of Jesus had their focus on finding and recovering something that had been lost.  Specifically, they were aimed at lost souls.  In the parable of our text for today the focus shifts to dealing with how our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior is reflected by the way we live.  For us as Christians, the way that we go about living our day to day lives can’t be separated from our relationship with God.  That’s what Jesus is sharing with us in this Parable of the Shrewd Manager.  This parable touches the lives of every one of us as we struggle to balance in our lives our relationship with God and our desires and dealings with the things of this world and what they offer to us.  We’re often tempted into thinking that having more things of this world will make us happier, which is totally not true. 
3.             The parable of our text is a picture of worldliness.  Jesus aims it at Pharisees, scribes, publicans, and open sinners.  All those people who need to hear a lesson on worldliness because, they have this problem of being absorbed in thinking more is better.  Guess what, my friends!  Jesus also points this parable in the direction of the disciples and so to us.  If you’re sitting there all smug and secure in your pew thinking, “Well, I’m not guilty of worldliness,” think again!  No matter what your age: involvement with the things of this world are part and parcel of all of us.  We may not want to admit that often God’s purpose for our lives is replaced by the American dream which is to live in a big house, drive fancy cars, and have large retirement accounts.
4.             Three teens were talking about their future plans.  One of them talked of being a doctor because he could have fame and people would come to him and be helped.  He saw becoming a doctor as a way to gain popularity.  His purpose in life was to gain fame.  Another listened and decided he might like to be a doctor too.  He described the car his doctor drove, a Ferrari, and shared that being a doctor would mean he could have the Lamborghini he wanted.  He then started into a speech listing all the things his parents couldn’t afford that he would have.  His purpose in life was to gain wealth.  The third teen was confused.  He thought a few moments and then shared his desire to do something that God wanted him to do.  Maybe that would mean becoming a doctor, or maybe he would be a farmer.  His purpose in life was to glorify God by serving others.  As he shared his purpose of serving others, the other two teens laughed at him. 
5.             In the parable we have a rich man whose business is extensive, so much so that he employed a general manager, a steward, who had full power to handle all his business affairs.  We’re not talking about a small business.  Eight to 900 gallons of olive oil, 1,000 bushels of wheat show us the wealth involved.  No doubt this steward lived quite a life equal with the wealth he dealt in.  As it turns out, the steward who managed the affairs of the rich man was a crook.  Most of us are aware that this is nothing new in managers who have powers like his.  In the parable we look in on him at a time in his career when somebody has blown the whistle on him and denounced him to his employer.  The evidence that’s presented is overwhelming and convinces the employer to fire the steward.  It’s interesting that the steward makes no effort to defend himself and so, more or less, admits to his guilt.
6.             The great emphasis of the parable at this point finds itself in the words of the text and the shrewdness of the steward.  The steward thought about his predicament.  He made a decision and then acted quickly.  That shows us some good managerial skills.  He figured that he wasn’t strong enough to do hard labor like that of a hired hand, not was he about to lower himself to have to rely on begging for his existence.  His plan was to set things in motion so that his employer’s debtors would take him into their own homes so that he could live at ease until something better came along.  Having squandered his employer’s possessions up to that point he decided to do it again, one final time.
7.             He pulled the debtor’s notes out of the strong box, handed it to him and told him to write a receipt for much less than what it really called for.  For a second debtor, he repeated the process.  In that day as in ours, tampered documents would invalidate a transaction, so new obligations must be drawn up and substituted for the originals.  The deed is done.  What a clever man!  What a shrewd man!
8.             The question arises, what does Jesus have in mind by telling this parable?  In the verses following the Parable, Jesus helps us apply the parable to our lives as His stewards.  In verse 9, Jesus said, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”  In this verse, Jesus referred back to the Shrewd Manager who used worldly wealth in order to make friends for himself who would take him in when he was fired.  Jesus tells us as stewards to use the same shrewdness in using our resources.  The difference between the Shrewd Manager and us, however, is the motivation and goal.  God calls us to use all His gifts to us with the purpose of helping others to come to know His Son.  In so doing, we will be welcomed in Heaven by those to whom we have witnessed and with whom we have shared our blessings.
9.             In the next verse, verse 10, Jesus said, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much” We often fail to see the witness of Christian faith and conduct that we can communicate in little things:  how we deal with our neighbors around the block, how we value our conversations with our children or our parents, how well we do our homework, perhaps even our ethics on the golf course, or how we play a game of cards.  Our consistency of conduct, and our honoring of principles will be seen in the “little things,” and these may even constitute the practice field for the big things in life, what God entrusts to us.
10.             With verse 13, Jesus concludes His explanation and application of the Parable of the Shrewd Manager.  It reads, “No servant can serve two masters, for 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 God and money.”  I don’t believe anyone here today would admit that he or she is serving money and not God.  However, God looks at our hearts, and He sees how we use our credit cards and check books.  God knows what we see as our purpose in life.  When we seek God’s forgiveness and help, He will take away our love for money and possessions.
11.             In this Parable, we see that the shrewd manager’s entire focus was rest and ease in this life.  But recall Jesus’ words.  “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”  Who is it that receives us into the eternal dwellings mentioned in the text?  God in Christ alone.  Therefore, our motivation as people of God is not rest and ease in this life.  It is serving almighty God.  It is becoming wise stewards of the material things that God entrusts to us by using them to fulfill His purposes.  It’s loving Him because Jesus first loved us, enough to die for us to save us from our sins.  We respond out of thanksgiving and praise for who God is and what He has done for us, living each day as stewards who give Him glory and honor.  Amen.

“Trouble” John 14.1-4; 1 Peter 1.6-7, Preached @ Christ Our Savior Lutheran High School Oct. 9th, '12

“Trouble” John 14.1-4; 1 Peter 1.6-7

1.                 In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  Job 5:7 says, “Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.”  You can almost picture it can’t you?  A craftsman is hunched over a grinder’s wheel, sharpening a blade.  The most important piece of equipment he can have is safety goggles to protect his eyes, because that’s the direction the sparks fly--upward.  It’s a difficult thought that in this world, trouble will find us, or we’ll find trouble, popular books like the “Hunger Games” can remind us of this.  But, thanks be to God that Jesus knows our troubled hearts, and He promises that He’s overcome the world.
2.                 Jesus says in John 14:1-4-- “¹“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ²In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. ⁴And you know the way to where I am going.”  We know that Jesus is with us in the midst of our troubles and promises us that He has prepared for us a home with Him in heaven.  But, sometimes the worries and anxieties of this life can make us forget that or at least cloud our vision from these promises our Lord Jesus gives to us.
3.                 There’s trouble that’s of our own making, as we’re often able to recognize it.  For instance, if we didn’t do our homework the night before, we shouldn’t be surprised that we’ll get punished for it when we get to school the next day.  If you didn’t study for a big test that you know is coming up, then it’s probably a no-brainer that you won’t be getting a good grade on it after you’ve taken it.  Or, if you don’t exercise and practice hard along with your teammates in the High School sport you play in, then chances are your team probably won’t do well when you compete against other schools.  But, then there’s trouble that seems to come out of nowhere.  And there are troubles we have in our relationships.  These things are hard to understand and we ask, “Why did this happen to me?”
4.                 But, we have a merciful God in Christ who is full of forgiveness toward troubled people like you and me.  Jesus was tempted in every way like we are, yet without sin.  He understands those who suffer, for He suffered for us on the cross and suffers with us in all of our troubles.  The Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:6-7--“⁶In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
5.                 One day a teenage named Joe was approached by Mr. Kidd, one of his father’s friends, “Joe,” he said, “I’ll be gone a lot over the next six months, and I need someone to take care of my place.  You know, wash the windows, dust, vacuum, and mow the lawn.  Also, my 3 cars need to be started now and then just to keep the batteries up.  What do you say?  Joe knew that Mr. Kidd was a wealthy man, and he was delighted at this opportunity to make money for college.  “I’ll be glad to,” said Joe. 
6.                 All went well.  Joe kept the yard neat and the house clean.  He doted on the cars but grew weary of just revving the engines and letting them idle.  “This isn’t doing much good,” Joe said to himself one day as he sat behind the wheel of Mr. Kidd’s beautiful ’57 Chevy.  “It would be even better for the engine if I took it for a spin.”  Joe pulled out of the driveway and onto the street with a rush of exhilaration.  But the feeling didn’t last long.  Halfway through a busy intersection a truck ran a red light and crashed into him.  Joe was shaken but not hurt.  Foremost on his mind was the question, “What will I do know?” Joe’s trouble shows us that bad decisions usually lead to unpleasant and often dangerous consequences.  Despite Joes’ best intentions, trouble literally ran right into him! 
7.                 We know that poor choices will likely result in poor outcomes.  When we smoke too much it will result in weak lungs, when we spend money frivolously, it can lead to money woes, an unkind word or action can return to haunt us.  King David made the worst possible choice in committing adultery with Bathsheba.  Even though he had to suffer the consequences, God didn’t cast him away from His presence.  God forgave David, and He’ll forgive you.

8.                 When trouble strikes us without warning, we’re left dazed and confused.  The worst natural disaster in our country’s history occurred in 1900 when a hurricane slammed into Galveston, TX and killed 8,000 people.  None knew when they woke up that morning that it would be their last.  The insurance industry calls these things “acts of God.”  But, the greatest act of God was to bring His wrath down upon His own Son Jesus Christ, on the cross, so that in Him we have forgiveness of sins.
9.                 Trouble hits us hardest when it comes to our personal relationships.  A famous psychologist once said that human beings are always moving in one of three directions--toward, against, or away from others.  Those who move against or away from people, he claimed, experience troubled relationships.  Which of us isn’t moving against or away from God?  That’s the trouble with our own sinful flesh.  But, thanks be to God that while we were yet sinners, God sent His Son Jesus to die for us and restore our broken relationship with God so that we can then take that forgiveness that God gives to us in Christ into our relationships with those around us.
10.                 Troubles tend to isolate us.  In the midst of sorrow we feel all alone.  But, we’re not.  God is with you in Christ.  He sends to you His Holy Spirit to comfort you in all your trouble.  He’s placed you in this school here at Christ Our Savior where you can learn more about your relationship to your God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Here at Christ Our Savior you have learned that God invites us to bring our troubles to Him in prayer.  With such assurance we’re enabled to refocus our circumstances in healthy ways.  God tells us to “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you and you will honor Me.”  And when our troubles get the best of us we can take comfort that God has placed us in His Church where we can gather around His Word and receive the Lord’s Supper.  In worship God makes Himself known, continual proof of an amazing grace that moved Him to make the greatest sacrifice to save us from the troubles of the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16).  Amen.

“The Steward’s Identity Shapes Giving” 1 Corinthians 16:1, Oct. 7th, ‘12

1.             Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Today’s the first week of our stewardship emphasis living each day as a steward.   Our text for is taken from 1 Corinthians 16:1 “Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.”  I hope and pray that the message today titled, “The Steward’s Identity Shapes Giving” as well as those messages you’ll hear over the next two weeks will help us become people who live each day as stewards.  Dear brothers & sisters in Christ.
2.             There are many Christians who have misunderstandings about what stewardship is.  Because of this they often react negatively when it’s talked about.  One of the major misconceptions is that it deals strictly with the “M” word, you know, “money.”  Or, as some people may put it, the church’s lack of money.  It’s my prayer as your Pastor that I can help you disconnect stewardship from the idea that it’s only about “paying the bills.”  At the heart of stewardship is a personal relationship with Jesus.  I’m convinced that there’s little in life that can help us grow in our relationship with Jesus more than solid Biblical stewardship.  So, today let’s put all of our ideas about stewardship aside.  Let’s start all over with our understanding of stewardship by getting back to basics of God’s Word.
3.             First of all, God has chosen us to be His stewards.  He has given us our identity as His stewards.  It’s first being a steward before it’s doing stewardship.  Who we are determines what we do.  Everything we do and say and everywhere we go flows from our sense of identity.  Understanding whose we are and our identity as God’s stewards, we seek to please Him by faithfully doing His will.  As stewards, we manage everything that the Lord has given us, which is everything that we are and have.  Then we’re to see to it that it’s used in the most useful manner according to God’s will to help build His kingdom.  Stewardship, then, is service to God from the perspective of being a manager or steward of what He has given us.  In the words of Dr. Walton Greever: “Christian stewardship is what I do after I have once said, ‘I believe!’  It’s the response of my entire life to Christ out of gratitude for amazing love that meant death on the cross.  It is giving of everything I am and everything I have to Him, as He directs.  It’s total commitment.  It’s faith in action.”  You can see from that definition that what you give to the church monetarily speaking is only a small portion of the overall stewardship picture.
4.             Second, in our text for today we note that Paul gave instruction to the churches of Galatia concerning stewardship, specifically the stewardship of that portion of money to be used for the Lord’s work and that he’s extending those instructions to the Corinthians, and in a very real way, to us.  How do you determine how much of your time, abilities, and resources you’ll give back to the Lord for work in his kingdom?  Well, Paul gives some information in a very specific way in the verse following our text.  “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collection when I come.”  Then in chapters 8 and 9 of his second letter to the Corinthians he expands on that verse starting at the very beginning, with the reason why we give.  St. Paul spends almost the entire chapter before our text sharing what Christ’s death and resurrection means to us: the fact that all Christians will one day rise from death to new life.  This is what causes us to be concerned about the spiritual and physical well-being of others.  We love because Christ first loved us.  Responding to His love and sacrifice on the cross for our sins, we live each day as God’s stewards.  With changed hearts, our identity changes from being self-centered people to being God-centered. 
5.             The following story is an illustration of what Christ has done for us.  There was a boy who lived near the Atlantic Ocean.  Because of this he had a lot of contact with sailors and boats.  One day he decided to make his own model sailboat.  He got together all the things he needed.  It was getting near the end of summer so the boy planned to work on his boat during the cold winter months when he couldn’t go outside.  Every spare moment he had he spent working on his sailboat: after school, on Saturdays, and holidays.  Finally, spring came and after hundreds of hours of work, the sailboat was finished.  It was the most perfect model you’d ever seen of a 3 masted schooner.  The boy was so excited.  He picked up his sailboat and headed for the bay.  He put the sails in place, and there was a perfect wind blowing.  Out to sea and away sailed the boat.  Oh no!  In his excitement the boy hadn’t thought of a way to bring his boat back.  As it sailed out of sight the boy swallowed hard trying to hold back the tears.  What he’d worked so hard to make and what had given him so much joy was now making him sadder then he had ever been before.  He loved that boat.  Well, one day about mid-summer of that year the boy was walking in town when what should he see in the window of the hobby store but a boat.  From the distance it looked something like the one he had built.  He took a closer look.  There it was!  It was a little weather-beaten and needed a few repairs, but it was his boat.  The merchant had bought it from a sailor, and, in order for the boy to have it back, he would have to pay a price.  The boy worked hard all summer to earn enough money to buy his sailboat back.  Finally, he had enough.  He ran to the store, paid the merchant, picked up his boat in his arms and said, “Now you’re twice mine.  First, I made you, and now I’ve bought you back again.”
6.             Brothers and sisters, we are twice God’s.  First, He made us, and then, by the holy precious blood of his only Son, Jesus, Who shed His blood and life on the cross of Calvary, He bought us back again.  The price has been paid and He’s forgiven us all our sins.  He’s forgiven us for all the wrongs we’ve repented of and as well as those for which we haven’t repented—even when we’re unforgiving.  He’s given us a new identity: He calls us His children (John 1:12)!  That love of God which we see in that forgiveness is where Christian stewardship begins.  With God’s love is connected the first of four basic principles of Christian stewardship—that we, with God’s help, give ourselves to the Lord.  That we give Jesus the first and foremost place in our lives, that we make Him the central point of our lives.  Everything we are and do we do with eyes fixed on Him.
7.             We do that because of the second principle of Christian stewardship which is that we know the grace of Christ.  In 2 Corinthians 8:9 Paul says we know “that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”  We know the great love our heavenly father has for us by the very fact of our salvation brought about by his Son Jesus.  So, if we give ourselves to the Lord because we know the grace of Christ, then we’ll recognize the third principle of Christian Stewardship—the needs of ministry in extending God’s Church and the needs of those around us, and we will willingly and cheerfully seek to meet those needs.              
8.             That brings us to the fourth principle of Christian stewardship—the promise, the blessing that comes with it.  The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:7 writes:  “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  Did you hear that?  “God loves a cheerful giver.”  When we give cheerfully, we give joy to our Heavenly Father as we display His image and likeness.  The prophet Malachi wrote of that blessing almost as a challenge to us.  “’Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house.  And thereby put Me to the test,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need’”  (Malachi 3:10).
9.             For sure, I believe that’s a challenge to us.  How much should you give to the Lord Who has given you all things?  The Old Testament law was 10% and over a three-year period could reach as high as 23 1/3%.  But that was the law.  Christ fulfilled the requirements of that law for us, so now we give as the Lord has given to us, as we have prospered.  We’re no longer bound by the Law, for the Gospel has given us a new identity.  We live under grace.  As new creatures, we’re not limited to ten percent.  As such, we’re channels through which God sends His blessings out to those around us, to meet the needs as they exist, according to His will!  The more we give to meet those needs, the more God will bless us that we may give even more.  “Put me to the test,” says the Lord almighty.  So that He can show us His love and faithfulness, God wants us to test Him as people living each day as stewards.  What are you waiting for?  Amen.