Stewardship

One definition of stewardship that gets quoted from time to time is that stewardship is everything you do after you say, I believe. That takes in pretty much everything.

Here’s another definition that breaks the “everything” down into more manageable portions. Stewardship is the time, talents and treasures that we offer to God and to others. We’ve heard that more often. The time and talents elements have a softer side to them. It’s the treasures or the money that have an edge.

In Robert Wuthnow’s book, God and Mammon in America, he says that while modern North Americans are quite willing to speak openly about their se lives, bodily ailments, even their own deaths, when it comes to the topic of money, a protective “cloud of secrecy” falls over the conversation. And yet money is a regular topic of conversation for Jesus.

Here’s an enlightening exercise. Read the prophets of Hebrew scripture or the gospels or the letters of the New Testament and underline every passage on the topic of money.

Money is only one part of stewardship but it should be one we can discuss openly and regularly.

Christian Century journalist, Lillian Daniel, says, “Engaging money theologically, should inevitably lead to practicing one’s faith differently.”

Could this be so?


Peter

Typically elections just move the chairs around the room. Those who make the decisions shift a little in one direction or the other, but we don’t get new chairs.

This week’s election in the United States election appears to be a different matter. It’s clear that what was once considered impossible, happened.

Commentator Jim Wallis says this was not only a racial shift, it was also a religious shift. Barak Obama picked up 4.4 million more Protestants and Catholics than John Kerry, the last Democratic candidate. In Florida Christian voters shifted to Obama 485,000 votes. That was the difference. Obama won Florida by 200,000 votes.

There was a time when the religious right could count on these votes. Not this time. Does this mark the end of the religious right leaders’ ability to deliver religious votes to the republicans? It appears that the former religious issues of abortion and denying gay rights are no longer the only issues of concern. A significant number of Christians now are showing support for racial and economic justice, care of creation and peacemaking. If the early analysis is accurate and is sustained, then we have entered a new era.

Peter

“Do whatever they (the scribes and the Pharisees) teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.” Matthew 23:3

Once you sift out the name calling and condemnation of this chapter, which sounds more like it was written by Matthew, than spoken by Jesus, you end up with this challenge to practice what you profess.

That is the challenge, regardless of what it is we profess.

If we claim to care for the environment, how do we show it? If we say the arts are important, what do we do to support them? If we feel we should embrace those who are new to our country, have we ever invited a new Canadian to dinner or done something to make a family feel welcome? Our faith tradition calls us to actively and practically practice the faith.

Peter