On Stewardship…”Dispensers of Grace”

Dear Trekker,
“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” So said Jim Elliott, a 20th century Christian martyr and fellow Wheaton College grad, killed in the highlands of Equador by the Waodani Indians.

I was a senior in 1956 when Elliot and others gave their lives in hope of taking Christ to those primitive tribesmen. Their efforts actually were not in vain, as Christ through other committed missionaries has transformed the Waodani people in the ensuing years.

Trekker, purpose in life is everything. Why do we do what we do? To whom do we belong? Is there a “secret code” to unlocking the meaning of life? Frankly trekker, I think there is… we are to be a “race of little Christs” (Martin Luther) dispensing the grace of God we have received. We are not our own; we are bought with a price (Apostle Paul). Also, St. Paul says it succinctly, “whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord.” These thoughts conjure up in my mind one key word, which when linked with integrity and humility, can change our lives. It changed the world forever 2000 years ago. It’s changed mine. The word is stewardship!

The Lifegiver, Jesus Christ, was a steward of God’s grace. To dispense God’s grace, He entered the world… to live, die and conquer life in resurrection… all for the purpose of being a good steward of and to the Father. (Trekker, as background, I suggest you read John’s Gospel, Chapter 5:16-30, before reading on.)

Stewardship is an intriguing word. In the Middle Ages, it emerged to describe the responsibility given to household servants of nobility. Today, it always refers to responsibility to take care of something (or someone) owned by another. Who owns grace? We, as God’s children, are not only the possessors of grace dispensed by God in Christ; we are the conveyors of grace to others. This is what it means to follow Christ!

Unfortunately, in the Christian world, stewardship is usually related only to money. The so-called Christian view of money is different than the secular world view. In the world, the key to happiness is to acquire as much money as possible. Obviously this is folly. “But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish” (Psalm 49:12)

I believe, Trekker, if we view stewardship as dealing only with money, we will short-change ourselves and others. Recently, I was in Mark’s Gospel, Chapter 10:17 ff., the story of the rich young man who threw himself at Jesus’ feet, wanting to know how to possess eternal life. I meditated on this from the prospective of stewardship, which at first glance, may seem odd. But let me explain…

Never did an encounter with Christ reveal so much concerning the wide separation of true responsibility from the lesser “respectability”. Keeping commandments, as the young man had done, does lead to respectability! “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” But success in one’s life does not depend on “my righteousness” in keeping the law of God and man (which we really can’t and don’t do anyway). In Christ, we are responsible to serve, support and encourage people as stewards or dispensers of the grace in which we live. Responsibility is about deeds, what we do, not what we don’t do. Stewardship involves deeds, always. This is where the young man failed. He could not “sell everything he had and give to the poor.”

All of us, in Christ, are confronted with a challenge. We must leave mere moral respectability behind and grasp the excitement of accepted responsibility. Our challenge is to apply the grace of God in ALL things to bless others! “To whomever much is given, much will be required,” St. Luke tells us.

Life must be viewed in terms beyond one’s possessions. In an abundant America, I often chuckle at the “storage industry’s” grip on us all. Storage units are big business in America, even as our houses get bigger and bigger. (Trekker, you know what I am talking about.) Material things tend to tie a man’s heart to his world. If a man’s preoccupation is “stuff”, it tends to make his focus on “price” to pay for it all. Hence, the need for more money… my money. How sad that our age has a price for everything and knows the true value of nothing… or very little. (Excuse the hyperbole, trekker). We will be judged in this life only by two standards relating to wealth… how one acquired his possessions and how one has used his possessions to better his world.

Jesus, the Lifegiver, uses this encounter in John’s Gospel to teach the essence of life. In fact, the Teacher says, man can gain eternal life, but only as a gift. How ironic…good deeds follow and have lasting, effectual meaning only as a response to the Divine life we receive.

When we receive “life as a gift”, it is abundant, costly but free to us, and inexhaustible. And we are to give it away as stewards of God’s grace. Elliot could have said, “He is no fool who gives away (grace) that which he cannot lose, and just may in the process gain (in life) what he cannot keep…” i.e. possessions he does not “own”, but can give away “to the least” as giving responsibly to God. True stewardship is not about money… it is contributing EVERYTHING, our time, talent, and treasures, for the sake of “thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”

Trekker, remember, you can’t be a steward of that which you own! Then it is yours! You may want a little more! How much is enough… a little bit more! (Read the story of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5). Friend, don’t go down that path! Give “it all” to God in your heart and dispense His grace as a good steward through your head and hands as He gives opportunity. That’s how I see stewardship this month. Be a faithful dispenser, Trekker.

Your friend,
Jim Meredith