There is a very specific way of us talking about stewardship that goes beyond what most people think about when they hear the word. The way we Lutherans talk about stewardship is “vocation.” We’ve talked about this before, but vocation is the role that we are playing in any given moment in order to serve our neighbor. If we’re mothers, we have children to serve. If we’re teachers, we have students to serve. If we’re students, we have teachers to serve. Talking about stewardship in this way informs us of our duties to one another, not out of blind obedience, not out of an effort to win our salvation, but because the person in front of us is a person for whom Christ died.
Today, we’re going to talk about vocation and stewardship in a very particular way, the vocation of the church-goer. We’ve all been called to this place, by God, to hear His Word and receive His Sacraments. And we’ve all said we’d like to be members of this particular church, to support the ministry of God in this place. This church then, even if she should have warts, even if she should have troubles, is our home. In the home, the family isn’t invalidated because the husband loses an arm or the wife gets cancer or the son gets a boo-boo or the daughter says, “I hate you,” and slams the door. In a similar way, even if things in the church haven’t gone or aren’t going the way we think they should, this is our home; God has placed us here to be a family together.
We have a duty to one another because we’ve made promises to one another in our membership vows and out of the Holy Scriptures. This is the place we are to love and support. Now, before I continue, please don’t think that I’m thinking of any particular circumstance. What we’re talking about this month in terms of stewardship will be necessary reminders that we are to live in the love of God with one another, no matter if something comes up or if it doesn’t. We do this because we are the redeemed people of Jesus Christ, living out our salvation in this world with one another.
To that end, let’s explore what our Lord has to say about the relationship of all of us in this place in particular. Let’s start with the man in the pulpit. For pastors, 1 Timothy 3:2-4 says, “The overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.” This is about the pastor. This is what he owes to his congregation and the people around him. Paul goes on to say, “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.” The pastor should continue to be humbled before the Word of the Lord and rely upon it solely. Of the pastor, Paul says in Titus 1, “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” Your pastor must be in the Word, know the Word, so that he can refute any argument against it, but also that he might comfort weary or grieving souls.
But the church isn’t just about what the pastor can give you or what he should be doing. It’s also about what the hearers, the congregants, do. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.” This is about cheerful giving, that we give to the church to support the pastor and the ministry of the Gospel that he does in this place. In this way, too, we support the missions of the church, and, specifically, in our case, our school. This may be a small dagger for some, and, for others, a blessed reminder of your continued faithfulness. To back up his statement, Paul says in Galatians 6:6-7, “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” And in 1 Timothy, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.’” Is there a certain amount we are to give to the Lord in order to win favor? No, but when we are like Ananias and Sapphira, who lied to the Holy Spirit about how much they gave or their motivations for doing or holding back, the Spirit did kill them right then and there. I’m not saying the Spirit will work in such a way, but our motivations and exuberance in giving should be good.
As well, then, for your duties in the church, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians, “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.” Yes, we hold our pastors in high regard, but we live in peace with one another, seeking out the good for each other. And a way we do this is what the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” We don’t obey blindly, but we obey when the Word of God is preached rightly to us, looking out for the needs of others before ourselves. We obey, which is to say, we listen, we appreciate, we hear, we do because our Lord has given us His Word to understand this world and what He brings to us through the Church. He brings us life and salvation, and we are called, then, to live in peace and harmony with one another, seeking out the good of our neighbor, that we might take care of our family here, in this place. This is our first understanding of stewardship through vocation.
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