A Call to Stewardship

I love the offertory sentences and prayer of the Book of Common Prayer. (see pages 72-74 BCP) The inspiring words of scripture remind us of a couple of important elements of our faith and rational for Christian Stewardship.

First they speak of the ‘sacrifice of thanksgiving.’ This concept of sacrificial thanksgiving is an echo of what I consider one of Anglicanism’s greatest prayer, the General Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving to the Lord for all His ‘goodness and loving kindness’ and His ‘inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ’ is the first and greatest reason for us to become sacrificial stewards of our time, talent, and money. Indeed the very act of Eucharistic worship, so essential to Christian spirituality and formation is a ‘sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.’

Secondly the Sentences remind us that the offering is born out of a heart that is ‘stirred up’ and ‘made willing.’ True Christian stewardship springs up from generous, compassionate hearts. I think thankfulness and the stirred-up, willing heart are the fundamental marks of the mature Christian. And the mature Christian will be a generous faithful steward of their time, talent, and money. Such giving is not connected to keeping the building up, paying the church, looking good in the eyes of others, or even trying to win brownie points with the Lord, but simply because one loves the Lord for His goodness, and His mercy. The parable of the unforgiving Servant helps us see that our attitude towards others and our stewardship is directly connected to our understanding of God’s goodness, especially in the goodness of Christ’s sacrificial death, the means of grace and the hope of Glory.

Thirdly, the Sentences remind us that we are to be responsible stewards for the care of the poor and needy. This is not just the call of the Church formally such as our offerings to the PWRDF, but also informally when we as individuals support the local food bank, bring some food to a grieving neighbour, sponsor a child through the Foster Parents Plan, or many other ways. Care for the poor and needy in our midst is an essential part of our Christian response to God’s commandment and love.

Finally I love the BCP Offertory Prayer which is another quote from Scripture: ‘…all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.’ The mature Christian realizes that their time is not really their time, their talent is not really their talent; and their money is not really their money – it is all the Lord’s! The prayer at the offering reminds us to let go of our possessive attitudes and to surrender our entire life to the Lord. In a sense we are to possess only the love, the grace, and the mercy of God. Everything else is to be used for His glory. In that way, I am not called to be a generous steward of MY time, MY talent, and MY money. Rather I am called to be a generous steward of God’s time, God’s talent in me, and the God’s money. It is after all for His glory, not mine.

LORD have mercy, Brian+