LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 100

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100 ESSAYS ON STEWARDSHIP

to worship God and serve Him through the faithful
management of His garden, the earth, and all of the
resources it contains. ,

But look also at Psalm 145 and note verses 15 and 16.
They read: “All living things look hopefully to You, and
You give them food when they need it. You give them
enough and satisfy the needs of all.”

This psalm takes us a step further, because it points
to another aspect of God’s grace toward us. In the Book
of Genesis we are reminded that all that God created is
very good. We’ve mentioned the fact that it’s good in the
sense that it serves to bring Him glory. We said very
clearly that it’s also good in the sense that it provides us
with all that we need for this life. How much God loves
us and is concerned about our welfare is evident in the
fact that nothing in creation is evil in itself, but it’s all
good. Everything He created ultimately serves in some
way to benefit us. And this we should expect from Him,
because He is good and He is the author of only that
which is good.

Then too there is another side to this. There is no
confusion or contradiction in the order that God has
established for His creation. The preacher in Eccle-
siastes 3 says: “To everything there is a season, and a
time to every purpose under the heaven” (KJV). God’s
love prompts Him to give us a dependable outline of
time, seasons, and events in life to be used in fulfilling
our stewardship.

It’s our sinfulness and nothing else that brought and
continues to bring confusion into the divine order that
God has established. And very simply put—the storms,
earthquakes, pestilences, famines, sickness, pollution
of air and water, the waste and misuse of power and
energy, the inadequate distribution of resources to meet
basic human needs in many parts of the world—all of
these can invariably be traced back to man’s fall into
sin and his persistent continuance in sin.

Nevertheless, the psalmist writes for us in Psalm
145: “All living things look hopefully to You, and You
give them food when they need it. You give them enough
and satisfy the needs of all.” Divine justice demanded
judgment on us and on this earth in which we live—and
still God is gracious. Although the civilization of this
earth requires labor on the part of man, and although
the earth brings forth thistles and thorns as part of the
curse, still God’s grace moves Him to provide abundantly
for all. There is adequate supply with which to meet the
needs of all earthly creatures. Thus, verses 15 and 16 of
Psalm 145 don’t contain a mere promise; they are,
everyone of us knows, a living reality.

What this says to us about our stewardship as it
applies to our use of the earth’s resources and to our
sharing of these resources with others is obvious. God’s
gracious dealings with us in creation, even though we
are sinful, fallen creatures, require us to treasure the
earth, to use it wisely, and to give continual thanks for
it. No one ought to understand this better than you andI
to whom the Spirit has revealed so much about the
merciful, gracious attitude that God has toward us and
toward all our fellowmen.

Furthermore, God’s gracious dealings with ug#
creation exemplify the spirit in which we ought to sk
the resources we have with those who are legitimately,
need of them. Sharing and works of charity h;
always been prevalent in the lives of God’s people. La
at Acts, Chapter 2, verses 41-48 and specifically
verses 44 and 45. St. Luke records the activities and¥¢
faith of the early Christians in this chapter of Acts,
in verses 44 and 45 he writes of them: “All the believes
continued together in close fellowship and shared thep
belongings with one another. They would sell th
property and possessions, and distribute the mon
among all, according to what each one needed.”

Stewardship and fellowship among believers
closely related. Giving and sharing constitute an asp
of that special kind of fellowship that characterizes {
life and activity of the people of God. Sharing and wo
of charity have their rightful place in our lives
Christian stewards, whether we exercise this aspect.g
our stewardship through the Board for Social Minis
or through Lutheran World Relief, or within our o
congregations, or among the people in our neighbor.
and community who don’t yet belong to the householg
of faith. —

Thus far we have looked mainly at God’s graciousg
attitude toward us in terms of His creation and tl i
earth’s resources. I think it is important for us as God's
stewards to move beyond and above this point to tht
cross and to the empty tomb, because without faith
our Lord Jesus Christ it’s impossible to practice the
of stewardship that pleases our heavenly Father. It wi
be helpful for us in this case to look at Eph. 1:4 and Ro
8:32. :

In Ephesians St. Paul reminds us: “Even before the :
world was made, God had already chosen us to be Hi
through our union with Christ, so that we would be hol}
and without fault before Him .. .” The other passa
Rom. 8:32, reads this way: “... God, who did not evet
keep back His own Son, but offered Him for us all! Ht
gave us His Son—will He not also freely give us
things?”

These words rather clearly and simply remind
that before the worlds were framed God worked out ow
redemption in Christ. In Christ He made provision
our greatest need, thatis, for our forgiveness and for th
salvation of our eternal souls. Because He did this, 5&
Paul argues, it’s reasonable to expect that He will als
provide everything we need for our bodily lives on t
earth. If we stewards are ever tempted to question 0
doubt God’s willingness to provide for us in a materia
sense, we need only look to Calvary, because there 0
the cross He declared His total concern for us, body an
soul, in time and also for all eternity. In fact, as weh
mentioned, it is only when we are led to the foot of the
cross in faith by the Spirit of God that we can find tht
power to live as God’s good and faithful stewards.

This brings us to two other Bible passages: Prov
3:9-10 and Mal. 3:10. These passages speak of givin
God our best, our firstfruits. I think when you read th
words: “Honor the Lord by making Him an offeri