LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 102

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102 ESSAYS ON STEWARDSHIP

insisting that we are somewhere in between. This
commonality consists essentially of the fact that the
rich and the poor alike don’t really differ from one
another when they are viewed apart from earthly
possessions. I think you know what I am talking about.

Look at 1 Timothy, Chapter 6. St. Paul asks in verse 7
of that chapter: “What did we bring into the world?” He
answers: “Nothing!” And to the poor and to the rich and
the in-betweeners alike he asks: “What can we take out
of the world?” Again he supplies the answer: “Nothing!”
Weenter this life and we leave it without anything at all.
But I think there is something that we need to note that
goes beyond the surface of what Paul says here. This is
that rich and poor alike are sinful and need cleansing.
Regardless of my status in life, whether I’m rich or poor
or in-between, my daily need is to come to God asking
His forgiveness and asking Him also to strengthen and
empower me by His Spirit so that it is possible for me to
lead the kind of life He wants me to lead. The rich and
poor are both dependent upon God for salvation. The
rich and the poor cannot live without God’s gracious
gifts in creation. The rich and the poor alike both have
the privileged responsibility to serve their Creator, their
Savior, their Sanctifier through the practice of good
stewardship. They both need the Holy Spirit’s guidance
to live as God’s good and faithful stewards.

St. Matthew reminds us that the Lord Jesus once
said that the temptations of the rich are very real and
that they pose a great threat to their salvation. I think
sometimes we are inclined to believe, because the Lord
Jesus said this, that somehow a person’s lack of material
possessions makes that person automatically somewhat
holier or more deserving of God’s grace than the rich.
But certainly it is not true.

St. Paul says something to usin 1 Timothy 6, verses 9
and 10, that helps clarify the matter. I hope the Holy
Spirit will impress it on our hearts and minds. Paul
writes: “But those who want to get rich fall into
temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish
and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and
destruction. For the love of money is a source of all kinds
of evil....” From this we can’t help but conclude that the
love of money has the potential to become the root of all
evil for poor and rich alike as well as for those in
between. All three classes, if indeed there are three
classes, can rob God by withholding themselves and
their gifts from Him. In a spiritual sense there is no
appreciable difference at all between them.

But it’s also true that all are equal in their oppor-
tunities to exercise good stewardship, because whatever
the economic status of the giver in this life, it is his
attitude toward God that really counts. If the Holy
Spirit has led the giver to give himself to God, as St. Paul
said the Macedonians did, the giver’s gifts are accept-
able in God’s sight. That means your gifts and mine.
The size of the gift the giver is able to give doesn’t really
matter at this point. St. Paul writes in verse 12 of 2
Corinthians, Chapter 8: “If you are eager to give, God
will accept your gift on the basis of what you have to
give, not on what you don’t have.” This is the principle

that separated the gift of the widow from the gift of the
Pharisees. Her gift was precious to the Lord because she.
gave it out of faith and total trust in God’s divine mercy.
and providence. The gift of the Pharisees was not
acceptable because it was given in a spirit in which love:
and self-sacrifice for the Lord weren’t evident.

We’ve seen how this works out in life. Through‘
Forward in Remembrance we received a great man
gifts from a great many peple. Some of the gifts were a:
much as a million dollars. Some only a few dollars. Bi
our pastors and others have been impressed above all b
the fact that these gifts have been given to the Lord:
freely and out of love—out of the kind of divine ea
ness which only the Holy Spirit can work in me
hearts. Every one of these gifts is precious in the Lord
sight, regardless of its size.

To every steward—rich, poor, and in-between—t
Holy Spirit gives this assurance in the ninth chapter of
St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians: “AndG
able to give you more than you need, so that you j
always have all you need for yourselves and more thi
enough for every good cause.” And he adds: “He w
always make you rich enough to be generous at :
times, so that many will thank God for your gifts whi
they receive from us.” .

You see then how important the commonality. ig
which exists between us. Each of us is given gifts to usé:
in God’s service. Each of us is given the commandmen!
to fulfill the Great Commission, and each of us is
assured by our Father that He’ll accept the gift we off
to Him in love and faith. Each steward—rich, poor, and
in-between—is already rich in Christ and is assured
that the Father will give him all that he needs so that
can fulfill the Great Commission, do God’s willonea
declare God’s love, mercy, and glory to all mankind.
can be confident of this. God, whois eager to forgive a
forget our sins for Christ’s sake, never fails to remember :
His stewards in mercy. We can move Forward ii
Remembrance not so much because we remember wh
God has done for us, but because of the fact that G
daily remembers us with His mercy and His grace.
so that we will make no mistake about it, His promise oy
us is clear and is repeated often. He will bless our worgg
He will bless us. St. Paul writes: “And because of t
proof which this service of yours brings, many will gi
glory to God for your loyalty to the Gospel of C i
which you profess, and for your generosity in sha i
with them and everyone else.” 7

Now, what shall we stewards say in the face of Go
graciousness toward us in creation, in the face of His
grace toward us in the person of Christ our Redeemer, :
the face of all the blessings He has poured on us throu:
Forward in Remembrance, and in the face of all of ¢
promises He gives us in the Scriptures? What shall:
pray for and what shall we ask the Holy Spirit to help
do?

I think you will agree with me that we need first 4
acknowledge that, in spite of our often poor stewardshi
God has forgiven us in Christ and placed us into a ti
that provides us as individuals and as a church bo