LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 103

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with unprecedented opportunities to practice good
~ stewardship of the Gospel. One of our brothers in Christ
who serves on the synodical staff once said, and I repeat
“pis words: “Surely, there has never been a time in all of
~ puman history when there were more of us alive to hear
God’s Word and to share that saving Word with the
world. Surely, there has never been a time in this world
“when there were better means of communicating the
’ Gospel with others than there are today. And surely,
‘there has never been a time in the world when we
.Ghristians—you and I, rich, poor, and in-between—
“have had more of this world’s resources with which to do
ithe Almighty’s work.”

In the face of all of these things—in the face of all of
: His wonderful promises to us—we stewards need to seek
.. His Spirit’s help for ourselves.and for one another so
“that we can live and speak and pray and do all that

Lord, open Thou my heart to hear

And through Thy Word to me draw near;

Let me Thy Word e’er pure retain,

Let me Thy Child and heir remain. Amen.
(TLH 5:1)

We approach our Bible study as children and heirs of
God. We are confident of who we are, because of what St.
Paul says in Rom. 8:16-17: “The Spirit Itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him that we may
be also glorified together.”

Children and heirs of God go forward into the future
in remembrance of that grace of God in Christ Jesus
which has called them out of darkness into His marvel-
ous light and has entrusted great stewardship responsi-
bilities and opportunities to them. “Children of God.”
“Heirs of God.” “God’s stewards.” But there are other
names God gives His own. He calls us “kings and
priests unto God our Father,” “ambassadors for Christ,”
His “witnesses”—and many more. In this Bible study
hour, let us dwell on yet another name: citizens of
heaven.

I

When one travels to or returns from a foreign land,
one is required to fill out forms prior to entry or reentry.
On these forms one is required to declare his citizenship.
Have you ever been tempted, like I have, to fill in that
blank space with the word “heaven’’? St. Paul reminds
the Philippians in chapter 3:20 that “our citizenship is
in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Philippian Christians were in a good position to
understand the implications of their heavenly citizen-
ship, since Paul uses a manner of speech that appealed
to their sense of national loyalty. He reminded them

IV
Citizens of Heaven

ESSAYS ON STEWARDSHIP 103

Henry Letterman had in his heart and mind when he
wrote in the concluding stanza of the Forward in
Remembrance hymn:

Thus, Forward in Remembrance,

We strive to work His will,

To give ourselves as He did
Unstintingly until

His whole, His loving family

Shall gather round His throne

Where thousands, thousands, thousands,
Shall sing His praise alone!

God grant it. Amen.
J.S. Uhrinak

Unless otherwise indicated, the Scripture quotations in this
essay were from the Good News Bible, the Bible in TODAY’S
ENGLISH VERSION. Copyright © American Bible Society
1966, 1971, 1976. Used by permission.

Martin L. Koehneke

that while they lived in Philippi, they belonged to Rome
and were Roman citizens. They were not like the
semibarbarous people about them, but their names were
written in the books that lay in Rome. They belonged to
another order. Even as no Roman citizen could forget
who he was wherever he was, so they were to remember
their heavenly citizenship and rejoice that their names
were written in the Book of Life.

Again, even as the Roman citizen in Philippi was
directly responsible, not to the provincial governor but
to his own magistrates, subject not to the local codes but
to the Roman law, these Christians at Philippi were to
remember that they were the freed men and women of
God, living under the glorious liberty and loving bond-
age of the Gospel, responsible above all to Him who
loved them and gave Himself for them.