November 18, 2022
Thanksgiving, Mission, and Stewardship
When I have been asked what I believe is the central theme of the Christian faith, I more often than not answer that it is stewardship, for two reasons. First, everything we have is a gift, it is grace. A steward is a person who cares for other people or other people’s things. We are stewards of the life God afforded us and all that we encounter while living, for it is all God’s and we are simply managing it. Second, having been given a gift, it raises the question of what we will do with what we have been given. This determines what sort of steward we are. The range of answers to that question is wide. Do you acknowledge that what we have is, in fact, from outside ourselves? Do we consider ourselves worthy, or having earned, our life and all that it offers us? Do we care about how our choices affect others? The scriptures begin with God declaring creation good and entrusting responsibility for creation, including other people, to people. This is a theme that runs from the beginning to end of the Bible. Stewardship cannot be avoided either in the scriptures or in the life of a Christian.
Do you, as a person of faith, understand yourself to have been graced with life and the resources and riches of creation? Do you see yourself as having been restored to a healthy relationship with yourself, your world, and your God through the saving work of Jesus Christ? If your answer to both of those questions is “yes,” then your choice of how you express your stewardship is how you understand “mission.” We might think of mission as something distant or done by some but not by all. But our “mission” is simply being a steward of God’s mission in the world. Our strategy of being stewards of all that God has given us, is our way of bringing God’s reign into the world, which is God’s mission.
Let me give you some timely examples. For over a century, our church family has existed on the corner of Pike and Bellevue in the same building. Buildings age and wear and so need to be kept up and renewed. But our mission—ministry to our church family, and ministry to the larger community outside of church family—is often connected very directly with our church building. In addition, the Summit building and our choices regarding our use of that building directly impacts our ability to do ministry as a church. Stewardship of the Summit building both determines the resources we have to do ministry and allows us to craft our mission that we could not do without it. So this Saturday morning, when we gather to “love our church” we are doing something that is directly related to the mission and ministry of our church.
Looking back to last weekend, Beth Anderson and I had the privilege of embodying the promises our church has made to our young people: to care for them and to nurture their faith by example and instruction. We did so by being their adult leaders at the recent high school retreat at Cascades Camp. (I must add what a gift each of our confirmands is and how fortunate we are to have them and their families as part of our church family.) Part of our mission as a church is to teach and enrich the faith of each generation that grows up in our church. It is to embody the love of God to them that they might experience God’s love in concrete ways with the intention to spiritually form them. A retreat like this one amplifies our ministry to our young people because it is done in the context of other young people who, like them, are exploring and growing in their faith. It also supplements the catechesis our confirmands are receiving from Pastor Steve and me with outside voices and interaction with leaders and young people from other churches.
Of course, our stewardship is directly connected to what is more traditionally understood as “missions.” Our tithes and offerings support the mission and ministry of our church, including the upkeep of our buildings, paying for our church staff, and supporting the ministries of others who minister in places far from us. We are optimistic we will soon be in a position to hire a second full-time pastor to facilitate our ministry to our children and families. But that decision is ultimately determined by our stewardship. At the same, this month we are taking an offering through the Breeze portal for Christmas gifts to give to the missionaries we support. Having a robust and steady stream of giving throughout the year will allow us to move forward in a search for a second new pastor while continuing to support current ministries. These last examples show obvious connections between stewardship and mission.
As we as a church near the end of our liturgical year, and we as a nation pause to consider those things we for which we are grateful, I invite you to take inventory. Consider well what God has provided you with in the year that is now ending, and how well you have stewarded those graces to forward the mission of God in the world. What are your strengths as a steward? What are your growing edges? Consider these two questions as individuals, as couples and families, and as a church. And join us this Wednesday evening at 7 pm to give thanks to God, and to pray that we may grow in our ability to steward God’s many graces and God’s mission in our world.
A blessed Thanksgiving to you all.
Pastor Todd