WHAT IS A STEWARD?

            I have a devotional book sitting on my desk at the church. I usually only have office hours one day a week, so I don’t read this daily. The book is Giving to God: The Bible’s Good News about Living a Generous Life by Mark Allan Powell. Chapter 2 starts with a verse of scripture: Think of us this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mercies. (1 Corinthians 4:1).

            We talk about stewardship in the church, but I think we focus on it as a way to raise money. Are we really practicing stewardship? Are we stewards? Remember, God created everything, so that means we don’t have ownership; we are only stewards. If you hired (or asked) someone to keep an eye on your home when you’re on vacation, they are a steward of your stuff. They don’t own it; their only responsibility is to make sure your stuff stays safe and is in the same condition as it was when you left.

            I think we forget that we are stewards. Too often, we forget we’re only stewards and start to think that the property entrusted to us is actually our own.

            We are stewards of what God has done. We didn’t choose to be. We just are. Don’t feel bad; I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. How about if we look at being a steward as something better than just a hired hand? What if it is part of our calling as Christians and disciples? God has entrusted us with caring for God’s creation.

            “We are the agents through whom God has chosen to bring about God’s purposes: love and joy and peace.” [1]

            Look around God’s creation. How can we be God’s agents?

            Look around the church. How can we be God’s agents?

            Look around what you have “control of”. How can we be God’s agents?

            Don’t focus on how what you see betters your life and you. Try focusing on how what you do with it changes lives.

            So what do you see?

 

Feel free to contact me at sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org

---

[1] Giving to God, p. 29

 

           NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION OR WESLEY COVENANT PRAYER?

 

            I wrote my last blog the day after Christmas, and I am writing this one two days after the new year. As promised, I wanted to revisit The Wesley Covenant Prayer.

            But before that, I wanted to talk about New Year’s Resolutions…you know that thing we do, listing the things that we’ll accomplish in the new year. I don’t know about you, but, for me, these are usually things I wasn’t able to accomplish in the prior year, so with the coming of a new year, everything would change, and I’d be able to do it.

            I looked up New Year Resolution Statistics and found that 23% quit in the first week; only 36% make it past the first month; and only 9% successfully keep their resolutions. So I guess that means that the likelihood that I’ll be successful in something that I haven’t been successful in before is…well…pretty low. Should I be surprised.

            I don’t think so. I started wondering if I’m unsuccessful because my New Year’s Resolutions are often all about me: what I need, what I want, what I think I should do, I, I, I.

            And that leads me to The Wesley Covenant Prayer. The first lines of that prayer say: “I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee.” This is a completely different slant. No longer all about me, me, me, but about God (thine, thou, thee).

            An article on this prayer in UMC Discipleship by Steve Manskar says that this prayer “informed (Wesley’s) theology and preaching. He expected the people called “Methodists” to pray this prayer at the beginning of each new year as a way of remembering and renewing their baptismal covenant.”[1]

            Baptism isn’t something that is done and then forgotten; baptism leads us into a life of faith. This Covenant Prayer also isn’t something we just say at the beginning of a new year and then forget. The article by Steve Manskar goes on to say “It tells us that being a Christian is more a way of life than a system of beliefs. The Covenant Prayer describes the Jesus way of self-giving and self-emptying love. This way of living and loving is possible only in a community centered in the life and mission of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.”[2]

            Whereas a New Year’s Resolution is all about me, the Covenant Prayer is all about Jesus and how we fit in.

            So what does Jesus want for you and with you in the new year?

 

Feel free to contact me at sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org

---

[1] “The Wesley Covenant Prayer and the Baptismal Covenant” by Steve Manskar (umcdiscipleship.org, January 2018)

[2] Ibid

 

                                            CHRISTMAS PRAYER

 

            As I write this, it is the day after Christmas 2024; a day and a half after celebrating Christmas Eve, celebrating the birth of Jesus, lighting candles, singing “Silent Night Holy Night” as we lift candles into the air. I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, so I spent some time this morning googling John Wesley Christmas prayer, which resulted in a lot of results about his Covenant Prayer (which we’ll look at next week). But I found a prayer from johnwesleyumc.org for 2017 and I wanted to shared a few lines from it

 

            As a deacon in the United Methodist Church, ordained to Word, Service, Compassion and Justice, the following lines resonated with me, especially because I think it calls me and all of us to do something:

            “And we pray, too for our country and our world, and for those working to maintain peace in the world.  We pray for an end to the violence and incivility that seems to run rampant these days across all sectors of society.  Lord, we know that you too are saddened when you see the innocent suffering, the lack of love for one another. 

            We are made in your image God, and yet we have often distorted that image with our self-serving ways, our lack of compassion, and our refusal to look out for the needs of others.  Many have taken your good gift of free will and used it to gain power, control, position.  And so we pray for change, we pray that you would us to bring understanding and tolerance and peace, remembering that you, God are greater than anyone or anything, and truly “goodness is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate.” 

            Lord, as our gift to you tonight, we offer ourselves.  May this be a time for us of renewed commitment to living the path Christ taught us… love, forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, patience and joy.”[1]

            This prayer definitely resonated with me as I read what’s going on around us, and then it struck me…this was written at the end of 2017, seven years ago, and it still “fits”. I’m not sure I want this to “fit” anymore. So what do I do? What do we do? What do you do?

            As we spend this time between Christmas and Epiphany, celebrating the birth of Jesus, let us commit to working toward doing what means this doesn’t fit anymore. Let us pray…

 ---

Feel free to contact me at sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org

---

[1] Johnwesley.org “Christmas Prayer 2017”

 

                                                       COUNTING

 

            In the devotional book, A Generous Life, there is a devotion by Joel Mikell titled “Count Your Blessings”.

            We’ve come out of Thanksgiving and started Advent, and we talk about giving thanks, but the culture we live in approaches what we have as not enough. It’s all about more, more, more. If you don’t believe me, look at ads on Facebook, on the internet, on TV and in stores. We need, we want more money, toys, stuff. After all, if we have more, we’ll be happy.

            But is that true? Maybe instead of the amount of stuff we have, happiness comes from something entirely different: maybe how we view what we do have?

            So. Joel Mikell says to count your blessings. He cites two lines from the hymn “Count Your Blessings”:

                        Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

                        And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

            So, do we have enough? Do you?

            Are you caught up in anxiety during the counting? Don’t be. God provides. Remember it’s not the amount of stuff, but our attitude.

            Where is your enough? Who is your enough?

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me at sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org

 

GIVING IS AN ACT OF WORSHIP

 

            In my reading, I’ve been working through Giving to God: The Bible’s Good News about Living a Generous Live by Mark Allan Powell. In the very first chapter, he talks about giving being an act of worship.

            I know that, originally, giving in churches wasn’t a monetary gift because churches were supported by the government. But as that changed, then the offering time became a time to offer monetary gifts.

            The author talks about how, in the Bible, when people made their offerings or sacrifices (grain, birds, animal, food, etc.), those gifts were actually burned at the altar. Can you image if on Sunday morning, after the ushers went around and collected the offering, that the plates were carried forward to the altar, and the pastor dropped them all in a little burn barrel and lit them on fire? Wow! How do you think the congregation would react?

            Most of us figure that the reason we have the offering during the service is because the church needs to pay its bills and to allow the church to do good things with the money. Of course, both of those things are true, but it’s not WHY we have an offering during the service.

            The offering is an act of worship. We are invited to give up something that we value—our money—as a sacrifice to God. The author has this to say (which I loved). “It is the high point of the liturgy. We come to church to worship God and at no other point in the service are we provided with so pure an opportunity for worship as this.”[1]

            So is this is such an important part of the worship liturgy, why do we act embarrassed when the time to receive an offering comes?

            I know I’ve been part of stewardship programs that talk about the needs of the church, how much the bills are, and even what the mission and ministries are that the church is doing. But that actually misses the whole point of giving. We give because we want and need to give it. We give because we can do nothing else when we decide to follow Jesus and become a disciple.

            Think about it. Why are we giving? Are we giving to the church? Or to God?

---

[1]Giving to God: The Bible’s Good News about Living a Generous Life, by Mark Allan Powell (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006), page 11

 

                            CHOOSING GRATITUDE

 

            I am continuing my reading of A Generous Life: 28 Days of Devotion from Horizons Stewardship, where it has a bit of scripture for each day, as well as a story.

            The title of one of the days was Choosing Gratitude. The scripture for the day was from 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18: Make sure no one repays a wrong with a wrong, but always pursue the good for each other and everyone else. Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

            This struck me, because I had just been thinking, as I drove to the store, that people just don’t know how to drive! I wished a police car were nearby and would stop them! I was just so frustrated. I’d like to think that it’s not just me. But what if, instead of hoping for punishment or someone to put them in their place, I thought:

            Maybe they’re having a bad day.

            Maybe their child is sick and they’re rushing to the doctor

            Maybe I should pray for them instead of hoping for a punishment

            What does it mean to not repay a wrong with a wrong, and express gratitude instead of fear? How do we embrace a lifestyle that includes an attitude of kindness and generosity even in the face of unfairness?

            We have to align our words and actions so that we can say (AND mean) living a Christian life. We are told to love our neighbor, and that means the people that cut us off on the highway; those that are rude in the store, and even those we disagree with in church meetings.

            The author, Aimee A Cole-Laramore said this: “how different would our world be if we reflected on the intentionality of scripture to remind us to rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all situations? In a complex world where bullying, meanness, selfishness, and greed exist, we must choose to respond from a place of gratitude and actively pursue good for everyone.”

            Think about how to express gratitude in your current circumstances!

           

            If you wish more information on anything you’ve been reading about, please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org.  I’d be happy to help or answer any questions.

 

                                         SCARCITY TO ABUNDANCE

 

            In my last blog, I quoted a little bit from an article by the Lewis Cetner for church Leadership. One of the things it talked about was stewardship being an instrument of God’s abundance.

            I’ve been focused on stewardship, as it is that time of the year after all! Many churches are in that time when they focus on their financial campaigns, and, hopefully, stewardship. I’ve been spending some time reading A Generous Life: 28 Days of Devotion from Horizons Stewardship. It has a bit of scripture for each day, as well as a story.

            One of the recent days I was reading talking about scarcity and abundance. I have talked about this when I’ve taught or spoken or preached about changing our viewpoint. The devotion talked about buying a bag of candy for their child and adding a few extra pieces that they (the parent) could have. Unfortunately, when they put out their hand for a piece, the child closed up the bag and pulled it away.

            It sounds terrible, but don’t we do that a lot to. We focus on our scarcity. We don’t want to give any away because we might need it. And it’s not just money, but time, ideas and energy as well. I think we live in a mindset, in a life, of scarcity.

            Do you go to bed at night, worried about what you didn’t get done?

            Do you wake up in the morning, lamenting that you didn’t get enough sleep?

            And how many times in between do you think: “if only I had more…..?”

            The devotion quote author Lynne Twist when she said that the opposite of scarcity isn’t abundance! What? That’s what I’ve always said. She says it’s the striving for abundance that keeps us focused on scarcity. To the author, the opposite of scarcity is Sufficiency. God gives us enough…enough money….enough time…enough talent…enough manna…enough grace…enough blessings…enough of everything so we can share the abundance.

            It’s when we forget that God provides enough of everything that we get stuck in the scarcity mindset. And that’s hurtful. To those who should be receiving, but also to us. Take a moment and clench one of your fists tight. Just hold that fist. If you hold it tight enough, long enough, it will start to hurt, doesn’t it? Opening our fists into an open hand releases that pain.

            Opening our scarcity, realizing that God has provided us with more than enough, then we’re sharing everything that God gave us with others.

            Think about how to get out of the mindset of scarcity!

           

            If you wish more information on anything you’ve been reading about, please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org.  I’d be happy to help or answer any questions.