Stewardship
“Stewardship Equals Trust”
I Kings 17:1-16
1
Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe
in
5
So he did what the LORD had told him. He
went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the
7
Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the
land. 8 Then the word of the LORD came
to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath of
12
“As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread –
only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and
make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – and die.”
13
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go
home and do as you have said. But first
make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and
then make something for yourself and your son.
14 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour
will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD
gives rain on the land.’”
15
She went away and did as Elijah had told her.
So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her
family. 16 For the jar of flour was not
used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the
LORD spoken by Elijah.
God has been so good to
us. Did you know that if you have $2,000
saved you are richer than 95% of the people in the world? It is amazing to think about the wealth God
has given to Americans. And to whom much
is given, much is expected. If you have
a lot of wealth, a lot is expected of you.
We all have a large responsibility on our shoulders as people who have
been tremendously blessed. Today’s
service and sermon is all about stewardship – how we can live as a good steward
of all that God has given to us. Here’s
a fill-in-the-blank question for you.
Stewardship equals…” How would you end the sentence? I think most of us would end it this way:
“Stewardship equals money.” But today the Word of God will teach us
something else; something better. Today
you will not hear that stewardship equals money. You will hear that stewardship equals trust.
Listen to this account from
the life of the prophet Elijah. As I
read, think about how Elijah and the widow trusted in God above all
things. (read text)
Stewardship test number one
for Elijah: Walk into Ahab’s rich palace with lush, fertile soil and crops all
around and announce, “No more rain for the next few years except at my
word.” Think of all the reasons why Elijah
would tell himself this isn’t the best way to go. “What’s
God trying to do, get me killed? The
king’s not gonna like that. And LORD, won’t the
famine affect me too? Won’t a miserable
famine over the next few years hurt my personal bottom line?” Elijah had every reason to doubt God’s
promise. But Elijah TRUSTED God’s Word
above himself. He was a good steward of his time – he did exactly what God
said. “Of course I’m going to boldly announce a famine to King Ahab – because
God said that’s the best way and I believe Him.”
Stewardship test number two:
“Go to Kerith Ravine, outside of your familiar
country
Well, it wasn’t too long and
the brook dried up. That kicked off
stewardship test number three: The LORD said, “Now go to Zarephath
– also outside of familiar country
And now it was the widow’s
turn to take a stewardship test. She had
so little – it is amazing she wasn’t bitter or resentful or blaming God for her
being so poor. Think of all the excuses
she could’ve made. “How am I supposed to rob my only son of his last meal and give it to
this stranger? Haven’t I put my little boy through enough trouble already by
not being able to provide for his basic needs? And the jar of flour and jug of
oil is just magically going to keep filling up by itself? Can’t this guy just leave me alone and let me
gather sticks to die in peace?” There
were plenty of reasons to doubt God’s promise.
But the widow TRUSTED God’s Word above herself, even at a time of
desperation. She was a good steward and
did exactly what God said. She boldly
fed Elijah first instead of herself and her son – and God made good on his
promise in a miraculous way. They never
had to eat their last meal for quite some time.
What lessons of stewardship
are here?
1)
Stewardship gives
to God the first fruits; it trusts that God will provide more in the future. The widow gave to Elijah trusting God would
provide more.
2)
Stewardship
trusts that God can do anything, even the miraculous. Elijah and the ravens. Elijah being told to go find a widow to feed
him. The widow giving to Elijah first
and trusting the jar of flour and oil would not run dry.
3)
Stewardship
trusts boldly, even if you have to inconvenience yourself as you give and make yourself
uncomfortable. It was inconvenient for
Elijah to tell Ahab about the famine; but he trusted God and did it. It was inconvenient for the widow to give
Elijah her last morsel; but she trusted God and did it.
4)
Stewardship
trusts every word of God’s promises. No questions asked. No turning back. No room for hesitation.
It is virtually impossible –
no, it is absolutely impossible – to put ourselves into Elijah’s and the
widow’s sandals. We are not starving to death. We cannot imagine being down to the last
ingredients of our last meal and then just painfully and slowly waiting to die. Our situation is so much different - we have
plenty of food. On top of that we have
plenty of space to live with our families and we can even control the
temperature within that space to make it as comfy as possible. On top of that we have more than enough
clothes and toys and computers and TVs.
We have nice cars to drive and can even afford to go to a restaurant and
be waited on hand and foot. On top of
that we have investments and stocks and dollars saved up. We are all literally kings and queens. On top of that, there is a very good chance
we will have the opportunity to make more money in future years. It’s not as though all the jobs out there
have dried up. We have far more than
Elijah, far more than the widow, even more than Ahab the king – I bet he’d be
jealous if he could see all our stuff.
God has blessed us so much - we simply cannot imagine being down to our
last meal, our last penny and about to starve.
We have so much – why don’t
we trust?
We don’t trust because we
have a sinful nature that simply refuses to believe what God says. If God were to say, “I’ll send a raven to
bring you food” our sinful nature would sarcastically sniff, “Yeah right!” If God were to reach out and say, “Go find a
widow and she will feed you” our sinful nature would say, “That’ll never work!” If God were to say, “Be generous to me first
and I will make sure your checkbook always has enough for you to be generous”
our sinful nature says, “How can I believe that line? Sounds like a money-making scheme to me.” Our sinful nature simply does not want to
believe God’s promises. He brings us a
loving promise and we can only say, “I can’t believe it and I WON’T believe
it.” We are not bold in our
stewardship. We are bold in our
rebellion.
How can puny sinners like us
be so bold to reject God’s promises? How
do you think that makes God feel when he makes these amazing promises and we
respond with sheer doubt? God could and
should punish us for eternity for our defiance.
But instead of punishment God has forgiven our rebellion. He has washed away our sins. He has promised us he will not treat us as
our sins deserve. He punished Jesus for
our sins so we could go free. We are
forgiven and going to heaven and eternally at peace! He has softened our hearts to trust him. Hearts that used to be greedy are now
generous. Hearts that used to worry now
trust. Hearts that used to defy now
listen.
And now for some practical
advice on being a good steward. Do you
ever find yourself crying out, “I need more!
I don’t have enough!” when you look at your credit card bills or saving
account? Well, the next time you look at
your savings accounts or your credit cards and you feel a strong pull to cry
out, “I need more! I don’t have enough” tell yourself, “You’re right – you do
need more…”
“Not more money but more
trust.”
More trust to stop wanting to
pile it up for yourself but give plenty to the LORD first. More trust to believe that if having a pile
of money in your savings at some point is really in your best interest, God can
make that happen anytime he wants to.
And if not - you trust you won’t miss out. More trust to give a sizeable percentage to
the LORD first no matter how high the credit card debt gets; and then having
the self-control, calm and steadiness to pull yourself out of debt, separate
needs from wants and be smart with what God has given you.
Here’s another practical way
for you to practice “I need more trust.”
After the service today you’ll be receiving a building program pledge
form. When you receive the building
program pledge form you will be tempted to think, “This is a pledge form about
money.” Please don’t. The pledge form is not about money. The pledge form is not even about the
building project. The pledge form is
about trust in the dear, gentle LORD.
It is more important to chew on God’s promises as you are chewing on
filling out the form. It is more
important to pray by yourself or with your spouse if you have one than to just
mindlessly write a number in the blank.
The form is not about money. It
is about trust.
One last point – if you want
to honor God and be a better steward, and if you are convinced today that the
key to being a better steward is trust…then you need to know where you can find
more trust. The Scripture says, “Faith (trust)
comes from hearing the message.” You
want to be a better steward with less worry and more trust? Chew slowly on all of God’s promises. He will not let your foot slip. He will provide for all your needs and more
(can you think of one time he hasn’t?) Lay
your life in his capable hands. Meditate
on His unfailing love and compassion. He
made ravens feed hungry Elijah. He made
a widow’s flour and oil never run dry.
He can back up his promises to you too.
O Christian, trust in the LORD with all your heart! And without even trying you will be a
generous, loving steward of all the LORD has given you. Amen.