What a busy fall season! And I am not talking about football or politics, I am speaking of our own church. We are in the middle of the process to elect church officers, we are running up to Thanksgiving, we will have our “Pledge Sunday” next week, and then we decorate and “run up” to Christmas.
The slate of candidates for deacon and elder positions will be announced next Sunday, so be praying about the leadership of our church – that God would continue to give them wisdom and His grace as they lead us. I Timothy 2:1-2 tells us, “I urge you then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” This includes those in the church who are in authority over us. So let us pray for our elders and deacons and those who will be elected to these offices.
Next Sunday, we will also have the opportunity to give public thanks to God for all that He has done for us. Let us give this some thought, as thanksgiving is becoming of those who call themselves Christians. It is an increasingly rare thing in our society and in the church – thanksgiving. Psalm 95:2 encourages us with these words, “Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.” Thanksgiving is expected by god of His people, and we should rejoice in the opportunity to thank Him publically. But let everyday really be a day of thanksgiving.
We will also have the opportunity to commit ourselves to the material support of the church. You will probably hear more than once from me that anytime someone in the church mentions stewardship, people reach for their back pockets to protect their wallets. But stewardship means so much more than just how much money we going to give to the church. For the Christian, stewardship means how much of our lives are we going to give to God. Here is the reasoning that Christians should have towards this subject – 1) Christ died for me by suffering on the cross all the eternal pains of hell that I was meant to suffer. 2) Therefore, I am not my own, but I belong to Him. Every part of me belongs to Him. There is not one thing that I can rightfully claim as my own. 3) So, with my eternal life secured by the death and resurrection of Christ on my behalf, how do I express my thanks to Him [especially on this Sunday before Thanksgiving!]? 4) My financial giving to the work of the church then should reflect my thanksgiving to God for all He has done for me. For that matter, my whole life should be a reflection of that thanksgiving. R.G. Letourneau once said the following, “It is not how much of our money we are going to give to God, but how much of God’s money we are going to keep for ourselves.” Let me modify that somewhat by putting it this way – It is not how much of our own lives we will expend for God, but how much of our lives that already belong to Him will we spend for ourselves. This puts it all into a different perspective.
It is not a matter of decisions based on ownership – our owning ourselves. It is a matter of decisions based on stewardship of that which already belongs to God. We sometimes are reminded of the words of the pleased master when his steward had been a good one, and we hope to hear those words ourselves when we enter heaven, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.” The very word “steward” means “manager”. We only manage that which God has given us. And we must one day give an account of how well we have done. The Scripture is filled with true accounts and stories of stewardship – Joseph in Egypt, Moses as the Lawgiver, Joshua as the conqueror, David as the King, Paul as the missionary, and the very best one of all – Jesus as the obedient Son sent by the Father. How many parables did Jesus tell that involved faithful or faithless servants, charged with the stewardship of what was given them? It is just not about ownership – it is about stewardship. It is when we begin to think of ourselves as owners that we get cross-wise with God. Just look at Luke 16:42-48.
Then, a week after our “thanksgiving Sunday”, we get to prepare for Christmas by decorating the church. What fun as we get to begin together the celebration of the birth of our Savior! And what a naturally busy time of year! As we look forward to that time, let us prepare in our hearts for the onslaught of materialism and “busy-ness” by committing ourselves to the remembrance of why Christ came to begin with. That will lead us back to thanksgiving and a recommitment to give thanks by giving all of us to Him and His service. What joy will be ours to serve the Living God out of thanksgiving and love!
