The Upload
Posted on Oct 17, 2014 by
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
As you may or may
not know, Salem is in the beginning stages of launching our
stewardship campaign
to raise money for our annual operations budget and to fund an additional staff
person for three years plus renovate our sanctuary. It is called, One Campaign – Two Appeals. Yes, this is another time when we will talk
about money, but the truth is, in this world, we cannot offer ministry, or grow
our ministries without money. But
stewardship is far more than money.
The problem these days is just saying the word stewardship often causes people to begin protectively guarding their wallets faster than you can say "pledge card!" Unfortunately, too often we associate stewardship exclusively with issues of money. But, the truth of the matter is that God has little interest in our wallets. God wants our whole lives, wallets and all, and our Gospel text this week (Matthew 22:15-22) points that out.
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were attempting to trap him so they could either get Rome to arrest him, or so that they could have him arrested, so they asked him the questions about taxes, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" (Matthew 22:17) The issue they raised to Jesus was about money, but Jesus changed the question to focus on the core of what we call Stewardship. To answer the question, Jesus asked them whose image appeared on the money. The answer to that question was obvious, the coin had Caesar’s image on it. Well, then, Jesus responded, the answer to your questions is very obvious, if Caesar’s image is on the coin, then the coin is Caesar’s, so give it to him. Most people find this answer confusing, because they focus on the money question, but Jesus’ answer wasn’t about the money, it was about the core of what stewardship is.
Stewardship, for Jesus, is about how we care for those things that are God’s. We were created to be stewards of God’s creation and we are to take care of it, so that all of creation might be able to glorify God. God challenges us to give of our money, not because he needs our money, but because he knows how important it is to us and he wants us not to treat money as a god. He does not want us to worship it.
The Pharisees approached Jesus in a thinly veiled attempt to trap him on issues of financial obligations to the Roman government. Their question of Jesus, simplified to the extreme, is "who gets your wallet?" But Jesus’ response of “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God” takes their question to a new level. This statement challenges us to ponder: if God created the world and everything in it, what doesn't belong to God? God wants a whole lot more than just our wallets. God wants our lives, wallets and all!
The question Jesus is challenging us to answer is not will we give our money to the church. No, the question is will I give my whole life to God and his church, so that I might help transform the world into the creation God intended it to be. God want our whole life. Are we willing to give it to him?
Have a blessed week!
Shalom,
Pastor Dave