Date:   08/30/09

Text:   Psalm 50:10-12

Title:   The Father's World

Theme: Since the world belongs to our heavenly father, therefore we are to be faithful stewards.

Introduction:

  Psalm 50:10-12. The verses we read and the song we just sang provide us with a clear and unmistakable picture that the world and all that is in it belongs to him. In light of this, what is then our relationship to the world around us? To understand this we are to review a key passage in Genesis 1:26-27, “ 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

  We learned first that God made man in his own image. This means men is reflect and represent him. Secondly, we learn that men is given the responsibility of ruling and managing God's creation. The world does not belong to man but to God. Therefore, the first man and his descendents are God's servants, God's stewards of the world we live in.

  So, what are we to be stewards over? This morning we'll look at some aspects of this Stewardship.

I •  Stewards of Treasure.

In the Bible, there are about 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, and 2500 verses on money and possession. Yet, money and possession is the least preached topic by the pastors. Many congregation members have to go to different organizations to learn about money stewardship. Sometimes pastors are afraid to preach on this topic for the fear of being misunderstood that they or the church needs money. Yet, the scripture clearly teaches about money without apology.

In our society, we find happiness in money and possession. We are influenced by the value; the more the better and the man with the most toys wins. In recent months I have referred to the 1 st question of the Heidelberg Catechism many times. What is man's greatest comfort? The society says, the greatest comfort is to know that you have a big bank account. But the scriptures tell us that we find our greatest comfort in knowing that we belong to our Lord Jesus Christ. Someone once said, money is a good servant, but a bad master.

Why such emphasis in the Bible on money and possession? First, God knows that we would have problem with money . Look at the financial crisis we are in now. Merrill Lynch is bought, Lehman Brothers is pushed into bankruptcy.  Many other banks have also been closed. These institutions were run by smart and capable people. They have written books on how to be successful in managing our financial assets. They were once the darling of the global economy. We don't manage money well, is it?

Secondly, money has profound effect on relationships. It can bring people together and can cause irreparable rift between friends. A major cause of marital breakdown is disagreement over how money is to be spent. In the recent on going trial of the Sanford investment scandal, we witness how former buddies now turn against each other. It is all about money.

Our use of money is really a reflection of our commitment to Christ. Individually and as church, we can talk a lot about how we love God and men. If we look at our check books, or look at this and other churches' budget, do they reflect our love for God and men? It is often said, our check books can reveal our characters and our walk with God. The Bible teaches that where our money is, so is our heart. Heart follows the money.

II •  Stewards of Time.

In Psa 90:12, “ 12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. ” We learn that our days are limited, and we need wisdom to know how to live, how to use our time wisely. Is there a guiding principle showing us how to be stewards of our time? Let's look at 2 Peter 3:10-11, “ 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, .. Peter wrote about the future, the day when Jesus our Lord will return and the final judgment that will occur. Then he said, what sort of people ought you to be? In light of the eternal, how shall we live now? How are we to be stewards of the time we have now?

The principle to follow is: We are to let the eternal give meaning to the temporal. What is temporal? Money/possession, power, and fame are things of temporal. They last as long as we live. At death, we can take none of them with us. what happens when we pursue money, power, fame and meaning in life? Very quickly we'll ignore laws and relationships. We want to acquire them at all cost. Look at the downfall of Madoff and Sanford. What do they have in common? They have let the temporal provide meaning for life. In the end, they lost everything: money and relationships.

Dear brothers and sisters, do we know what will happen or has happened when we, yes, we Christians pursue money, power and fame in this life? Both in this and other churches, I have seen many Christian relationships broken over money matters. When individuals left the fellowship and church over money issues, it is wrong. When we learn of this, it should tear our hearts apart. It hurts deeply.

So how shall we then live during the short years we have on this earth? 2Peter 3:10-11 instructs us to live in holiness and godliness. We are to let the eternal provide meaning to the present.

Holiness and godliness refer to living according to God's words. In the Shorter Catechism, the first question: what is the chief end of man? The answer is: the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. The second question in the Catechism is: What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him? The answer is: The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him . Now, what is greatest commandment in the scriptures? To love God with all our heart, our soul and our strength. Likewise, we are to love others as ourselves. In short, eternal value is loving God and men. This is to provide meaning to life. This is to be the motive behind our actions.

If this is important to us, then we all need to reflect on how we use our time in the following areas. When was the last time you spent quantity and quality time with God, your family and your Christian and non-Christian friends? We often say that we are busy so we don't much time, but we'll make sure its quality time. However, we are to face up to the reality, without quantity time, it is hard to develop quality time. Several young men had shared with me both recently and several years ago about their search for a job. They shared that one criterion for the job is: will they have adequate time to be with their wives and children. In other words, they want a family friendly job. Also a word about our non-Christian friends. Statistics tell us that within 3-5 years after our conversion, we have lost contact with our non-Christian friends. We spend too much time with fellow Christians. We are lights among lights shining each other. We are salt among salt, adding favor to each other. Please don't ignore our non-Christian friends. I rather see you skip one or two Friday night church gatherings so you can socialize with your non-Christian friends. If loving God and men is important, how is your relationship with the believers in this community?

III •  We are to be Stewards of our Talents. Romans 12:6

Our natural abilities and spiritual gifts are all from God. Jesus had used many parables to show us that such talents are from God. The truth being that the issue is not how much we have, but how we use what is given to us; are we being faithful in using what we have. The scriptures tell us that we are to use our talents and spiritual to glorify God, meaning to make God look good, pointing others' attention to Him. Talents are also to be used to serve others and to build up God's body.

I think of ‘Doctors without Borders' using their skill to treat patients in poor and underdeveloped countries. There are many gifted young people joining Teach For America, to teach students in schools with limited resources in many of the poor communities in this countries.

God has given us different skills and talents. I would like to encourage you to continue to develop such skill to honor God and serve men. In the 70's as my faith in God began to develop and mature, I was searching for the answer to this question. I was a biologist, spending most of my time in the lab, working with cells and mice. How could I honor and glorify God? Grace, a good friend of ours, was gifted in the arts, especially in drawings. She too was searching. How could she honor and glorify God with her drawings. Does it mean that in every drawing, there must be a cross or image or Jesus or something like that? It was through Schaeffer's teaching that we learn that when we do our best in whatever arena of life, we are honoring and glorifying God. when you make that beautiful picture, compose a good music, contribute to our understanding of human cells and their function, develop a useful computer or software, you are honoring and glorifying God.

There is also another aspect of using our gifts and talents. We are to use them in the Christian community; in a local church. Our hearts are filled with gratitude when we see individuals using their gifts, serving in this church. They serve in the Sunday School, adult, youth, children, teachers; the elders and deacons; fellowship and small group leaders; the kitchen crew; Sunday ushers and the list goes on and on. We thank God that because of your use of gifts and talents God, this has become a better place for us to worship and to know and experience God's love and presence.

IV •  We are to be Stewards of the earth.

There are many aspects of being a Steward of God's creation. However, there is one aspect that is often ignored. That is: the planet earth. We have read earlier in Genesis 1:26-27, that God created man and woman and gave them the responsibility to rule the earth on His behalf. And then in Genesis 2:15, “ 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it . ” God asked man and woman to make the land productive and take good care of it.

However, we don't do a very good job at this. History tells us wherever human goes, that has been a record of destruction of the nature. Forests were depleted because we cut down trees for our use and without replanting more. Animals are near distinct because we hunt indiscriminately. Oceans and rivers are polluted leading to the death and disruption of the ecosystem. In a Chinese village I visited, I saw a small river polluted and the air filled with foul smell. I was told that some industry just dump their waste into the river.

Several years ago, there was an Environmental Protection conference attended by representatives of different religions. Both the Buddhist and Muslims denied their role in damaging the environment. However, a theologian, representing the Christian faith admitted that Christianity is the main culprit in ruining the environment. How untrue this is. God clearly told us to rule, work and keep the earth. But because of human sinfulness, we have derelict our responsibility, we have failed to listen and obey God's instructions to us. We have been disobedient to God.

To be stewards of God's earth, we Christians are to be actively involving in protecting and taking care of our environment. On one hand we are to avoid the extremes. Some environmentalist had blended with the New Age, advocating that we are one body with the environment. Others worship the environment as if it is their god. They value the trees, mountains and rivers more than human life. On the other hand, we are to do our best to take part in different recycling programs, doing our part to protect the planet earth from further harm and destruction caused by human beings.

Conclusion:

  When we see that God is the owner of all, then we are to be stewards over all. There are other areas of stewardship. They include our bodies, our minds, our opportunities, our families and God's truth that has been entrusted to us. To everyone, especially the leaders, it includes this local church, the individuals in this church, her many ministries and resources. What does God want from us, his stewards?

  Jesus told the story of a master giving different portions of his possession to the servants to take care of while he is away. When he returned, the servants gave him a report of what happened to the money that was given them. One servant reported he had doubled the amount. Another servant did the same, even though the amount he received was smaller than the first servant. The last servant did nothing and just hid it so he could return to the master the same amount received. The master commended the first two servants with these words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' What was the master looking for? Not how much they made, but they were being faithful with what was given them. This is what Paul said in 1 Corinth 4:1-2, “ 1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.” We are to be faithful, trustworthy stewards.