This past summer I was invited to think about stewardship and preaching for Working Preacher. The post that follows is a longer version of some thoughts about the question to the prompt. For the official version of the column as published on September 7, 2023, visit: Got Stewardship? Thank you WorkingPreacher for the invitation to write and reflect, and for the many gifts you share with preachers everywhere with your regular columns, podcasts, the Festival of Homiletics, and other resources!

Years ago there was a campaign from the milk industry in the United States which asked a simple question. “Got milk?” In those commercials there was often a child or a cow with a chocolate milk mustache. In that vein, let me ask you this, “Got stewardship?” My guess is the question isn’t received as easily as “Got milk?” The question isn’t exactly asking, do you talk about money in your preaching? It’s not asking do you preach on stewardship once a year around times related to the budget and/or year-end giving? No. It’s asking a discipleship question and that matters. So, preachers, do you have stewardship in your preaching?

Defining Stewardship
To clarify, I mean stewardship in the holistic sense. Consider Psalm 24, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it; the world, and those who live in it…”[1] This implies that not only is the earth God’s, but all within it are also God’s too. That means that you and I are God’s, and all that we have and all that we are, are too. This leads to an understanding of God being one who entrusts us with what we have- our health, bodies, time, talents, possessions, assets of all kinds, strengths, passions, questions, ideas, dreams, and vocations. All of this and more who is who we are and what God entrusts to our care.

In preaching this, the natural next question is “but why?” Why does God entrust? This is an educational piece for your congregation which if you have never preached on in your preaching, might need to be clarified and used as a teaching moment. The preacher could explain that God does this entrusting so that life might go well for us, and because that life which God dreams for God’s beloved is one that is by its very nature abundant.[2] God provides this with the hope that we might take hold of that abundant life and vocation(s) with deep meaning and purpose. Through doing so one might even begin to see God at work and showing up in, with, and through God’s people in the world as a joyful response for all that God has done, will do, and promises to do.

Thinking Year-Round
This understanding of stewardship is not limited to one time of the year. It’s a year-round thing which is integral in a deep life of discipleship and discipleship forming. So, what might this look like to include nuggets about stewardship in preaching year-round? It’s not as hard as one might think.[3] Take some of the usual stories throughout the ministry year:

• Jesus Feeding the 5,000+– This is a story about how in God, abundance is real and there is enough and more than enough to meet the needs of all of God’s beloved.[4]
• The Managing of the Talents– This parable is an opportunity to unpack the idea that God entrusts to God’s people. What God entrusts might look different for each individual, but God is the one doing the entrusting.[5]
• The Gifts of the Magi– Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany might not always seem logical stewardship preaching times. But they are, because they are all about God’s gifts and our gifts in response to God’s gifts. What might we share with our neighbors as signs of God’s love, and what might we return to God that God first entrusted to us?[6]
• Ash Wednesday– The annual gospel lesson from Matthew 6 appointed for Ash Wednesday is all about where one’s heart is, and a warning about moth and rust consuming. It’s an invitation to Lent, but also to more intentional discipleship and stewardship. What we do matters, especially because of the one who calls, invites, meets us where we are at, and entrusts us with all that we have and all that we are.[7]
• The Parable of the Good Samaritan– At its heart, stewardship is all about doing what you can with what you have, for the sake of your neighbors. To walk together and accompany one another.[8]
• The Woman at the Well– God in Christ comes near to God’s people, and when God shows up, we can’t help but be changed and so moved that we want to share that good news with anyone who might listen. This is an example of the stewardship principle of the joyful response.[9]
• The Stories of Holy Week– If stewardship is all about response, then what we are responding to is no clearer than through the stories of Holy Week. God is up to something new- bringing about life out of death, hope, healing, and reconciliation out of brokenness. If that’s not a reason to give thanks and praise, then we might as well all go home.
• The Road to Emmaus– Once the two disciples on the road discern who has been walking with them, they turn back and run with joy. That joy leads them forward and into their lives more motivated than ever to share, grow, and serve as disciples and stewards.[10]

Connecting the Dots
Stewardship does not have to be the weekly main focus of your preaching, and it probably shouldn’t always be. But it can be woven in through the form of an observation or connection as a way to connect the dots.[11] To connect the depth of the story with daily life, and the way one might approach the challenges and joys of their day as a person of faith called to grow, live, and serve as a disciple and steward of God’s love. The work of connecting is that of the preacher though because we cannot assume that those connections will always be made by the hearer otherwise.

This goes double, for saying thank you.[12] There is no greater joy than saying thank you. You cannot say it enough as a pastoral leader and as a congregation. Highlight the ways you see and witness God’s people serving as God invites. Lift up the stories of lives being changed through God’s deep love made real in part through God’s people here and now. That sense of gratitude is contagious, and it’s amazing what happens when it’s lived out honestly and openly. It’s the kind of abundance which one might see as the thousands witnessed when Jesus fed thousands with a few loaves and a couple fish.

With that in mind, thank you preachers for doing all that you do! Thank you for sharing God’s love and the story of God’s on-going love, presence, and promise with the world. I know you get stewardship, and I am grateful to walk alongside you all as we continue to accompany God’s people in living out the hope and promises of the gospel.

---

Citations and References:
[1] Psalm 24:1, NRSV.
[2] As Jesus declares, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10, NRSV).
[3] For a starting place for stewardship nuggets for preaching for the 2023-2024 ministry program year, check out: https://nebraskasynod.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/STEWARDSHIP-PREACHING-IDEA-RCL-2023-2024-FINAL.pdf. A resource that is a part of a larger initiative to “Go And…” as God’s people. For more on this, visit: https://nebraskasynod.org/go-and/.
[4] The story as found in different versions in: Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:34-44; Luke 9:12-17; and John 6:1-14.
[5] As found in Matthew 25:14-30.
[6] As included in the story found in Matthew 2:1-12.
[7] As found in Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21.
[8] As found in Luke 10:25-37.
[9] As found in John 4:1-42.
[10] As found in Luke 24:13-35.
[11] For more on what this might look like, consider the ideas from Charles Lane and Grace Duddy Pomroy in Embracing Stewardship: How to put stewardship at the HEART of your congregation’s LIFE, (Embracing Stewardship, LLC, 2016).
[12] If desiring to think systematically on this consider Ask, Thank, Tell: Improving Stewardship Ministry in Your Congregation by Charles Lane, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2006) and Reflections on Faith and Finances: A guide for individuals and groups based on Ask, Thank, Tell by Charles Lane, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2019).