Greetings!
This summer I have been doing some reading and thinking about the topic of stewardship. What comes to mind for you when you hear that word? I know for me, for many years, stewardship meant pledging money to the church. As many churches do, we have a stewardship drive and a stewardship Sunday. But stewardship actually means more than that. To be a good steward is to care for something on behalf of someone else. A steward may watch over someone’s home and yard while they are away for an extended period of time. They may be authorized to pay bills, to make repairs on behalf of the home owner. Jesus tells parables about honest and dishonest stewards, teaching his disciples that all we are and all we have belongs to God. We are each stewards of that great gift.
During 2015-16 we will be looking at the many facets of stewardship. What does it mean to be good stewards of our physical body, mind and spirit? What does it mean to be good stewards of the corner of creation that is entrusted to our care? What does it mean to be good stewards of our time? And to begin, we are asking what it means to be good stewards of our choices.
Here’s the dictionary definition of choice: choice (chois) n. the power, right, or liberty to choose. A number or variety from which to choose.
To be human is to have choices. We choose how to use our time. We choose what to eat, what to wear, how to spend our money. We choose which friends and family to stay in touch with. We make hundreds of choices in a single day. God has given us the capacity to choose – and the responsibility to choose well.
Some of our choices are easy or inconsequential. Do I drive I-5 or Highway 99? Do I have the turkey or the ham on my sandwich? Do I wear the yellow or the blue shirt?
Other choices have longer lasting consequences. Do you remember, if you are married, the steps that led to the decision to marry the one you loved? Do you remember saying “yes” to a job offer? Do you remember the process of making a decision to move away from a place you called home? These far-reaching decisions deserve our best discernment, our best attention. They deserve to be made in light of God’s presence in our lives. It is these decisions that we bring before God in prayer, humbly seeking for help in making good choices. And it is those decisions that motivate us to ask others for their guidance and prayers, or to read the scriptures to help us discern God’s will for us in that situation.
On September 13th we will explore this theme further during our Sunday worship. Come join us as we consider how the choices we make reflect and are informed by our faith in God.
In Christ,
Pastor Amy
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