Found Faithful: Biblical Stewardship #1 - "You'll Own Nothing and You'll Be Happy"

If you have a copy of God's Word, and I hope you do, take it and turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. 1

Corinthians and chapter number 4. 1 Corinthians and chapter number 4.

We are beginning a new sermon series this morning, second of two summer series that we've been in.

We're beginning a new sermon series this morning. I've entitled Found Faithful. Found Faithful, I'll explain what

I mean by that title in just a moment. If you have a copy of God's Word, and I hope you do, 1

Corinthians chapter 4. And we're going to read the first seven verses together. 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 1 through 7.

If you grabbed one of the Bibles that we give away, and I really encourage you to have a Bible in front of you this morning if you don't have one.

1 Corinthians chapter 4, and we're going to read the first seven verses. If you grab one of those red Bibles, page 1013.

1 Corinthians chapter 4. Beginning in verse 1 and reading through to verse 7.

Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 4, and verses 1 through 7.

If you're able to do so, can I invite you to stand with me out of respect for God's Word as we read it. 1

Corinthians chapter 4, beginning in verse 1, and reading through to verse 7. Brothers and sisters, these are

God's words to us this morning. A person should think of us in this way.

As servants of Christ and managers of the mystery of God. In this regard, it is required that managers be found faithful.

It is of little importance to me that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact,

I don't even judge myself. For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this.

It is the Lord who judges me. So don't judge anything prematurely.

Before the Lord comes, who will bring, who will both bring to light what is hidden and darkest, and reveal the intentions of the heart.

Then praise will come to each one from God. Now brothers and sisters,

I have applied these things to myself and apologize for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, nothing beyond what is written.

But what makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn't receive? In fact, if in fact you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn't received it?

The grass withers, the flower fades, but this word of our God will remain forever. Allow me to pray, ask for the

Lord's help, and we will get to work in his word this morning. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank you for yet another opportunity to come together and to start our week on the best possible footing as we come to worship.

We thank you for your word. Which ministers life to us, which shapes and molds us as your spirit uses it into the likeness of Christ.

Father, I pray that as we begin this new sermon series and we think about a crucial part of our walk with you,

Father, I ask that your spirit would help us to hear what your word has to say, and not just to hear it, but to believe it, and not just to believe it, but to live in line with it.

Fathers, I pray for us. I pray for our friends at Churchill Christian Fellowship. Thank you for what you're doing there.

Pray for Pastor Kellen, who will be preaching from Philippians this morning. You bless the Ministry of the Word there.

Bless their efforts to reach the J .D. Cove area for Christ. Father, as you bless their efforts, bless us as we minister here.

We ask in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. Amen. Please be seated.

So my title this morning might seem a little brutal, even by Kofi standards. You'll be, you own nothing and you'll be happy, but actually my title is not original to me.

It actually goes back to 2016. In 2016, a Danish MP called Ida Alken wrote an essay called

Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better. Now, I'll be honest,

I've read the essay. It's actually not the worst thing in the world. The title is a bit bizarre for my liking, but you know who didn't think that that sounded nuts?

A little group called the World Economic Forum. Now, I am not a conspiracy theorist.

Personally, I don't think as a Christian you should be. That's a whole other conversation for another time. But those who are conspiracy theorists generally don't like the

World Economic Forum and granted they don't make it easy. But the World Economic Forum took this essay and they turned it into a video.

They have a lot of reach in that kind of way. And one of the scenes in this video that they made had a picture of a smiling young man with the words, you'll own nothing and you'll be happy.

That video kind of did what videos do on the internet. It went around for a while and then disappeared.

Well, fast forward to a little year called 2020. Remember that one? Fast forward to 2020 and that phrase, you'll own nothing and you'll be happy, became the focal point of a lot of unhappiness regarding life post -COVID.

Again, I leave you to whatever thoughts you may have about that. But essentially people began to say, wait a minute, there's this group out here who basically want to take over our lives as we know it.

And part of how they want to take over our lives as we know it is they want to get rid of private ownership. They want to make you share everything.

You don't own anything anymore anymore. They essentially want you to be happy with the phrase, you'll own nothing and be happy.

Like I said, I leave you to your opinion on that. I will say, like I said,

I read the essay in question. That really wasn't the point of the essay, but that's neither here nor there.

But that phrase, you'll own nothing and be happy, that phrase leapt out at me when

I first heard it. I didn't hear it until actually very early this year for the first time. And when it leapt out at me because in a sense,

I can understand why people struggle with that line. I can understand why somebody can hear the words, you'll own nothing and you'll be happy and not be happy.

I genuinely can. I genuinely can because I think most of us look at the stuff that we do and the stuff that we have and we genuinely believe we own it all.

I own my house. I own my car. I own my career. I own my money. I own my time.

I own my family. I own my stuff. Well, this sermon series that we're beginning this morning is devoted to one thing.

If I can do one thing in this series, I will go off into my month off in the month of October a very happy man.

I want to do one thing. I want to prove to you that you actually own nothing and that's the way to be truly happy.

In case you think I misspoke, let me say it again. I want to prove to you from this book that you own nothing and that's the way to be truly happy.

Sure, I probably could have found a more palatable way to put that. I'm sure

I could have found a more appealing way to put that. But I borrowed this phrase from this group who

I'm not big fans of them to be really honest, but I borrowed this phrase from this group because it's forceful.

And I think when we get to the issue that we want to talk about for the next few weeks, I don't think kid gloves and soft words will do.

I think we need to be hit with the full force of those words that you actually own nothing and that's the way to be truly happy.

I want to talk to you about a concept that it's kind of old school. You don't really hear people talk about it too much and often when it does get talked about it gets boiled down to one thing.

Money. I want to talk to you about an old -fashioned word called stewardship.

Stewardship. That's why I have titled this series that we're going to be in for the next four weeks

Found Faithful, Biblical Stewardship for Modern Disciples. For the next few weeks,

I want to invite you to join me on a journey. And as we take this journey, I want you to consider with me for the next few weeks what it truly means to live like God owns everything.

And along the way to ask the question, how can I find genuine happiness?

In the fact that I don't own anything but God does.

This morning, I simply want to lay a foundation for the rest of this series by just asking the question. What does this word stewardship mean?

Usually when I prepare a sermon, I have a little thing called a proposition. It has a big idea.

This morning, I really want to just get straight to my point. So I am not going to do all of that this morning. I'm just going to dive straight in.

I have four truths about stewardship, four truths about the fact that you'll know nothing and you'll be happy.

That you need to grasp. If you want to get to the point where this phrase doesn't sound as jarring as I'm sure it sounds, four truths you need to consider.

Let's jump straight in. Truth number one, God made everything. Let's just start there. God made everything.

This might be the simplest point in this whole sermon because it's the first truth in the entire

Bible. Genesis 1 .1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

First thing we're told about God, right out of the gate. No defense. It's true.

If you notice Genesis 1 .1, the Bible doesn't try to prove God made everything. It just says it. We as human beings, because we like to argue things, feel the need to prove it on God's behalf.

God doesn't feel the need to prove He created things. He just says it. No defense.

No proving it. Just a straight assertion that God created the heavens and the earth.

And as you read the Bible, this assertion is made over and over and over again. Jeremiah 32 .17.

O Lord God, you yourself made the heavens and the earth by your great power and with your outstretched arm.

Hebrews 11 .3 says that we understand by faith that the world, the universe, excuse me, was created by the word of God so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

So this created world, all that we see, God made. And not only did

God make the created world, which we see, God also created man who lives in that world.

So Genesis 2 .7. Then the Lord Yahweh formed the man out of the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils and the man became a living being.

The psalmist says, Psalm 139 verse 13 and 14. For it was you who created my inward parts.

You knit me together in my mother's womb. I will praise you for I have been remarkably and wondrously made.

Now again, I said this is the simplest point in the sermon because I trust that most of you in this room are

Christians and even if you're not as Christians, we generally don't argue that God created the world. For us, what other answer could there be for the fact that the world exists?

But the fact of creation does raise a question. Even if you don't disagree that God created the world, the question becomes, well, why did

God create the world? Why does the world, why do I, why do you exist?

Nice weighty question for a Sunday morning. I mean, it's not like God was only, you know, the

Father, the Son, and the Spirit have eternally existed together, will continue to eternally exist together. It's not like God needed more people around.

It's not like God was short on worshippers. Some say, well, God created us to worship.

Well, yes, in a sense, but he's surrounded by millions and millions of angels.

He's not short on people to worship him or I should say creatures to worship him.

It's not even perish the thought that God actually needed man. You may laugh, but I've heard people in church say things like, well,

God was incomplete until he made man. Uh, my

Bible says the polar opposite actually, Acts 17, 23. Paul is preaching to the, uh, people at Mars Hill in Athens.

He says, therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you, the God who made the world and everything in it, he is

Lord of heaven and earth. He does not live in shrines made by hands. Neither is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.

So that can't be it. So why did God create man? If God did not need man, if Paul is right, since God doesn't need anything, in fact, he is the source of everything.

Why did God create man? Well, I would argue it's for the same reason that God does anything.

God created man to demonstrate his glory. God created man to demonstrate his glory.

So Romans 11, 36, Paul rounds out the doctrinal section of Romans and he ends with that, uh, chorus of praise to God.

And if you know your Bible Romans 11, 36, how does that end? For from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever.

Amen. In heaven, John is taken up to see what worship looks like in Revelation 4 .11.

We sometimes use it as a call to worship. Revelation 4 .11, our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power for you have created all things and by your will they exist and were created.

The reason why God created the world, the reason why God created man who lives in the world is for the display of his glory.

Again, simple enough but critical to making sense of this whole deal about stewardship.

We have to start with the simple reality that God made everything and he made everything for his glory.

So truth number one, God made everything. Well, if God made everything that means truth number two this morning,

God owns everything. Because God made everything he owns everything.

I think this follows on quite simply from the fact that God made everything but just in case

Genesis 14 .22 Abraham has just defeated the kings who had captured

Lot, his cousin and the cities that they were in. The king of Sodom wants to give Abraham kind of a thank you gift if you will.

Genesis 14 .22 But Abraham said to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hand in an oath to the

Lord God most high. Now the csb says creator, but that word is better translated the possessor.

In fact the esv I think new american standard as well goes with possessor. I think that's a better translation. The possessor of heaven and earth.

Psalm 24 verse 1. I'm a King James baby. So please permit me for a moment. The King James version says the earth is the

Lord is the Lord's and the fullness thereof the world and the inhabitants thereof.

Job 41. God is speaking to Job and his friends after their endless amounts of speaking. And in Job 41 .11

says who confronted me that I should repay him everything under heaven belongs to me.

I labor this point because I think it's a point that we can be very very prone to forget.

I mean think about it. Have you grappled with the fact that God owns everything? Think about it.

Have you ever just sat there and just thought to yourself? God truly owns everything.

I once heard it put like this. Your whole life is one long divine lease.

Your whole life is one long divine lease.

Again I appreciate that for us as moderns that can sound shocking to hear.

But if God owns everything. Well, that makes sense, doesn't it?

If you can lay, think about it. If you can lay eyes on it, it's God's. Oh, and even if you can't lay eyes on it.

If it exists, God owns it. Well, let's get more specific for a moment.

What exactly does God own? If we say God owns everything,

I mean it's easy to kind of generalize that. Let's get real specific. What does God own exactly?

All well and good to affirm that God owns everything, but, and he does, but what does that actually mean? Well, I'm going to credit my friend and big brother

Pastor John Benzinger for this insight. When we think about the stuff that God owns, we can divide it all into two very broad categories.

Two very broad categories. We can divide everything in that we have and everything that God owns into roles and resources.

There are roles that we occupy and resources that we have.

So two broad categories, roles and resources. Let me fill that out some more. So there are roles.

An easy way to think about the word role is just a function and responsibility that you have.

Maybe an easier way to define this. When we think about roles, think of it in terms of relationships to people or to things.

So just as a bit of a thought exercise, this morning, I, no, not this morning, but when

I was putting this together, I thought about my own life and I just thought about all the things that I have a relationship to.

So I'm a Christian that relates to my relationship to God. That's a role that I feel. I'm a husband.

Every day I walk around with a very visible symbol of the fact that I have a relationship with another human being.

One called Laura. I have a very unique relationship to her that I don't have to everyone else.

So I'm a Christian. I'm a husband. I'm a father. I have two kids. Gareth Kwabena, Rosemary Afia.

Those are my two kids. My relationship to them is that of a father. I'm a church member and a pastor.

That's my relationship to redeem a Bible fellowship. I'm a student.

So I go to a school called the Logg College and Seminary. I am responsible for my relationship to that school.

So there are roles that we have. Roles that we feel. Roles that we occupy.

But then there are also responsibilities. Oh, excuse me. Resources, excuse me. There are resources. Resources are assets and abilities that are given to us by God.

So again, I took some time and I thought about this. My family is a resource.

My time is a resource. My money is a resource. The church that I'm a part of is a resource.

It's an asset that God has given to me. My personal relationship with the Lord. My body.

My mind. My experience. These are just things that just came to mind and I'm sure if I sat down and took more time to think about it, there are a lot more things

I could think through. And if you think about your own life, you'll be able to think of other resources that you have at your disposal.

I mean, that's just a short list I came up with. But for a moment, can I draw your attention back to the passage we started with? So 1

Corinthians 4. Remember what Paul says in verse 7? Paul says, but who makes you so superior?

What do you have that you didn't receive? There is nothing that you have that is not given to you by God.

It's important to emphasize that because in a society that is driven by self and the expression of self, the reality that you don't actually own anything can actually be quite jarring.

We've talked about discipleship recently in the life of our church. Do you recognize that the world is really, really good at discipling us?

And part of the way the world disciples us is the belief that we are the center of everything.

We won't say it like that. In fact, we have a word for people who actually believe that. We call them narcissists and rightfully so.

But let's be honest. Our society is kind of narcissist. And in a society that basically says that we are the center of everything, to be told that actually you're not can be quite jarring.

But might I suggest that for the Christian, maybe that shouldn't be so jarring. But for the

Christian, the reality that God owns everything shouldn't be that shocking. I mean, the Bible makes this point over and over and over again.

In fact, some of these passages I want you to see. Turn me to Romans 14. Romans chapter 14.

That's what I want you to see for yourself. Romans chapter 14. Paul is dealing with the liberty of the

Christian and how the Christian can responsibly use their liberties in ways that glorify

God. Pick it up with me in verse 7. Romans chapter 14 and verse 7. Romans 14 7.

Paul says, for none of us lives for himself and no one dies for himself.

If we live, we live for the Lord. And if we die, we die for the

Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, know what

Paul says? We belong to the Lord. In fact, he says, verse 9,

Christ died and returned to life for this. That he might be

Lord, owner, possessor over both the dead and the living.

We're in the book of Romans. Flip over one book, 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1

Corinthians chapter 6. Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for allowing sexual immorality to become part of their life as a body.

Pick it up with me in verse 19. Verse 19. Paul says, don't you know that your body is a temple of the

Holy Spirit? It's interesting. In chapter 3, he said that the church is the temple of the

Holy Spirit. But now he says the individual believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Don't you know that your body is a temple of the

Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? Note what he says. You are not your own, for you were bought at a price.

He says, you don't get to, the Corinthians were basically saying, well, we can do what we want. And Paul says, no, you can't do what you want, actually.

He says, you are not your own, for you were bought at a price.

And since that is true, he ends, so glorify God with your body. I won't have you turn to this one, but Titus 2 .14,

Paul says that Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession.

Think about this. If you are here today as a Christian, I said that God owns everything because he made everything.

For the Christian, that is doubly true. Because the Christian is owned by God, not just by the act of creation.

Catch this. The Christian is owned by God, not just by an act of creation, but by an act of new creation.

That when we were lost in sin, when we were far from God, Christ came by the

Father's plan to save us. He shed his blood to make us his. The good news of the gospel is that those who were once owned by the world, the flesh, and the devil are now owned by Christ.

And if I could pause for a moment, if you're here today and you don't know Jesus, can I put it to you that you are owned by someone.

Our culture likes to pound its chest and say how independent we are. No, you are not. John chapter 8,

Jesus makes it very clear. You are either a slave of God's, or you're a slave of the evil ones.

There's no neutrality. So I'll put it to you that if you're here today and you don't know the

Lord Jesus, you need to leave the Lordship. In fact, you can't buy yourself, but you need to be delivered from the

Lordship of the evil one and come under the Lordship of the Lord Jesus. God created everything, which means he owns everything, and more so for those whom he saves in Christ.

Everyone still with me so far? Everyone still tracking? Okay. So God made everything.

He owns everything. Okay, but Kofi, I have stuff. Yeah, you do have.

I'm not saying you don't have stuff. So what is the relationship to the stuff that I have then?

If God made it and God owns it, well, what's my relationship to it? Truth number three this morning.

God made everything. God owns everything. Truth number three. God calls you to manage the things he owns.

Truth number three. God calls you to manage the things he owns.

So I had to start in first Corinthians chapter four. Paul is dealing with the very unruly

Corinthian church, and this church had many problems, one of which was chapters one through four.

They're basically dividing over their favorite personalities. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

We still have that problem in 2024, unfortunately. Anyway, to deal with that problem of division that's creeping into this church,

Paul does something really clever. Paul takes his own ministry and he puts it into perspective.

It starts in chapter three verse 10 and works its way through to the end of chapter four. He basically looks at himself with a very critical eye and says to Corinthians, I don't know why you're getting hyped up about me.

Pick it up with me again. First Corinthians 4 .1. How did Paul view his work of proclaiming the word of God?

First Corinthians 4 .1. A person should think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and here's a good word, managers of the mysteries of God.

Now some of your Bibles will say stewards, which is a good word. It's just not a word we use all that often. Actually, if you fly, you probably use this word a lot because the people who help you on a flight provide all the things you need, we call them stewards or stewardesses.

But I think the CSB picks a perfectly understandable word here, managers. I think we can all relate to that one.

In the New Testament, this word actually was quite a pretty loaded one. For a moment,

I'm going to quote from the Reformation Study Bible. Great resource, by the way, if you don't own one. The Reformation Study Bible has a really good summary of this in its study notes.

It says this, the steward or manager was the preeminent servant in a

Greco -Roman household, which would be the world of the New Testament. And this preeminent servant had the role of managing his master's finances, properties, and other slaves, owning virtually nothing but controlling virtually everything.

The steward wielded vast delegated authority, but always with accountability to his master.

I like that phrase, owning virtually nothing, but controlling virtually everything.

That's a pretty good summary for what this word managers means here. If I can make this real simple,

God owns everything. Have I convinced you of that point? God owns everything, but God takes some of that everything and he puts it in your hands and says, of this everything that I own, you are responsible, you are in charge for this.

Does that make sense? And so Paul uses this word to describe his own ministry.

He essentially says that, catch this, his ministry was something that was entrusted to him, that it was handed over to him to watch over and to take responsibility for.

Yes, it was his ministry, and yes he had responsibility for it, but ultimately

God gave him that ministry. I'll say more about that in our final week in this series, so I won't labor that point for too long.

For now though, do you notice how Paul speaks about the goal of that stewardship, that management, if you want to use that word?

So look again, 1 Corinthians 4. A person should think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God.

In this regard, it is required that managers be, here's where I got the title for the series, found faithful, faithful, reliable, trustworthy.

These are the words that should characterize us as managers of God's roles and resources.

I want us to think a little bit deeply on this third point about what it means to manage the things that God owns, and I'm going to let

Jesus help us with that. Turn with me to Luke chapter 12. Matthew, Mark, Luke, Luke chapter 12.

Luke chapter 12, Jesus actually has just finished speaking about readiness for the master's return.

He uses this parable of the master who is coming, who goes to a wedding banquet and is on his way home, but the servants don't know when he's coming and he basically says, you should be ready.

Peter, like a good listener, had questions. So pick up with me in verse 41. Luke chapter 12 verse 41.

Peter asked, Lord, are you telling this parable to us or to everyone? Jesus says, verse 42, who then is the faithful and sensible manager?

Same word from first Corinthians. Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household to give them their allotted food at the proper time?

Jesus is going to spell out for us what it looks like to be a sensible manager. Can I point out some features for you?

We've got seven to be exact, and full disclosure, I borrowed some of these from my friend John Benzinger and his series on stewardship.

So some of them are original, some of them I've moved around, but by and large, I have to credit

Pastor John with this one. Let me point out seven features. He had nine, I'm going to just give you seven.

Seven features of good stewardship from this passage. First of all, good stewardship is loyal. Good stewardship is loyal.

So did you notice verse 42? Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants?

Good stewardship begins with recognizing you don't get to call the shots. Good stewards don't go off on their own direction, they follow directions as they have received them.

Good stewards are loyal, but not only are they loyal, they're excellent. Unlike the bad servant in this passage, so jump down to verse 45.

So here's what bad servant looks like, but if that servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming and he starts to beat the male and female servants and to eat and to drink and to get drunk, that servant's master will come in a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know.

There's a kind of bad management, bad stewardship that should not be characteristic of the

Christian. But in contrast to that, Jesus says that the faithful servant, again look at verse 42, who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time.

Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. He doesn't just do the job when the master is present, he does the job when the master even isn't present because he's excellent in his stewardship.

Loyal stewardship, excellent stewardship, there's determined stewardship. Again verse 43, the faithful manager is determined he's not passive or lacking in initiative in his management.

Loyal management, excellent management, determined management, there is diligent management.

Do you notice the difference between the wise, the sensible, and the foolish servant? The foolish servant, to use our modern term, is a bit of a slacker.

The master ain't turning up, I don't need to work that hard. He's a waste, he's not gonna pull up anytime soon.

Now the faithful servant, while the master is gone, he's still faithful at his work, he's diligent. You can call him a lot of things but you can't call him a slacker.

It's intentional, it's intentional. Good stewardship is intentional, it has a goal.

And I'll pause for a moment. As Christian people, if you're here and you're a believer, as Christian people,

Christians are not aimless people. I love how Paul describes it in 1

Corinthians 9, he says, I do not run as one beating the air. Christians are not aimless people and that is especially true when it comes to the roles and the resources that God has given us.

In fact, if you take a note, 2 Corinthians 5 .9, the Christian has one target in mind, one goal. Paul describes it, 2

Corinthians 5 .9, therefore whether we are at home or away, whether I'm alive or with Jesus, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him.

Again, he doesn't say we want to be pleasing to him, he said we make it our aim, there is an intention, there is a purpose, there is a goal in mind.

And he says we make it our aim to be pleasing to him. It's intentional, it's also submissive, it's also submissive.

Again, the manager has a master. If he has a master, he is submitted to that master.

He knows the will of the master and he submits to the will of the master, no questions asked.

I will come back to the theme of submission in this series. But for now, let me just give you a big picture.

The Bible word for submission, especially in the New Testament, it carries this idea of placing yourself under someone else's command.

The New Testament term was a military term. It was for, it was a term that a subordinate officer would apply to themselves when they were under the command of a superior.

In this case, the Christian has placed his will beneath the will of the master.

His first thought is not what do I want, the first thought is what does my master want?

And since that is true, finally, stewardship seeks to be wise. Again, verse 42, do you notice the word that Jesus uses?

Who then is the faithful and sensible manager? Some of your Bibles will say the wise manager.

The faithful manager is marked by, catch this, two things, an understanding of his role, but not just an understanding of his role.

He's marked by insight in how to fulfill it. Let me say it again. The faithful manager is marked by understanding of his role and insight in how to fulfill it.

A good manager thinks long and hard about their management. They don't just do what is convenient.

They don't just do what is easiest or what they've always done or what everyone else is doing. The good manager,

I would argue from scripture, looks to God for his wisdom in how to manage what

God has given. And when you put all seven of those together, loyal, excellent, determined, diligent, intentional, submissive, and wise management, that is

God's desire for you as a steward of the roles and resources he's given you.

Might be good at this point, now that we've kind of looked at that, to give you my definition of the word stewardship. What is stewardship?

Stewardship is the God -given responsibility to use God's gifts of roles and resources in a way that serves his purposes, not your own.

Let me say it again. Stewardship is the God -given responsibility to use

God's gift of roles and resources in a way that serves his purposes, not our own.

Let me personalize. Let me personalize that. Not your own. For a second, before I hit the final truth in our study this morning, let me lay my cards on the table.

Why this series and why now? Well, if, think back to our last sermon series on our core values as a church, if the mission of Redeemer Bible Fellowship is on the back of our worship guide every week, just in case you don't know what it is, if the mission of Redeemer Bible Fellowship is to empower disciples to live upward, inward, and outward for Christ here in the

Rogue Valley, and if part of being a disciple means, remember what we said that maturity in Christ is three things?

Convictions, character, and competence. Well, if part of being a disciple, a student, a learner of the

Lord Jesus is developing the character of a follower of Jesus, then I would put it to you that we can't talk about being a follower of Jesus if we don't talk about the place of stewardship.

Faithful stewardship, faithful management of our roles and our resources is part of the character of a follower of Jesus.

So that's one reason why I'm taking the next four weeks, and by the way, we'll also take a couple of Redeemer U sessions to deal with some more bonus content, so I would encourage you,

I'll let you know when that's going to happen, but don't miss those. That's one reason, but there's another reason that I'm addressing this series, and it's a bit more serious.

In fact, it's the fourth truth about stewardship I want you to think about this morning. God made everything,

God owns everything he made, and God calls you to manage the things that he owns, and since all that is true, can

I leave you with one last thought this morning? Since all that is true, one last thought. God will one day ask you to account for your management.

God will one day ask you to account for your management. So did you notice in Luke 12, did you catch that there's a day when the master comes home, and depending on the management of the manager, the response to that return can be one of three things.

For the faithful manager, the return of the master is a cause of joy. Do you notice in Luke 12, blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes.

Verse 44, truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. It's a cause for joy for that servant when the master comes home.

For the wicked servant, not so much. So verse 45, but if that servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming, and starts to beat the male and female servants, and to eat, and to drink, and to get drunk, and that master, excuse me, that servant's master will come on a day he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know.

He will cut him to pieces, and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

Now let me pause for just a moment, because that can sound a little bit weighty. I don't believe

Jesus is speaking about Christians in that context. Actually, I would argue

Jesus is referring, please understand the context of this section in Matthew, Luke, excuse me,

Jesus is actually talking about the Pharisees who had been in, or the religious leaders, I should say, who had been entrusted with the leadership of God's people, and they were not being faithful stewards of that leadership.

So let's be clear, I think the wicked servant here is not a reference to Christians. If you are a Christian, you do not need to worry about this.

Thank heavens. But I told you there were three categories, didn't

I? I said there was the faithful servant, there was the bad servant, but there's a third category, and this one

I do think Christians can fall foul of. So look at verse 48, Luke 12, 48.

But the one who did not know, and did what deserved punishment, will receive a light beating, light discipline.

Jesus says that there's a category of person who didn't know. They were, to use a much easier word, they were ignorant.

But they were ignorant, and yet they did that which was worthy of punishment. Well, in this context, what would be worthy of punishment?

Not being a good manager. He says that person will receive a light beating.

Take that to mean that they lose reward, that there is discipline. 1

Corinthians chapter 3, I believe it is, Romans chapter 14, we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Yes, the Christian does not lose his salvation because he's a bad steward. Like I said, I don't think

Christians are in the category of the wicked servant, or even Jesus has another category, verse 47, the servant who knows and doesn't prepare.

But I do think that Christians can find themselves in the, what

I call, the I don't know category. I don't know,

I didn't know, I never heard that. God is merciful, so he understands, and thankfully it is not our faithfulness in being a steward that determines our eternal destiny.

See, Jesus was the perfect steward who never messed up in his stewardship. His righteousness is credited to us.

So even if you've not been a good steward up to this point, guess what? You'll still go to heaven.

You know why? Because it's Jesus' faithfulness that takes us to heaven, not us.

So we can be thankful, but at the same time as being thankful that our eternal destiny is not settled by this,

God is still going to hold us accountable. We started in 1

Corinthians 4, let's end there. Go back to 1 Corinthians 4 with me as we wrap up. 1

Corinthians 4, verse 5, what's Paul's response to the Philippians, the

Corinthians, who are basically dividing and judging Paul's ministry.

Well, Paul's not as good as my guy. 1 Corinthians 4, 5, Paul says, so don't judge anything prematurely before the

Lord comes who will bring to light both what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the heart.

Then praise will come to each one from God. One day you and I will stand in Jesus' presence and he will ask us one question.

It was a precious one. What did you do with what

I gave you? I encourage you in your own time.

I don't have time to get to it. Matthew 25, 1 through 13. The master gives different things to different people and he holds them accountable for what they do with it.

One day he will ask you and me and all of his people, what did you do with what I gave you?

Again, please, please hear me. Your eternal destiny won't hang on that answer. Thank the

Lord for that. That was settled 2 ,000 years ago. If you're not a believer, you can be included in that.

That was settled 2 ,000 years ago. Yes, your salvation doesn't hinge on this, but the answer you give will still matter on that day and that's why a series like this becomes incredibly important because if, think about this, we conclude, if one day

I'm going to give an account for my stewardship, if one day I'm going to stand before the

Lord and he is going to ask me, what did you do with what I gave you? I should probably think just a little bit, not a whole lot, just a little bit about what

I do with what he gave me and so for the next few weeks,

I can't look at every possible thing. We would need a whole year worth of service. So I'm just going to pick some of the most important ones, some of the most important realms, some of the most important roles and resources

God gives to us and I want to ask how we can be found faithful in our management, our stewardship of those areas and my hope is that by the time that we're done with this series at the end of the month, you'll be able to answer that question with a little more confidence than we started hopefully.

Let me pray and we'll come to the Lord's table. Father, we thank you that you are a good

God who gives to us, as your word says, all things freely to enjoy, that you give us roles and resources, that you give us what we need to serve you and Father, we come humbled by the fact that we will one day have to give an account for how we use the things you gave us to serve you.

Father, I ask that as we embark on this journey together of thinking about our stewardship as the people of God, our management of the roles and resources you have so graciously given to us.

Father, help us that we will be found faithful, not because of us, but because of the help of your spirit, the spirit that your son poured out on us.

Father, I pray that this the beginning of this series would be a shift in the way that we think, a shift in the way that we approach all that we have and all that we are.

Father, honestly we owe nothing and yet in owning nothing we find our happiness in you.

Father, help us to live in light of that. Father, even as we think about things you've given us, we thank you for this table that you've given us, this precious gift.

As we come before it now, may it serve the purpose that you have designed for it. We ask all this in Jesus name and for his sake.