6.3.39 8.13.2023 Ship Shape! Stewardship Exodus 35.4-35

Engage: To get this particular ship “ship-shape” requires self-examination. Only I am privy to how I utilize the resources God has put at my disposal. I may try to be transparent, but stewardship is less direct and more qualified than discipleship, and this is largely because of that question:

“how much?”

Expand: There is one overarching text that speaks to the overall objective of stewardship.

1 Corinthians 4:2 ESV

2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

Some resources are distributed evenly. Other resources are distributed unevenly. Regardless of how we answer the question “how much?” we share the same expectations for all stewards.

Excite: We live in a culture that invites each of us to compare our resources with those entrusted to others. This creates an enormous number of emotional reactions. There is a reason why covetousness is one of the 10 commandments. Envy and jealousy drive us to think of our resources not in terms of ship-shape, responsible stewardship but in terms of hoarding and hiding. And that is why we need to discuss the process of proper stewardship. Instead of “How Much?” The proper question is

Explore:

How are you stewarding the resources God has entrusted to You?

Expand: Let’s look at each resource in turn…First we need to think of

Body of Sermon:

1 Time

1.1 The nature of time.

1.1.1 Universal

1.1.2 Limited (finite)

1.1.3 Indeterminate.

1.2 Our stewardship of time.

1.2.1 Account for it.

Psalm 90:12 ESV

12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

1.2.2 Understand it

1 Chronicles 12:32 ESV

32 Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.

Wise men understand the present in terms of the past, the future in terms of the present and see eternality in each day.

1.2.3 Redeem it.

Ephesians 5:16 ESV

16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Redeeming the time we are given, means leveraging kingdom principles in all our daily activities.

The next resource is

2 Talent

You are a steward over all the abilities and skills you have been provided by God.

This is the first of several passages we will examine drawn from Israel’s preparations to construct the tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, and other needed furnishings. This episode describes the conjunction of the natural and the spirit given capacities of individuals…

first consider the

2.1 Natural

Exodus 35:10 ESV

10 “Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded:

Exodus 35:25 ESV

25 And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

Any talent can be used for spiritual ends, even if it is not “spiritual”. Using Beckman as an example. Crochet is not a gift of the Spirit. Over the years she has given away hats, afghans, and other items in the name of Jesus. The impact is spiritual though the talent is “natural.”

Next consider the

2.2 Spirit given

Exodus 35:30–35 ESV

30 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, 32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. 34 And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.

This comports with what the NT says about Spiritual gifts.

Romans 12:2–8 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Ephesians 4:7 ESV

7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Ephesians 4:11–13 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

Each of us has a Spiritual gift and virtually all of us have a natural talent which we have spent our entire life cultivating, nurturing, improving, and deploying.

We are given stewardship over both.

The final resource, the one which gets the most press and which is generally the sole subject of the Question “how much?” is

3 Treasure

When we think of treasure there are two standards, I think we need to keep in mind…First is

3.1 Generosity from the heart.

Exodus 35:5 ESV

5 Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze;

Exodus 35:21 ESV

21 And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments.

Sound stewardship of our treasure is also grounded in

3.2 The nobility of work.

Exodus 35:10 ESV

10 “Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded:

Acts 20:33–35 ESV

33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Shut Down

Israel exercised faithful stewardship when each used their time, talent, and treasure to construct the traveling structure for worship. Like no other time in their history did they share responsible stewardship so broadly. In Christian history there have been times when individuals and whole congregations exercised faithful stewardship to such a broad, cooperative degree that the world was changed.

To discuss that big picture requires that each of us examine our life, our little picture, and the part it plays in the whole. Like a jigsaw puzzle, one missing piece can deface the whole work. Many missing pieces make working the puzzle impossible.

For us to be the Church requires that each of us do what we can to make our stewardship as faithful as possible. Then we too can build something beautiful and useful. Then the kingdom will prosper, and ministry can expand. Then we open a whole new line of questions. How far can we go? How long can we serve? How many can we serve? How big can we dream? Not for ourselves, but for the sake of the Kingdom.

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