Stewardship – God’s Gift to Us and Our Gift to God

As Orthodox Christians, we have recently completed the season of “bright sadness” known as Lent during which we were expected to follow the fasting commandment first given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Their failure to fast from the tree of knowledge led to expulsion from Paradise and, more significantly, from the presence of God. The Cherubim were set forth with flaming swords to prevent our return to the garden.

Yet God continued to love mankind. This was evidenced when he sent the Tablets of the Ten Commandments to Moses in order to show us how we must live in order to receive his love. The first commandment, “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me” is the most important and yet we easily slip away from it without realizing what we have done. The Israelites were expected to show their adherence to this commandment by offering up the first fruits of their harvest and their first born. The thought of sacrificing one’s infant, how could God ask this?

As we think about this question, what did God do for us? The answer lies in the crucifixion of Christ when God sacrificially offered his son Jesus for us. So often we hear the words, “Jesus died for our sins”, but do we fully know what it means? God, as Christ, came to preach and teach us how we must live.

Christ accepted sacrificial death on the cross for us. On Good Friday we recall his triumphant entrance into Hades where he broke the chains which had prevented man’s return into the presence of God. The resurrection of Christ which we celebrate on Easter is God’s gift to us. What a great gift it is! It is the opportunity upon our deaths to spend eternity with the Lord, our God. We need not sacrifice our first born because God did so for us. We are asked to be good Christians.

What should be our gift to God while we are alive? We begin by loving God with our hearts, minds, and souls. We love God when we adhere to the Ten Commandments. We love God when we come to church to worship God. We love God when we make God the center of our life.

These loving acts are very challenging for all men and women who are often tempted by the sin of avarice also known as greed. In the writings of the Philokalia, we are warned about this vice. So when we are asked to become faithful givers to our church, we find it difficult to decide what we are able to forego in order to be Christian stewards.

God gave us his son and we ponder what we will be able to contribute. Do we plan our contributions with as much concern as we plan Christmas gift purchases, family vacations and car purchases, media such as home theaters or plasma televisions, closet constructions, house additions, or even simple things such as monthly hair coloring or lotto ticket purchases?

Do we make a decision to give sacrificially and generously to our Orthodox Christian faith as much as we do for purchases we make for ourselves? Do we truly love God before all other gods or do we lie to ourselves about it? God expects us to fast not only from food but also from greed. God does not expect us to fast totally from all food and water. So God expects us to fast from greed as a temptation and to learn to give generously and sacrificially. God does not ask us to do what is impossible. God asks us to give thankfully to him. Do you plan your stewardship giving to God as much as you plan “gifts” for yourself?