Stewardship: All we do after we believe
I personally think Thomas has gotten a bad rep. This story is almost universally known as the story of Doubting Thomas. Thomas has gotten that name because he didn’t believe the disciples when they told him that Jesus was resurrected and they had seen him for themselves. But if we remember a little further back in the story, Thomas really isn’t much different than the other disciples.At the end of the passage we read last week, Mary goes to the disciples and with great joy she tells them, “I have seen the Lord!” And then she tells them all about her encounter with the resurrected Jesus in the garden and everything he said to her. In spite of all that, the gospel of John doesn’t say anything about the disciples believing the testimony of Mary.
In fact we can assume based on the rest of the story that they probably didn’t believe Mary. Where the story picks up today, we find the disciples hiding in a room, with the doors locked for fear of what the Jews might do to them. So in other words, the disciples have already been told by Mary that Jesus has risen, that he’s concurred death and is alive. But in spite of all of that, the disciples are still fearful that what happened to Jesus might happen to them.
And honestly, who can really blame them? Who could have seen that coming? Oh sure, Jesus told the disciples in advance that he would be killed and raised from the dead. But Jesus also told a lot of parables and used a lot of metaphors. The disciples could have easily thought he was speaking metaphorically. Besides, it’s not like anyone had ever been resurrected before. It’s not like this was a common thing that happened. Even though Jesus told them this was going to happen, the news that it had happened seemed far-fetched at best.
But it had happened! Jesus had concurred death, and he certainly wasn’t going to let a little thing like a locked door stand in his way. Jesus stands among the disciples, who still didn’t believe he had been resurrected, and shows them his hands and side. After seeing the risen Jesus for themselves, the disciples are overjoyed and believe.
Thomas, for whatever reason wasn’t present. He doesn’t get to hear and see the risen Jesus himself. And when the disciples tell him they’ve seen him, he reacts no differently than they did when they heard Mary’s testimony. He doesn’t believe them and responds with the famous words, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails, and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Certainly, he puts a heavy emphasis on the tangible evidence and he words his stipulations for believe quite vividly, but essentially, what Thomas asks for is the same thing Jesus himself offers the other disciples in verse 20.
I personally think Thomas has gotten a bad rep. He’s called Doubting Thomas but his reaction really isn’t much different than the other disciples, and it’s a completely understandable reaction. After all the disciples have been through, I don’t blame any of them for not believing. The disciples had given up everything, left behind their family, friends, homes, and jobs to follow Jesus. Not only that but they were so emotionally invested. They thought Jesus was the one who would change everything, who would bring about the kingdom of God here and now, maybe even free them from the political oppression of Rome.
No one thought Jesus would allow himself to be killed. And now that he had died, in the disciples’ minds everything was over. They were devastated. In their minds, all those years they had spent following him around were wasted. All that time and energy, and effort they had put into becoming like Jesus was down the drain with nothing to show for it.
It’s completely understandable that they wouldn’t want to risk getting emotionally reinvested in such a farfetched thing when they had been so badly wounded the first time. So even though the other disciples had told Thomas that Jesus was risen and they had seen him, Thomas still didn’t believe. It’s not the Thomas thinks the disciples would lie to him, but he just can’t risk it. He can’t risk being wrong again, he can’t risk being hurt that badly again. So he didn’t believe. That is, Thomas didn’t believe in the resurrection until he had experienced it himself, just like the other disciples had. Once he experiences the resurrection he does believe. He even proclaims Jesus as his Lord and his God. What an awesome climax to a story that’s supposedly about someone who doubts.
It’s not the Thomas was any more of a doubter than anyone else. Thomas just had to experience it for himself. And I think so many things in our Christian life are that way. There are many things in a Christian life that we have to experience in order to truly understand the power of them. And living a life of stewardship is definitely one of those things.
Dennis has often said, “Stewardship is all we do after we believe.” And I think there’s a lot of truth in that statement. For starters it helps us to think outside of stewardship as simply what we do with our money. Stewardship is about our whole lives. It involves what we do with our time, our God given abilities, our passion, and our energy. But it also includes things like how do we care for the environment and the rest of creation. It includes things like how we care for our physical health, or even what T.V. shows we watch. There is not a single area of our life that is not covered under stewardship. Stewardship really is ALL that we do.
But that statement is also true in the sense that Stewardship is all that we DO, all that we participate in after we believe. Stewardship, like the resurrection, is experiential. Thomas’ life was changed not when the disciples told him about the resurrection but when he experienced it for himself. I think the same is true of stewardship. Stewardship changes our lives not simply when other people tell us about how it has changed their lives, but when we risk living a life of stewardship ourselves, when we risk experiencing it ourselves.
I could tell you that tithing has made a difference in my spiritual life, which it has. I could tell you that tithing has helped me to view the rest of our money in a different light, I could even tell you that it’s helped me to trust and depend on God more. But until you’ve tithed, until you’ve experienced those things, you won’t truly understand what I mean by that.
It’s the same thing with using our spiritual gifts. I could tell you that serving God with my spiritual gifts has helped me see God in the most unusual places, and the most common, everyday places. I could tell you that it’s helped me to experience the power of God’s redeeming grace at work in my own life, and given me the opportunity to witness it at work in the lives of others. But until you use your spiritual gifts, and serve God in whatever ways God has uniquely gifted you to serve, you won’t really know what I mean by that.
The other disciples told Thomas about the resurrection. But it didn’t matter, it didn’t make a difference in his life until he experienced it himself. A life of stewardship, in every sense, is like that. I could talk to you about stewardship until I’m blue in the face. I could line up testimony after testimony of disciples who have experienced the power of a life of stewardship. But the most powerful change happens when you experience it for yourself.
That’s difficult for some of us to do because a life of stewardship is risky. And we have all been burned before. Maybe we gave to an organization we believed in, only to find out later that they had mismanaged our money. Maybe someone told us they really wanted our help and our service, and then when we helped out we were told our help wasn’t good enough. Maybe we earnestly prayed for something and didn’t see any change happen. We’ve been burned before, and some of us, like Thomas are wondering if it’s really worth the risk. If it’s really could be true that a life of stewardship is life-giving not just for us, but for the community as well or if it’s just some farfetched story not to be trusted.
But just like the resurrection, a life of stewardship sounds farfetched but it really is grounded firmly in the reality of God. There are plenty of people whose lives are a testimony to that. As part of our efforts to be good stewards of the resources we have, Calvary supports many different missionaries around the world. The Cravens who are serving in Kazakhstan recently sent us an update on the ministry they are doing and the ways God has been moving in the community. I want to read a short part of their message to you.
They write, “About two months ago, the core group of believers started praying together every week night. We are beginning to see a renewed hunger to do God's will within the group. The financial crisis has also hit our national friends especially hard. The value of the tenge dropped and the price of food increased. Plus, there are fewer jobs available. We realize that this is the case in America too. Our small group of believers are praying for you too--that you will seek His face in all you do and that you will learn to rely on Him to provide all that you need!”
These are people who truly understand whole life stewardship. The Cravens gave up all the comforts and security of life in America, moved away from family and friends, and are serving God in Kazakhstan. They’ve learned to trust and to rely on God to provide for their needs and they spend their time ministering to people who live in poverty and many of whom struggle with addictions that are rampant in the area. And these people are praying for us!
That just boggles my mind. Many of these people don’t know where their next meal will come from. They have a lot of their own problems to worry about, and they are praying for us, for people who live in the wealthiest country in the world. They pray because they have experienced the power of a life of stewardship. They know that prayer changes things, they’ve personally experienced that. They know that all they have belongs to God, because they have had to rely on God for all their needs. They know that we are called to serve one another because they have witness the way that changes lives.
Not all us of are called to be international missionaries. Not all of us are called to make such dramatic changes. But we are all called to a life of stewardship. A life of stewardship is experiential. I can give you all the examples in the world, but you won’t truly understand the power of a life of stewardship until you risk living it and experiencing it yourself.
So give it a try. If you have never volunteered for anything in the church then sign up for something. Maybe you could try reading scripture or baking cookies, maybe you want to help with the youth or help update the website. As you look down that list sign up for something that excites you. If you aren’t tithing then trying stepping up your giving by 1%. If you don’t pray then consider praying just 2 minutes a day.
Like Thomas, you won’t truly understand the power of a life of stewardship until you risk living it and experiencing it yourself. Give it a try and your life will never be the same.
Amen.
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