And so it begins…
Over the last couple of weeks, Dennis and I have officiated at several different funerals. Having all these funerals in such a short amount of time has made me realize that we all have a story. As I met with the families to discuss how they would like their loved one remembered, I was privileged to hear some of the family stories. You know, those stories that seem to be told over and over again at every family gathering. These are the stories that are told so often, that people who weren’t even around when the story happened still tell it like they were there. They are stories that don’t belong to any one person, but belong to the whole family. These are the stories that ,whether we realize it or not, help form our understanding of who we are.In my family, one of the stories that’s told over and over again is the story of my father having his appendix removed. It’s a long story so I won’t tell all of it but I’ll give you the overview. My parents were both stationed at Ft. Polk, LA. My mom worked as a critical care nurse. Apparently my dad had been complaining of abdominal pain all weekend. My mom finally convinced my dad to go in and get it checked out and sure enough it was appendicitis. The dr. sent him to get blood work done and so he stopped off to find out which surgeon was on duty. Apparently my mom and the other nurses used to talk about how one surgeon wasn’t quite up to par. One of my parents’ friends Cathy was working at the desk so my dad asked her which surgeon was on duty. She tells him but asks him why he’s interested. My father then proceeds to tell her that he has to have his appendix removed. She, knowing my father, doesn’t believe him and says “oh, yeah right! So I suppose it hurts when I do this.” And pokes him in the stomach.
My father insists he did not crumple to the floor. He swears his knees sprung up and hit him in the chest, then with no feet under him he fell to the ground. Needless to say she believed him after that. A whole lot of other chaos and hilarity happens after that. The orderlies couldn’t get the gurney unfolded so my father had to help set up his own gurney because they insisted he was too sick to walk. The hospital roof started to leak , and the critical care section of the hospital flooded while my dad was in recovery. My mom who wasn’t on duty that day but was there to take care of my father ended up helping move the unit to a different section of the building that wasn’t flooding.
It’s a funny story. One that often leaves us with a stitch in our side and tears streaming down our cheeks from laughing so hard. But it’s also a story that tells me a lot about my family and who we are. For starters, we are stubborn, sometimes refusing to do the things we need to do just out of sheer stubbornness. We are a family of jokesters and sometimes friends are going to joke back. It tells me we are family who handles crisis well, who is able to remain calm and is willing to step in and lend a hand. Stories tell us a lot about who we are.
We all have stories that help form our identity, that help us understand who we are. These are individual stories and family stories, but they’re also the stories from groups of people. As Americans, we tell the story of how we came to this country. We tell the stories of the struggle for independence, the struggle born of the desire to govern ourselves. We tell the stories of brother fighting against brother, a nation divided against itself. We tell the stories of a woman who refused to stand and a man who had a dream. They are stories that tell us we are a people who value freedom. Freedom for all people regardless of religion, or gender, or race, or economic class.
As Christians we have stories that we tell over and over again that tell us something about who we are and whose we are. They are the stories of our faith family passed down to us in scripture. Each year we tell the story of a virgin giving birth in a stable. We tell of an innocent man who willingly died in place of the guilty, and of an empty tomb. They are stories that tell us that we have value, that we are a people loved and cared for by God. They tell us that God does not stand aloof and distant from us but enters into our condition and relationship with us. They are stories that tell us we are a people who will be defined not by power and might but by sacrifice and forgiveness.
Genesis tells us another story. It tells us that God created the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon and the stars. It tells us that the seas and the mountains, the deserts and the rainforests, the frozen arctic and the volcanic islands were all formed by God. Then God created all the living things on the earth and in the sea. God created the redwood trees of California, the baobab trees of Africa, coconut trees, and maple trees. God created whales and octopi, and algae that emits a blue glow in the dark. Kangaroos and penguins, elephants and mice, dogs and cats are all the work of God.
It’s a story that tells us everything we see was intentionally formed and made. Nothing that exists in nature was an accident. Not even the cicadas that take 16 years to develop underground, only to live for a few short weeks after emerging from the ground were a mistake. Each tree that we see, each piece of fruit we eat, each dog that we pet, started as a dream of God’s and was intentionally and delightfully brought into existence. It’s a story that tells us everything we see has its beginning in God. It’s a story that tells us that God, not us, is the Creator. God, not us, is the source of all that exists.
Genesis goes on to tell us that God created humankind in God’s image and set us as overseers of God’s creation. We are tasked with caring for what God has made. Genesis tells us the story of our beginnings. Human beings, each one of us, are the creation of God. We are different than the rest of creation because we are made in God’s image but we are still a part of creation.
This is a story that reminds us of our place in the world. We are beloved by God, lovingly and intentionally made. But we are not God. We are created, not the Creator. We are given the task of overseeing and caring for creation, but creation is not ours. It doesn’t belong to us. Everything the exists belongs to God and we are simply given the task of caring for it.
And so it begins. Stewardship is instituted by God. God created the earth and every living creature in it. Then God created humankind and set us as stewards over God’s creation. According to merriam-webster, a steward is “one employed in a large household or estate to manage domestic concerns.” I’d say being tasked with the care of all creation counts as managing the domestic concerns of a large household! Genesis tells us the story that we are called to be stewards of all that God has created.
Stewardship, is not something that the church invented to pay the bills. Stewardship is part of God’s plan. God created everything, and everything belongs to God. A life of stewardship starts with that affirmation. It begins with the affirmation that everything is God’s and we are merely entrusted with the care of things, none of it actually belongs to us. Our pets don’t belong to us, they are God’s and we are tasked with caring for them. Our time doesn’t belong to us, each breath that we take is a gift from God. The time that we do have is given to us by God to achieve God’s purposes. Our bodies are not our own, to use and treat however we choose. They are formed by the hands of God and entrusted to our care so that we might further the kingdom of God.
A lot of the times when we hear the word stewardship, we automatically think of money. Stewardship certainly includes what we do with our money but stewardship is much more than that. It involved every aspect of our lives.
Adam and Eve didn’t have money and yet stewardship begins with them. They are tasked with caring for all that God has made. As stewards of God’s creation, every aspect of their lives would be affected. It would affect how they treated the land and the sea, the air. It would affect how they would treat the animals God has created, the fish and the birds. It would affect how they treat each other, since human beings are also part of God’s creation. It would affect what they chose to eat and how they chose to spend their time. Every part of their lives is affected by God’s command to care for creation.
We as God’s people have inherited this role as steward. This story in Genesis tells us not only who we are and whose we are, it also helps us to understand our purpose. We weren’t created simply to sit around and consume everything within our grasp. We weren’t created to use the creation God made with no regard for how it affects creation. We are tasked with caring for God’s world.
But Genesis is not the only story we’re told. In fact, we hear different stories all the time. Each a competing voice, trying to convince us of their claims. Burger King’s slogan “have it you way” gives voice to society’s story that we can have whatever we want, whenever we want, regardless of how it affects others. It tells us that satisfying our desires, our happiness, is the ultimate goal and the most important thing.
Revlon’s slogan “you’re worth it” gives voice to the story of entitlement that’s told over and over again. You deserve these things because you’ve worked hard for them. You’re entitled to over-eat while millions die of hunger. You’re entitled to waste thousands of gallons of water while millions don’t have access to clean water. You’re entitled to pay the cheapest price you can find, without regard for those laboring in sweat shops to make those “bargains” possible.
We have sayings like, “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” that gives voice to the story of prosperity. It tells us that if you’re poor you must be lazy. You must not have studied hard enough or worked hard enough. If you’re unemployed it must be that you’re too proud because there are plenty of jobs out there if you want work bad enough.
Society tells us a lot of stories, stories that complete with the biblical witness. Unfortunately, we are told these stories much more frequently then we are told the biblical stories. The average American is exposed to over 3,000 advertising messages a day. Everywhere we turn, someone is trying to get us to buy into their story.
With these stories being told over and over again, it’s hard to hear the voice of the biblical witness. That’s part of why daily prayer and devotion is so important. It helps give us time to hear anew the stories of our faith family. It helps us to be reminded of the stories that tell us of our true identity.
Keeping our identity as God’s stewards is hard with so many competing claims on our identity. But that doesn’t change the fact that we were created with a purpose. Part of that purpose is for us to act as stewards of all that God has entrusted to us.
In two weeks you are going to be asked to make a commitment of your prayers, your attendance, your financial gifts, and your service. That commitment is a private act between you and God. It’s an opportunity for you to make a statement about which story you’re going to believe.
Whether we like it or not, we all have to choose which story we’re going to believe. We make that choice over and over again multiple times a day in the way we live. We make a choice about what story we’re going to believe by how we treat others. We make a statement about which story we believe by how we spend our time. We make a statement about which story we believe by how we care for the environment. We make a statement about which story we believe by what we spend our money on. We make a statement about which story we believe by how we care for our bodies.
We all have to choose. As you prepare to make a commitment of your prayers, you attendance, your financial gifts, and your service, I encourage you to spend time in prayer and searching scripture. Take time to hear again the biblical story of who you are and what you were created for. Take time to consider what story you will tell with your life.
Amen.
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