The Perspective of Stewardship
“Generous Stewards”
--from April 21st --
--from April 21st --
Day 1
Read Matthew 25:1-13
I love a really good story. Especially the type that reaches in and grabs your attention and then in the end, delivers you a message to learn something. Jesus was a master at this and one of the many things that I look forward to experiencing in Heaven is a Jesus story like that. I want to experience the thrill of hearing a story like this from Jesus Himself. Matthew 25 is a chapter that is full of nothing more than Jesus telling stories that have a purpose and a message. This week, we will spend time looking at each of those stories, like the one from the sermon, and unpack their meanings and thoughts.
The story here is about a wedding, which is typical language for Jesus when talking about the day He will return. Jesus’, like the groom in this time, would lead a procession to the bride’s house, where the rest of the wedding party was waiting for the ceremony to start. The timing of a wedding was not like our idea of planning an hour, but rather when everything was ready for the bride. The groom would be returning to take the bride to where they would live for the rest of their marriage. Surely you are able to draw the parallels of how this corresponds to Jesus returning to bring His bride, the Church back to Himself to live together for all eternity.
What do you think the lack of oil in the “foolish” virgins lamps is symbolic of?
What can we learn from this parable?
Why is it important to know that you don’t know the day or hour of Jesus’ return?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
I love a really good story. Especially the type that reaches in and grabs your attention and then in the end, delivers you a message to learn something. Jesus was a master at this and one of the many things that I look forward to experiencing in Heaven is a Jesus story like that. I want to experience the thrill of hearing a story like this from Jesus Himself. Matthew 25 is a chapter that is full of nothing more than Jesus telling stories that have a purpose and a message. This week, we will spend time looking at each of those stories, like the one from the sermon, and unpack their meanings and thoughts.
The story here is about a wedding, which is typical language for Jesus when talking about the day He will return. Jesus’, like the groom in this time, would lead a procession to the bride’s house, where the rest of the wedding party was waiting for the ceremony to start. The timing of a wedding was not like our idea of planning an hour, but rather when everything was ready for the bride. The groom would be returning to take the bride to where they would live for the rest of their marriage. Surely you are able to draw the parallels of how this corresponds to Jesus returning to bring His bride, the Church back to Himself to live together for all eternity.
What do you think the lack of oil in the “foolish” virgins lamps is symbolic of?
What can we learn from this parable?
Why is it important to know that you don’t know the day or hour of Jesus’ return?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 2
Read Matthew 25:14-30
This story is one of my favorites in the parable category. It gives me a perspective on life that makes so much make sense and helps me to understand how to process what my responsibility is in life. There is so much to learn from here. Just one pass through this parable leaves plenty on the table to go back to and meditate on the truths that it holds. Many people struggle talking about money in the same breath as God because so much abuse has happened from televangelists and large church organizations.
To be fair, this parable is ACTUALLY about talents, which were actual forms of money in Jesus’ day, but the meaning here is not meant to be given just to money. The talents can sit in the place for time, property, abilities, and so much more. The point is not to teach the specifics of what a talent is, but rather to give a principle of the heart that Jesus desires to highlight. Like all of his teachings, it seems to come down to the heart more than the specifics.
Why do you think Jesus included the phrase “according to their abilities” in verse 15 and what should we understand from that?
Why do you think that the owner gave the talent he took from the one to the one that had five rather than the one who had two?
What does Jesus mean when He says “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away”?
How does this inform your prayers for today?
This story is one of my favorites in the parable category. It gives me a perspective on life that makes so much make sense and helps me to understand how to process what my responsibility is in life. There is so much to learn from here. Just one pass through this parable leaves plenty on the table to go back to and meditate on the truths that it holds. Many people struggle talking about money in the same breath as God because so much abuse has happened from televangelists and large church organizations.
To be fair, this parable is ACTUALLY about talents, which were actual forms of money in Jesus’ day, but the meaning here is not meant to be given just to money. The talents can sit in the place for time, property, abilities, and so much more. The point is not to teach the specifics of what a talent is, but rather to give a principle of the heart that Jesus desires to highlight. Like all of his teachings, it seems to come down to the heart more than the specifics.
Why do you think Jesus included the phrase “according to their abilities” in verse 15 and what should we understand from that?
Why do you think that the owner gave the talent he took from the one to the one that had five rather than the one who had two?
What does Jesus mean when He says “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away”?
How does this inform your prayers for today?
Day 3
Read Matthew 25:31-46
We have spent the week looking at these parables found in Matthew 25 that reveal to us what the Kingdom of heaven is like. Most of the time, we think of the kingdom of heaven as being something that is coming in the future, and although that is a good interpretation, this parable plays it out a bit differently. Maybe not differently, but it certainly connects the life we live now to that idea a bit more. Jesus seems to be talking about the care of the stranger, the sick, prisoner, and those generally without. Right when you get that idea, He turns the tables and reveals that helping those that are like these is akin or even equivalent to helping Jesus Himself.
Once, Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, to which Jesus replied that you are to love God with everything. Almost in the same breath, he added that the next is just like that one, you are to love your neighbor as yourself. All of the other commandments hang on these two ideas. All of these thoughts, in this parable, are linked to the idea of the kingdom of heaven.
Do you think that it is significant that both those that did do all of the good things and those that did not do all of the good things, didn’t remember doing them for the Son of Man and asked when they did those things for him?
What do you think is the lesson that you are supposed to get from this parable and what are the actual applications you can walk away with?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
We have spent the week looking at these parables found in Matthew 25 that reveal to us what the Kingdom of heaven is like. Most of the time, we think of the kingdom of heaven as being something that is coming in the future, and although that is a good interpretation, this parable plays it out a bit differently. Maybe not differently, but it certainly connects the life we live now to that idea a bit more. Jesus seems to be talking about the care of the stranger, the sick, prisoner, and those generally without. Right when you get that idea, He turns the tables and reveals that helping those that are like these is akin or even equivalent to helping Jesus Himself.
Once, Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, to which Jesus replied that you are to love God with everything. Almost in the same breath, he added that the next is just like that one, you are to love your neighbor as yourself. All of the other commandments hang on these two ideas. All of these thoughts, in this parable, are linked to the idea of the kingdom of heaven.
Do you think that it is significant that both those that did do all of the good things and those that did not do all of the good things, didn’t remember doing them for the Son of Man and asked when they did those things for him?
What do you think is the lesson that you are supposed to get from this parable and what are the actual applications you can walk away with?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 4
Read Malachi 3:6-12
I have to start out talking about verse 6. I didn’t expect that. Think about the idea that is being portrayed there. It is not because of my righteousness that I am even granted an audience with God. I have not been good enough to get His attention, in fact I have been the opposite. I have been enough of an enemy to get His attention and deserve His ire. But He has made promises and He has established a covenant. And that is the only reason I am still before Him. So the offer is to return to Him, in light of that reality.
Can you imagine a person bold enough to rob God? But this passage is telling the reader that with an ungenerous heart, we have been robbing God. Not giving God what He asks for. is robbing from God. Notice the mention of tithes (the ten percent) and offerings (the gift beyond the tithe). God even lays out a challenge for us here: test Him and see. He will prove that He is faithful, much like He always does.
What do you think that God means by His promise in verse 10?
What do you need to learn from this passage?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
I have to start out talking about verse 6. I didn’t expect that. Think about the idea that is being portrayed there. It is not because of my righteousness that I am even granted an audience with God. I have not been good enough to get His attention, in fact I have been the opposite. I have been enough of an enemy to get His attention and deserve His ire. But He has made promises and He has established a covenant. And that is the only reason I am still before Him. So the offer is to return to Him, in light of that reality.
Can you imagine a person bold enough to rob God? But this passage is telling the reader that with an ungenerous heart, we have been robbing God. Not giving God what He asks for. is robbing from God. Notice the mention of tithes (the ten percent) and offerings (the gift beyond the tithe). God even lays out a challenge for us here: test Him and see. He will prove that He is faithful, much like He always does.
What do you think that God means by His promise in verse 10?
What do you need to learn from this passage?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 5
Read Luke 21:1-4
The idea of the tithe is never commanded in the New Testament. That is true, although, as we saw in the sermon, it serves as a poor excuse for not tithing. There are lots of things that are not “commanded” in the New Testament, but we still draw them out of the Old Testament and find value in them. This is the only passage that seems to talk about an amount in relation to giving in the New Testament. The poor widow gave more than ten percent, she gave 100%. Jesus told her story not as an example of how much we should give, but as an example of what should happen in our hearts in our giving.
The reality is that God does not need our money, we do. The case could easily be made for the idea that God is doing quite well in resources. The reason that He tends to talk about resources in the Bible is not because He needs them, but rather because they are a great window into our hearts and where we struggle. We are worshippers. That means we put worth on people and ideas. We do that with our time, resources, and emotions, all of which we have a limited amount of. So when we spent these things, it shows what we value and what gets priority. That is the whole heart behind what Jesus is trying to reveal in this story.
If someone was looking from the outside at where you spend your time, money, and emotions, what would they say you value most?
Why do you think the amount that the widow gave was not as important as how she gave it all?
What do you learn about yourself in this passage?
How can this be part of your prayer today?
The idea of the tithe is never commanded in the New Testament. That is true, although, as we saw in the sermon, it serves as a poor excuse for not tithing. There are lots of things that are not “commanded” in the New Testament, but we still draw them out of the Old Testament and find value in them. This is the only passage that seems to talk about an amount in relation to giving in the New Testament. The poor widow gave more than ten percent, she gave 100%. Jesus told her story not as an example of how much we should give, but as an example of what should happen in our hearts in our giving.
The reality is that God does not need our money, we do. The case could easily be made for the idea that God is doing quite well in resources. The reason that He tends to talk about resources in the Bible is not because He needs them, but rather because they are a great window into our hearts and where we struggle. We are worshippers. That means we put worth on people and ideas. We do that with our time, resources, and emotions, all of which we have a limited amount of. So when we spent these things, it shows what we value and what gets priority. That is the whole heart behind what Jesus is trying to reveal in this story.
If someone was looking from the outside at where you spend your time, money, and emotions, what would they say you value most?
Why do you think the amount that the widow gave was not as important as how she gave it all?
What do you learn about yourself in this passage?
How can this be part of your prayer today?
Devotions
Archive
2024
January
March
2023
January
February
July
October
2022
October
November
2020
2019
November
No Comments