Another week of stewardship, then a break for several weeks. I have come to see the skits as a partner to the sermon. In fact, when the skit is being written, it helps shape the content of the sermon because the skit is trying to lift up an important point or two from the text and on the stewardship topic. Thus, I have found myself almost writing the sermon and skit in tandem to make sure they agree on what is important! I have not had a lot of feedback on the skits (or the sermons), so I'm not sure how this series is working in the eyes of the congregation.
“Stewardship Responsibilities: What Are We Supposed to Do?”; September 28, 2025; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; I Timothy 6: 17-19 and Jeremiah 32: 1-3a; 6-15
I Timothy 6: 17-19 17 As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches but rather on God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, 19 thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.
Introduction: I heard the rapture was supposed to happen this past Tuesday, at least according to TikTok.
Apparently, a lot of people thought the rapture was going to happen. others were not so sure. #rapturenow has over 311,000 videos — some of which endorsed the prediction, while many others poked fun at it.
The prediction was based on the belief of a South African man, who said he was not a pastor, just “a simple person, no title. Not an apostle, just a believer.”
Apparently he had a dream 2018 that the world would end Tuesday. It had something to do with the end coming before the 2026 FIFA World Cup here in the United States, Mexico, and Canada next year. (The Rapture Was Predicted to Happen Today. TikTok Has Some Advice. New York Times, 9/23/25).
I never did figure that out
I didn’t hear about it until Wednesday morning, so I guess it didn’t happen.
I didn’t hear about it until Wednesday morning, so I quickly googled about it and Ai informed me that the rapture did not occur, so all was good.
I went about my day Wednesday as planned.
I did hear about a woman who had a multi-page set of directions for those in her household who were not taken up in the rapture and were left behind. She had directions for all the things they were supposed to do when she wasn’t there to do them.
Apparently, there was a lot they were supposed to do.
it got me thinking about what we are supposed to do when it comes to stewardship. By we, I mean each of us, as we live into our calling as disciples of Christ and our calling as stewards of God’s resources.
So a few reflections on what our stewardship responsibilities might tell us we are supposed to do.
Move 1: We are supposed to make our stewardship commitment more than just a cut-and-dried financial decision.
a. this morning we are reminded in the first Scripture lesson about a decision the prophet Jeremiah made that was clearly not a a good financial decision.
at least from the perspective of anyone who was giving financial advice at the time in jerusalem.
1. God’s people were in trouble.
Babyon was a rising power in the world and had been overrunning other countries, and now it was at the doorsteps of Jerusalem.
Exile for God’s people appears to be imminent.
2. Jeremiah, God’s prophet, is having some personal trouble as well.
Imprisoned for making King Zedekiah angry with his prophecies.
Note to self: if you tell the king he is going to be defeated; that he is going to taken into exile; and it is his fault, there’s a good chance you are going to end up in prison.
3. In that moment, God tells Jeremiah: “By the way, Jeremiah, when your cousin comes and offers you the opportunity to buy some family property, a field in Anathoth, buy the field.”
buy the field in the land from which it appears you are soon to be exiled.
I suspect the Charles Schwab or Edward Jones branch offices in Jerusalem were not recommending buying property in Anatoth at that time.
4. But Jeremiah realizes that this decision is not a financial decision, but a spiritual one.
so he listens to God,
he buys the land,
and announces that this is more than about investment strategy, it is about serving God and God’s promise that there will be a future for God’s people.
in fact, He prophesies five times that it was the Word of the Lord.
b. I recognize our pledge decisions are not as dramatic as Jeremiah’s investment, but Jeremiah models for us what it means to see our giving as more than a financial decision.
1. we are not being asked to get out a calculator to figure how exactly how much we have left in the budget once our income and expenses are balanced.
although i suppose we could us a calculator to figure out what a tithe, or 10%, might look like.
2. But we are being asked to prayerfully consider what to give back to God.
3. Robert Bohr, former minister at FPCFW and Prairie Village Presbyterian Church, in KS, and Moderator of the Presbyterian Church reminds us, “Stewardship is a spiritual matter, not a code word for raising money”
4. when our giving moves from focusing on finances to focusing on what God is calling us to do, it allows us to see the abundance God has for us and grow into the calling of living abundantly.
our giving is not simply a financial decision, but it is supposed to be a decision made in conversation with God as we seek to give back to God.
Move 2: We also are supposed to be intentional in our giving.
a. it seems to me that focusing on stewardship reminds us that we are to be intentional in our discipleship, and it allows us to live that out in a concrete way.
1. Remember a couple of weeks ago when we read in a letter from Paul giving directions to the Corinthians about for how they were to set aside each week an offering for the collection for the saints in Jerusalem?
2. Paul Wanted them to create an intentional pattern for their giving
5. Not just randomly give, but create a pattern.
b. I suspect that if we were sitting around the room sharing how we decide what our pledge would be for the coming year, there would be lots of different stories about how each of us does it.
1. for some, not much has changed since last year, so it’s the same.
2. For others, things have changed so we have to make an adjustment.
3. For others, no pledge involved, we just give when and how much as we feel led throughout the year.
4. Lots of different ways to figure out a pledge.
5. Paul would challenge us to be intentional.
6. Develop a giving plan and then put it into motion.
b. Being intentional in our giving, of course, reminds us that we are called to be intentional about our lives of discipleship.
1. Every day, every week, we should be examining how we lives our lives,
how we spend our money,
the decisions we make,
how we handle ourselves at work and home as we struggle to live our lives as disciples of Christ.
2. Discipleship is not a once in a while, random thing, but an intentional, everyday thing.
3. Intentional stewardship . reminds us of how intentional we need to be in our discipleship.
Move 3: Finally, we are reminded this morning that we are supposed to do good with our giving.
a. The author of the first letter to Timothy makes it all seem rather simple:
God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
So we are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, 19 thus storing up for themselves [ourselves] the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they [we] may take hold of the life that really is life. (Timothy 6: 17-19)
1. our giving ought to lead to opportunities to do good works,
to be generous wiht others,
to be ready to share.
2. this, of course, speaks to our call to give to help others,
and it also connects back to our first week when we reflected on the church leadership’s responsibility to use the funds we give to develop programs and ministries that impact people’s lives in meaningful ways.
3. Our giving ought to push us toward others as we take the gifts with which God has blessed us and share them in ways that expand God’s reach into the world and the lives of others.
b. Do not miss what the letter tells us - our giving to do good also invites us to grab hold of the life that really is life.
1. Being intentional about our stewardship invites us to envision what God is calling us to be.
2. Being intentional about our stewardship invites us to align ourselves with what God sends us into the world to do good in the name of God.
Conclusion: The rapture did not come last week.
God is still at work in our midst calling us into the future God has for us.
As we wonder what we are supposed to do, we are reminded that stewardship, like discipleship, is a call to make what we do a faithful response to God,
be intentional in what we do,
and live our lives for God, doing good so that we might live the life God calls us to live.
Jeremiah 32: 1-3a; 6-15 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, 3 where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him.
Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ ” 8 Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the silver to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the silver on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase containing the terms and conditions and the open copy, 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin[a] Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, 14 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.”
Lisa: Another week, another stewardship skit. But, then we get a break before the return of the Stewardship troupe at the end of October.
(David and sarah walk in with their chairs and set them down in the chancel closer to pulpit side. David gets the mike from the lectern steps; Sarah gets a mike from pulpit side.
Dan comes down and gets mike from the piano and stands on the steps facing the congregation, but angled to the other two like you are in conversation with them)
Lisa: Imagine you were at a party last night and three members of St. Andrew were there. It was getting late, and you happened to overhear this conversation that might have taken place between those three members).
David: Are you getting ready to go home already, Dan? Kind of early, isn’t it?
Dan: Well, I’ve got to get up for church tomorrow.
David: You’re at church most weeks. Just skip tomorrow and stay awhile longer at the party.
Dan: Wish I could, but my kids are going to be up asking about going to church. It’s easier to go to church than explain to them why they don’t get to go to Sunday school…and church…and Children’s chapel.
Sarah: Isn’t that the truth! My kids always want to go to church, no matter how late my husband and I stay out Saturday night.
David: Well, this might be a good week to skip.
Sarah: What do you mean?
David: Another sermon on stewardship. This time the sermon title is “Stewardship Responsibilities: What do you expect me to do?”
Dan: What do we expect YOU to do? Well, David, now that you mention it….
David: Ha, ha, ha! Not just me - what does the church, or maybe the stewardship committee, or maybe the pastors expect all of us to do.
Sarah: Or maybe what does God expect us to do?
David: maybe.
Dan: dang, now my kids are going to be asking me what I should do about stewardship.
Sarah: so are mine. David, you’ve been on Stewardship and Interpretation, what do you think the sermon’s going to be about.
David: I don’t know. I know I’ve heard a lot through the years about being intentional givers.
Sarah: What do you mean?
David: You know, intentional.
Dan: if my wife and talk about our pledge for the next year, does that count as intentional?
David: I guess so.
Sarah: I remember last year they talked about “prayerfullly considering” our pledge. Maybe intentional means praying about our pledge and talking to our spouses.
David: That would probably work. you might also tell your kids about how you pray and talk about your decision. That might make a big impression on them.
Dan: Look at you – still schooling us on how to teach stewardship to the kids.
Sarah: You know what happened when my husband and I talked and prayed about what to pledge for this year?
Dan: Nope.
Sarah: I’m pretty sure we pledged more than we had planned on doing.
Dan: Not sure I’m ready for that.
Sarah: well, Somehow it’s worked out this year.
David: Yep, “intentional” is for sure going to be in that sermon. I bet we also hear the word “abundance” in the sermon somewhere. We always hear about abundance these days.
Sarah: Is that a new thing?
David: I don’t think so. We heard that a lot way back when I was on the Stewardship and Interpretation committee.
Dan: Abundance. Is that like just another way of saying “give a lot?”
Sarah: I think it’s more like reminding us of abundance we see in our world.
David: And the abundance God gives to us and has for us.
Sarah: I think the only time I hear about abundance is at church. The news I hear and read everyday just talks about how we’re running out of things.
David: Or how prices are going up.
Dan: So I guess it’s good to think about God’s abundance in our lives and our world.
David: Might change how we see the world.
Dan; Sometimes, it seems like resources in my life are in short supply, but then I think about my kids, my wife, the friends I have, the job I have, and I realize my life is really pretty good.
Sarah: Abundantly good?
Dan: I see what you did there.
David: I’ve found through the years that when someone makes me stop and take a look at my life, I usually come away feeling really grateful for what God has given me.
Sarah: I think we’re somehow tying intentionality and abundance together and connecting it to stewardship
Dan: You know what? I’m going to tell my wife we can stay later because I don’t have to go to church tomorrow – you two have already preached a stewardship sermon to me tonight!
David: But what about the kids wanting to go to church?
Dan: right. So maybe I’ll stay later tonight, get up and go with the kids to church, and then just sleep through the sermon, since I got y’all’s sermon tonight.
Sarah: probably won’t be the first time you’ve slept through the sermon.
See you at church tomorrow morning.
David: I guess I’ll be there, too.
