From One Kernal Comes Bread for the World photo by Eric Fritch, Chinook Farms, St. John's Snohomish, WA
Stewards' Stirrings 
11th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 16 - Year A
in the Diocese of Olympia
This is a resource here in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia to help point to some stewardship themes in the weekly lectionary to make it easier to preach, teach, study, pray and speak about stewardship throughout the year.  

 

 

Refrain for Proper 16 Year A

Click  11th Sunday after Pentecost Year A for a link to this Sunday's readings which include: Exodus 1:8-2:10 and Psalm 124; or Isaiah 51:1-6 and Psalm 138; Romans 12:1-8; and Matthew 16:13-20. 

Our stewardship answers the question of whom we say Jesus is. It reflects whether we have conformed to this world or are being transformed by the renewing of our minds by the Spirit of God. Our stewardship is an outward sign of what we believe. This either can reflect the inward spiritual grace of God's abundance we have embraced in faith, or the incarcerating pursuit of material accumulation we have employed to keep appearances. Our readings this week can launch us into these themes of conformity and transformation providing a foundation for a serious conversation about stewardship formation.

The reading option from Exodus paints a sad picture of a person (Pharaoh) locked into a deadening spiral of scarcity and commodification of people, as well as himself.  His anxiety about the strength of others drove him to enslave the Hebrew peoples in Egypt, dehumanizing them.  Through these actions he also dehumanized himself measuring his own value by material worth.  In this process of losing his understanding of the divinely inherent value of human life, he ordered the murder of thousands of Hebrew baby boys - the ultimate act of dehumanization. Placing a higher value on material goods than on human life causes one to lose one's own humanity, often driving one to fail to recognize the humanity of others.  In effect, Pharaoh's action was a deification of material wealth and accumulation failing to recognize the one true God.  Just as he enslaved the Hebrew peoples, he was enslaved by the insatiable hunger caused by "not enough," no matter how much wealth he amassed.  However, this also is the background story of the birth, adoption, and rise to leadership of Moses, the one who would lead God's people out of slavery in Egypt, countering Pharaoh's materialistic culture.
   
The reading option from Isaiah this week simply outlines the life of living in right relationship with God and others.  The poetry of the verses explains the divine source of all life and the freedom that comes in recognizing God's limitless love and reflecting that love to God and all people in our own lives.  Faithful stewardship is a reflection of living in this relationship understanding one's own value and a worthiness of love, as well as others'.  Giving of one's self and resources for the good of all helping to establish God's kingdom in the world expresses who God is in our lives and ultimately, what we believe about ourselves.  

Paul's words to the Romans reflect this same theology of self giving stewardship in response to the graces given us by God.  He counters the dominant culture of materialistic measurement of the value of life with the transformational faith in God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Paul explains, much like he does to the Corinthians (cf. 1 Cor. 12), that each of us have gifts and each person is needed equally by the whole.  He encourages us away from an hierarchical humanity into an egalitarian life of unity recognizing the divinely created nature of the other.  We are called in faith to be good stewards of our selves and our gifts, as well as good stewards of others and their gifts. Paul states plainly that this is our spiritual expression of our relationship with God and the world (Romans 12:1). 

Jesus posits the question to his disciples, "But who do you say that I am?" after he has asked what others are saying about whom he is. His question is posed not only to allow them to articulate their faith, but also to present an opportunity for them to step away from the cultural articulation of who Jesus is in the world. Peter's answer, "You are the Messiah, the son of the living God," elicits Jesus' response that this has been revealed to him by God.  In other words, this is a spirit-filled answer to Jesus' question.  Peter is far from perfect, but he is engaged in the spiritual journey of transformation that Paul later described in our reading from Romans this week.  Peter's ability to answer the question in faith counter to the popular opinion shows that he has begun to move away from "conforming to this world" in spite of whatever continued struggles we see in him after his proclamation of Jesus as the Christ.  It is this type of faith, one willing to move counter to popular opinion and distorted cultural values, that is empowered to live sacramentally as stewards for God's kingdom in the world.  This is the rock upon which Jesus has built his Church.  The preservation of which comes through answering his question of his disciples, "But who do you say I am?" with our lives as stewards for the sake of God's kingdom come.

Jesus asks us, "But who do you say I am?"  How do you answer his question with your stewardship?  


Grace,  

Lance 


The Rev. Canon Lance Ousley 
Canon for Stewardship and Development
The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia
1551 10th Ave E.
Seattle, WA  98102
 
 
 
For more Stewardship resources go to TENS.org
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