The Church: Body of the Risen Lord

Jesus died, but He also rose from the dead. He was persecuted, but He was triumphant. He was rejected, but was also received by many. He suffered pain, yet He was given incorruptible body. He experienced shame, yet He is now glorified. He died a lowly death in the cross, yet He is now exalted in the heavenly realms. The church is the body of the risen Lord. What does this entail for the church?

A look at what happened to the disciples when Jesus died will give a good contrast. When Jesus died, the disciples were like “Oh man! We chose the wrong side!” The Jewish leaders were like “Hihihihihi! We have won!” The disciples were absolutely devastated. They have invested three years of their lives following the rabbi called Jesus, fully trusting that He is the Messiah the whole nation of Israel has been waiting for. They have left their businesses and occupation. They left their families. And now that Jesus is dead, there was nothing waiting for them but the same shame and treatment that Jesus received.

Of course they were completely distraught. Here are some of the things that happened to them:

1. The disciples were scattered. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, the only disciple mentioned to be nearby was John (John 19:16). This is because when Jesus was being arrested at the Garden of Gethsemane, “everyone deserted him and fled,” including a disciple who ran naked, leaving his garments behind (Mark 14:50-52).
2. The disciples went to hiding: “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders” (John 20:19). They were hiding their identity. If Peter denied Jesus Christ three times, the rest of the disciples were now making sure that nobody recognized them. They were so afraid of the religious leaders. Of course, why would they want to be identified with a convicted criminal who was merciless tortured and crucified? This is true about the church today. We act as if Christ is still dead and defeated. We do not want to be identified as a Christian to others because of fear. We wear our t-shirts with godly inscriptions only when we go to church and church-related gatherings. Like the disciples, we meet together and gather in order to hide from the world. We hide our Christian identity within the confines of our homes and the sanctuary. We gather in order to strengthen each other while being afraid of the authorities of the world that challenge our faith.
3. The disciples became idle. In John 21:2-3, at least they already stepped out of the upper room. Seven disciples were together once again, doing nothing. The fact that they were doing nothing is significant, because we must remember that even before Jesus died, they were commissioned to visit villages to minister to the people’s needs (Matt 10:1). In fact, they were so busy that at one point, “they did not even have a chance to eat” (Mark 6:31). But when Jesus died, they abandoned their mission and started to do nothing. Not only this, but Peter seemed to want to go back to his old profession as fisherman and the others followed his lead (John 21:3), when they should be fishing for men (Matt 4:19). They have forgotten their mission.

Like the disciples, the church sometimes is sometimes acting as if Jesus Christ is still in the tomb. We are afraid. We are idle. We gather only to go back to our old patterns of living. No wonder why the world is witnessing a lot of churches closing down, declining in membership, or are just barely surviving.

The church is not meant to be the body of the buried Christ.

There is a parody of the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers,” and I like this parody because this is the national anthem of many churches today:

Backward Christian soldiers, fleeing from the fight, 
With the cross of Jesus, nearly out of sight. 
Christ our rightful master stands against the foe 
Onward into battle, we seem afraid to go.

Like a mighty turtle moves the church of God. 
Brothers we are treading, where we’ve often trod. 
We are much divided, many bodies we, 
Having different doctrines, but not much charity.

Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane, 
But the cross of Jesus hidden does remain. 
Gates of hell should never ‘gainst the Church prevail, 
We have Christ’s own promise, but we think it might fail.

Sit here then ye people, join our sleeping throng. 
Blend with ours, your voices in a feeble song. 
Blessings, ease and comfort - ask from Christ the King, 
With our modern thinking, we won’t do a thing.

This hymn is the hymn of the body of the buried Christ. But Christ is no longer buried. He is risen from the dead. He is alive.

The resurrection changed the lives of the disciples. They were no longer afraid of death because they know that life awaits at the end. They have found the true meaning of life. They became bold, aggressive, and full of joy. The finest illustration would be Peter. He denied Jesus to a lowly girl, but after the resurrection, he stood in the temple courts defying those who were responsible for Jesus’ death (Acts 4:20). In Acts 2:22-32, Peter preached about the resurrection in the same city where Jesus died. Many were even eye-witnesses of his death. And such a tragic tale was just two months ago, and for sure, the discussions have not died out yet. Peter was addressing people who were very interested about it. In the crowds were probably the same people who shouted “Crucify!” and religious leaders who were responsible in the death of Christ. Yet Peter stood up.

What happened to Peter? The resurrection of Jesus Christ gave him lots of courage. Here are the things he said in his sermon to the Jerusalem crowd:

1. “God raised him from the dead… It was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (2:24). Basically, he was saying that because God is involved, no human activity can ever triumph over him. It does not matter what humans invent or seem to achieve. Human plans and schemes do not work on Him. Human situations are irrelevant. Humanity’s greatest weapon to threaten other humans—death—does not work. Paul wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).
2. David prophesied about it happening, and once it is said, it will happen (Acts 2:25-28). God is faithful to accomplish what He said He would do. The people knew that once a prophet has spoken, it is as good as done. God’s promises will be fulfilled. This was affirmed by the Israelites: “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses” (1 Kings 8:56).
3. Jesus is “the author of life” (Acts 3:14-15). John said that “in Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). Jesus affirmed the same (John 5:26-29; 11:25; 14:6). There is power in the resurrection. There is power in life.

Here is the good news: “If we have been united with Jesus in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Rom 6:5). Just as we share in the suffering and death of Christ, we will also share in the victory of his resurrection. The Church is the body of the crucified Christ, but it is also the body of the risen and victorious Christ. The church is not only a suffering church; it is also the church of the risen and triumphant Lord! Our participation as a church in the death and resurrection of Christ is revealed in the words of Paul: “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil 3:10).

But what is “the power of the resurrection?”  

It is interesting that the Greek word used for “power” in Philippians 3:10 is the same word used in the promise of Jesus to the disciples in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power (dunamin) when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” It seems that the coming of the Spirit is crucial in receiving the power of the resurrection. And this is just proper, for it is through the Spirit that Jesus Himself was raised from the dead: “He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit” (1 Pet 3:18).

The Spirit who gave life to a lifeless lump of clay will also give the church life. The Spirit who made an army out of dry bones will also empower the church for its mission. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead (1 Peter 3:18) will also raise the church from its slumber. The church is not a tomb. Christians are not meant to lie and rot in a tomb. Just as Christ rose from the dead, the church is called to rise from its death and slumber. The church is the body of the risen Christ!

The Church: Body of the Crucified Christ

If I were to look at the life of Christ, I would not want to be in His shoes. John summarized His life pretty well: “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him” (John 1:9-10). From his birth to his resurrection, he experienced rejection:

• He was denied a decent place to be born in Bethlehem by inn keepers (Luke 2:17)
• He was intended to be killed by the ruler King Herod (Matt 2:16)
• He was belittled by reflective thinkers like Nathaniel (John 1:45-46)
• He was rejected by His religious leaders (Mark 11:27-12:17)
• He was disowned by His own town mates (Luke 14:14-30)
• He was the subject of suspicion by the masses (Mark 5:17)
• He was deserted by His other disciples (John 6:66)
• He was denied by His closest friend Peter (John 18:15-27)
• He was doubted by His own disciple (John 20:24-29)
• He was the subject of conspiracy by the chief priests (Matt 28:11-15)

Worst of all, He was so hated by many that he ended by being murdered.

The Persecuted Church

The night before he died, he had a serious conversation with His disciples, and some are these words:

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ (John 15:18-25).

These are not very encouraging words. They are extremely gloomy words. But the fact is clearly stated by Jesus: His followers will be rejected and persecuted, just as He experienced the same. In other words, if the church is the body of Christ, then just as the head experienced suffering at the hands of the world, so should the body expect the same. This is what it means for the church to be the body of the crucified Christ. John said, “Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:13).

Truly, just as Jesus said, the church has always been under persecution. The beginning of radical persecution that even led to brutal murders started in AD 40, during the reign of Emperor Nero. Historians report that during his reign, Christians were used as human torches to light Rome. Christians were fed to wild animals. They were burned alive. They were beheaded, if they were Roman citizens. They became entertainment at the arena. They were stripped naked and displayed for the world to see and mock. They suffered shame and death, just like Jesus did. Some of the disciples died brutally. Peter was crucified upside-down in AD67/68. James son of Zebedee was put to death by Herod Agrippa in AD44. John brother of James died at Patmos as an exile between AD89-120. Andrew is reported to have been crucified at Achaia.

Up until today, the church still suffers at the hands of the world. Rejection, persecution, and mockery come from religious communities (e.g. Islam), from atheists (e.g. Dawkins, etc.), and from immorals (e.g. LGBT community). And just like Jesus Christ and the Christians of the early church, Christians today suffer shame and death.

For the Sake of Others

We have all decided to follow Jesus, and hopefully there is no turning back from such a commitment. Jesus Christ did not turn back from His commitment to us, although it has cost Him everything. Christ embraced the cross for the sake of others and the world. Such is also the challenge for us. We endure pain and shame not because we are masochists, but because we are thinking of others. But in particular, we are thinking of Jesus Christ.

Jesus did not flee from the cross, but accepted it. The church must be the same. Just as Christ was crucified for the world, the church is also called to take up the cross for the world. Just as the suffering of Christ leads to the salvation of humanity, our sacrificial suffering can lead others to Christ. The paradox of the Christian experience is that even our suffering can be used by God as a testimony to Him. Luke writes:  “They will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me” (Luke 21:12-13). 

In fact, suffering for Christ is an integral part of our being witnesses. This is particularly highlighted in Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Greek word used for “witnesses” is martyrion, where we get the English word “martyr” today. So, literally, Jesus is saying: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my martyrs in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Two things are important here: First, our witness involves being martyrs. Being a martyr might mean different for us today, but in the NT era, this meant being killed publicly. Our witness as Christians is tied to our willingness to accept suffering, pain, and shame. Secondly, we need the Holy Spirit to empower us. On our own, we are incapable of rising above ourselves and our instinct to steer away from pain and humiliation. We are creatures of self-preservation, and apart from God’s empowerment, we will always be “me-people.” It is only when we are able to look beyond ourselves, our own needs, our comfort, even our lives that we are able to truly accept our calling as witnesses of Christ.

It is probably just coincidence, but it seems that being witnesses/martyrs of Christ really involve persecution. The call of Acts 1:8 is to be martyrs in Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth; Acts 8:1 later says, “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1).

I am not saying that we must be persecuted in order to become witnesses. But a wholehearted acceptance of possible persecution and suffering is what’s important. According to John Piper, “comfort and ease and affluence and prosperity and safety and freedom often cause a tremendous inertia in the church.” The church must be careful in investing a lot of its efforts and resources for the sake of providing comfortable and relaxing worship experience, because it might produce Christians who are self-centered, apathetic, and pre-occupied with security and comfort. In the parable of the sower, Jesus said that “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). John Piper once said: “Persecution can have harmful effects on the church. But prosperity, it seems, is even more devastating to the mission to which God calls us.”

There is power in suffering. In fact, we are saved precisely by the suffering of another human being for us. The forgiveness of our sins is grounded in the sacrificial suffering of Christ. That is the power of the cross. Paul writes: “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The church is the body of the crucified Christ. It is through the cross that we are forgiven. It is also through carrying our crosses that other people are saved. Jesus did not shy away from the cross in order to save humanity. The church must not shy away from its cross in order to be the means of saving others. 

The Church: Body of the Incarnate Son

Filipinos love taking pictures or have their pictures taken. At almost every wedding or birthday I have attended, there will always be a photo booth. In many of these booths, head gears and face masks are available. We can pick one or two of these gears and wear them and take our wacky shots. The problem is that our formal attires are also visible in the photos. This means that our heads or faces do not really match with our bodies. There is a disconnection between our wacky heads and our formal bodies. Our heads do not match our bodies, basically. This disconnection between the head and the body is a problem that the church experiences. The Bible is clear that the church is the body of Christ (Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor 12:12-31; Eph 4:11-13; Col 1:24), we are members of the body (Eph 5:29-30), and that Jesus is the head of the body (Col 1:18; Eph 4:15-16; 5:23).

The church has many designations in the Bible, including “the house of God” (1 Tim 3:15), “household of God” (Eph 2:19), “household of faith” (Gal 6:10), but for me, the church must be understood primarily in relationship to Jesus Christ. This time, we will deal with the church as the body of the incarnate Christ.    

In our dealing with the world, we are challenged to represent Jesus Christ with who we are and what we have. The Filipino ventriloquist Ruther Urquia talks about how we can be a blessing with what we already have. We do not need to be someone else or desire to be someone else. We just need to look at what we have in our hands or bags, and use them to reach people to Christ. There is an absolute truth to this. This is a model exemplified by Moses with his staff, by David and his slingshot, and Paul with the perks of being an educated Roman citizen.

But Christ takes another and more extreme road: He becomes what He was not just to redeem us. The glorious mystery of the incarnation is that God became what He is not. And when He became human, He made Himself vulnerable to all our human experiences of pain, sorrow, even death. The word incarnate comes from two Latin words: in carne, which means “in the flesh.” John 1:14 writes: “The Word became flesh.” In order to save humanity, He became like one of us. He was human like us in every way (Heb 4:15). He went through all of human experience. He hungered and thirsted. He experienced pain. He ate our food. He sat in the grass. He slept on floors and boats. He walked with people. He came to people’s homes. He ate with people. He socialized with the outcast. Jesus did not build His ministry around the Temple or around a physical location. He came to the masses. He went to the lost to serve them.

The church is the body of Christ whose presence in the world must be modeled in the incarnation of the Son. The church is the body of Christ, whose members should imitate Jesus Christ in His willingness to be who they are not yet just to be able to reach others. The church is a spiritual reality incarnated within space and time, meeting the needs of the world. The church empathizes with its audience. The church goes where the people are in their situation.

This is called incarnational ministry. This can mean two things: (1) being better than who we are now, and (2) stooping down to the level of others. So if the former, the questions are: what are our self-conceived inefficiencies? How can we overcome them? How can you be equipped? If it is the latter, the questions are: What should I give up in order to serve? What hinders me from reaching people of lower positions?

When we are not able either to overcome our weaknesses or humble ourselves, then we become passive. If the church is the body of the One who made Himself in the flesh, then the body herself must be visible, tangible, and active. It cannot be that the head of the body is fighting and the body is hiding. It cannot be that the head of the body is incarnate and the body remains “spiritual.” That is a scary picture.

The church is the body of the incarnate Son, and in the same way that Jesus made himself available to the needy, the sick, and the unrighteous, the church must make herself present in the world for the sake of others. According to William Temple, “the church is the only cooperative society in the world that exists for the benefit of its non-members.” The hand is not only there to feed our own mouths. Our arms are not there so we can embrace ourselves. Our tongues are not there so we can speak to ourselves. Our feet are not created just so we can walk only within the church. We exist not for our own sakes and for our mutual benefit. It is true that it is important for us to huddle up together, but at the end of the day, the church must also realize that it is the body of the One who makes Himself available to the world.

Submission

Submission is a complicated topic. We don’t like it because it implies the removal of freedom. Also, submission has a nasty history. It can be used, and has been used, to abuse women and children, to justify slavery, to oppress workers, to promote dictatorial authority, etc. Many people are just uncomfortable with the word. (In places where suffering is rife, like Africa, even theologians do not like the word submission because it can lead to the justification of oppression.)

Also, to submit is not easy. Like the Israelites, the people of God, we are a stiff-necked people (Exo 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deut 9:6; 10:16; 31:27; 2 Kings 17:14; 2 Chron 30:8;  Neh 9:16, 17; Jer 7:26; 17:23; 19:15). Stephen’s words are descriptions that apply to us: “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” (Acts 7:51). We are creatures that are prone to self-will. In the words of William Ernest Henley in his famous poem Invictus (some lines removed):

I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

But we have to preach about submission, because the Bible has many passages dedicated to it. It is a crucial and important aspect of the Christian teaching. But we don’t have a choice but to preach about submission, because the Bible teaches it. We are called to submit to God (James 4:7), to others in our relationships (Eph 5:21; introduction to Christian marriage, 5:22-33; instruction to children and parents, 6:1-4; slaves and masters, 6:5-9), to civil authorities (Rom 13:1), and to our pastors (1 Cor 16:15-16; 1 Pet 5:5).

To submit is basically to surrender one’s will to another’s authority. It does not mean demeaning one’s self or being made less than one is. It just means you are accepting who we truly are: as finite and weak creatures. So why do we need to submit? It is because on our own we are not smart enough, we are not strong enough, we are not great enough.

We recognize the authority that is greater than us. We do not fight or oppose someone we know is greater than us (He>I; cf John 14:28; 1 John 4:4). The problem is that we are prone to assert ourselves even in the face of someone we must admit is greater than us. We can be like this with God. We do not recognize His authority over us and question His wisdom. We think we know better than Him. We think we are the Lord and our personal opinions are better. We want to be God’s adviser about how we should live our lives.

We also do not realize who we are in His presence. And we act as if we are high and mighty, like unsinkable Titanics or unbending poles or unbreakable walls. This is in contrast to the attitude of bible characters. In the presence of God, Abraham said: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty?” (Gen 18:27-28). David, the man of God’s own heart could not but affirm his own worthlessness (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22): “Have mercy on me O God… wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Psa 51:1-2). Isaiah could not but confess his sinfulness: “I am a man of unclean lips” (Isa 1:5). This is the same with Peter who confessed to Jesus upon seeing Him: “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). We cannot boast anything to God. When He asks us to submit, we do not have the tiniest right to refuse. Paul said: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought” (Rom 12:3).

The recognition of authority is applicable in all our relationships. In particular, children must submit to their parents (Eph 6:1; Col 3:20), and members should submit to their pastors (1 Cor 16:15-16; 1 Pet 5:5).

Let me illustrate what not surrendering is. My wife is way better than me with directions. I can easily get lost when I am driving. But even with this realization, it is hard for me to submit to my wife’s advice. No matter how she instructs me, I do not believe she knows what she is saying when we are travelling. I did not recognize her authority. And because of my arrogance, we have repeatedly got lost. My failure to submit caused us time and led us to anger and frustrations. In human relations, if no one wants to submit, we will end up fighting. This is why even in husband and wife relations, one has to be under: understanding.

In submitting to God, three things are important:

a. We must surrender our own will: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

b. We must surrender our own desires: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps 37:4). It is letting go of our desires and to follow the desires of God. This is not easy. It demands a large sacrifice, the sacrifice of freedom.

c. We must surrender our own wisdom: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Prov 3:5-6).

Why is it very hard to submit even if we know that we are surrendering ourselves to a generous, compassionate, merciful God? (Ps 23:1-6). It should be easier for us to submit ourselves to God who really cares for us (1 Pet 2:7). We know that God can be trusted, and yet we do not submit. We carry the concept of a loving God around with us in our back pocket as a comforting presence but in reality we have bought into our society’s lie that we can make it on our own. God is not a back pocket God. He is not a convenient power that we can pull out when we mess up and need Daddy to fix it. He asks us to trust Him and let Him be our guide.

The key to understanding submission is Jesus Christ. He exemplified submission, humility, and obedience throughout His life. Philippians 2:5-8 is appropriate here:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

There is no greater picture of submission than Jesus Christ. Although He was God, He humbled Himself. He did not consider equality with God, even though He could have used it for His own advantage. He could have annihilated everyone who opposed Him and told terrible rumors and judgments about Him. He could have snapped the necks of his opponents like twisting a tiny twig. He could have given then terrifying diseases. And yet, as Isaiah said, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth” (Isa 53:7).

Jesus Christ submitted to the Father, even if it meant death. In the Philippines, we have not suffered for Christ to the point of shedding blood (Heb 12:4). When I went to Vietnam, it was my first time to be face-to-face with Christians who were persecuted. Several of my students experienced literal beating. One of them had his property taken by the government. One of them went missing for many days, with his family worried; he was arrested and beaten repeatedly. And yet, after all these experienced they had, they were still studying and preparing to be pastors. 

Like Jesus Christ, and like the Vietnamese pastors, we must be willing to surrender our lives, our future, and everything to God. 

Stewardship of the Gift of Salvation

Ephesians 2:1-10

This is the third of my sermon series on stewardship. 

God has given us many things and many gifts. We already know that we are born naked (Ecc 5:15). As such, and we own nothing when we came into this world (1 Tim 6:7; Job 1:21). But as we grew from babyhood, we were given strength (Ps 28:7), abilities and opportunities to work (Deut 8:17-18), and even wealth and honor (1 Chron 29:12). We were given material things, like our homes, cars, and other properties. We were given parents and children, and friends who can help us and comfort us. We were given education and knowledge to deal with the world. We were also given gifts and talents: some with music, arts, computers, speech, drama, etc.

We have come a long ways from the time we were born, owning nothing, so cute, but also fragile, weak, destitute, dependent. When we compare where we came from and where we are today, we can say that we are actually and absolutely spoiled. Indeed, we can all testify with the Psalmist that “the Lord is gracious and compassionate” (Ps 145:8). Like Joseph, we can say that we were shown kindness and we were granted favor (Gen 39:21). Like Jeremiah, we can all proclaim that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam 3:22-23).

And in all these things that God has given us, we are held accountable as stewards.

But the greatest gift we have received from Him is the gift of salvation, which Paul spells in Ephesians 2:1-10:

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Such is the grace of God for us that we are given such a marvelous gift.  All the other gifts pale in comparison to the fact that we have received forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7-8). From being people “separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world” we are now in Christ (Eph 2:12-13). From being enemies of God (Rom 5:10), we are reconciled to Him and have become his friends (2 Cor 5:18-19; John 15:15). We are also born again and have become new creation (John 3:3, 5; 2 Cor 5:17; 1 Peter 1:3-4). We have also received the right to become children of God (John 1:12). We are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession,… called out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

But like all other gifts we have received from God, we are also called to be good stewards of the gift of salvation. Basically, we are accountable for everything we have received from God, and because the most important gift to us is the gift of salvation, it is this gift that we must be extra careful and vigilant in being good stewards.

So the question is: How do we become good stewards of the gift of salvation?

Stewardship through Nurture

Salvation is a gift. There is no doubt about it. But it is a gift that needs to be nurtured and cared for. Let us remember that one of the metaphors of salvation is being born again. When we are born again, we become like new born babies. We know very little about the Christian faith. We do not know what and how to pray. We probably did not know that there were 66 books in the Bible. We did not know many things. We were babies in knowledge and practice. But from being babies, we are admonished to grow. Being “infants in Christ” is derogatory (1 Cor 3:1-2; Heb 5:12), because “anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness” (Heb 5:13). We are not meant to be baby-damulags, whose lives are characterized by foolishness and senselessness, skillfulness in doing evil, and ignorance in how to do good (Prov 22:15; Jer 4:22). Peter wrote: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).

Instead of remaining infants, we are admonished to mature: “Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adult” (1 Cor 14:20). As Paul beautifully described, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me” (1 Cor 13:11).

We must continue to “purify ourselves from anything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Cor 7:1). There is no time to slack off in the Christian life. We must be eager to achieve the things that God wants for us to their fullness (2 Cor 8:11). Although we have already received the seed of righteousness in our hearts, we must ask the Lord to “enlarge the harvest of your righteousness” (2 Cor 9:8). We need our faith and love to grow more and more (2 Thess 1:3). We are aware that when Paul wrote that Christians are meant to grow “in every aspect” (Eph 4:15), he was talking about the holistic nature of the human person. We are meant to “be fully restored” (2 Cor 13:9) in the totality of our being, standing “firm in the will of God, mature and fully assured” (Col 4:12). This is our sanctification “through and through,” with every aspect of our lives “kept blameless” (1 Thess 5:23). This growth must continue till we die. There is not stopping point. For example, even when Paul praised the Thessalonian Christians because of their already commendable love to God and His people, he still urged them “to do so more and more” (1 Thess 4:10).

The problem is this: there are many nominal Christians around the world who care less about maturity. Wilbur Rees’ poem describes many Christians today:

I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.

Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep,

but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine.

I don’t want enough of God to make me love a black man

or pick beets with a migrant.

I want ecstasy, not transformation.

I want warmth of the womb, not a new birth.

I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.

I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.

We are called to be stewards of the salvation we have received. This means that we are to nurture our Christian life in personal disciples, by communal disciples, and by allowing others to nurture us. All three are important, and not one should be neglected; otherwise, our progress to maturity is compromised.

Stewardship through Bearing Fruit

It is not enough for a plant to grow. No matter how sturdy a tree becomes, even though it stands the test of time and typhoons, it does not please its owner if it is not bearing fruit. If a tree is being nurtured, watered, and even fertilized, it is expected that it should bear fruit. A tree that sucks in all the nutrients it can get and only converts these nutrients for its own sake, never even producing flowers or bearing fruit, is useless to the owner, and will be cut down for firewood.

The law of life on planet earth is give and take. Plants receive sunlight and carbon dioxide, and produce oxygen in the process. Humans consume nutrients from food, then the body converts these nutrients into energy, so that the body may move and do something. Everything that we take in that is not used in our daily affairs become poison. They become juggly bellies, extra fat or weight, and make us prone to certain diseases. Crudely, every food that we take in through our mouths must always go out of our rectum.

The same principle is applicable in our stewardship of the salvation that we received from God. To grow is important, and to suck in spiritual nourishment through bible readings, prayers, communal services, and other spiritual disciples is not bad; but it is also not enough. As we “continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12), our salvation in Christ must bear fruit.

What are these fruits?

1. Righteousness: “May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation--the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ--for this will bring much glory and praise to God” (Phil 1:11, NLT).

2. Good works: “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10). James is right that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17).

3. Love. Because we are born of the Spirit (John 3:5, 7), we must live in the fruit of the Spirit: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23).

4. Humility: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Eph 4:2; Phil 2:5-8).

5. Harmonious relationship with others: “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited” (Rom 12:16).

6. Witness: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). We must not be ashamed to live differently from others. We must be honest, kind, selfless, not greedy, not gossipers. We talk differently. We decide differently. We act differently. Brennan Manning once said: “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

It is true that we are stewards of time, treasures, and talents. But we are also stewards of our faith. We are stewards of salvation. We are stewards of great blessings and rewards. We are stewards of eternal life, and we have a part in who receives it or not. We are stewards of miracles: miracles of the forgiveness of sins, of friendship with God, and of reconciling love. We are stewards of the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matt 19:19), and we have a part on who enters the kingdom. We have such great power, but with great power comes great responsibility.

If we look at ourselves in the mirror, and honestly scrutinize our being, we will realize that we are weak and fragile creatures. On top of this, in the words of the son, we are

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love

Even if we stack all our gifts and talents and strengths altogether, our weaknesses still outweigh our perceived worth. There is nothing about us that we should be entrusted by God to be his stewards of faith and salvation. But the mystery of the gospel is that we are chosen by God to be stewards of salvation. He sees something in us that we probably do not see in ourselves. He entrusts us with something great and expects us to accomplish His will. We do not deserve such a trust and confidence, and yet God chooses each one of us as His stewards. In gratitude and humility, our response should only be that of the lyrics of the song Potter’s Hand:

Take me, mold me, use me, fill me
Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me

Stewardship of Possessions

Luke 16:10-13

This is the second of my sermon series on stewardship.

Crown Financial Ministries says that there are 2,500 verses on finances and possessions in the Bible. This is actually more verses than all the thirteen letters of Paul in the New Testament, or 1/10 of the whole Bible (which has 25, 145 verses), or 1/3 of the New Testament (which has 7,957 verses). That the discussion about possessions occupies a large amount of space in the Bible might sound excessive, because we might think that surely there are better things that the Bible can talk about, like spirituality, morality, holiness, etc. So it is a bit surprising to realize that 1/10 of the whole Bible deals with possessions. What is important to realize here is that God cares about how we view and use our possessions.

That God cares so much about how we view and handle possessions is also evident in the Ten Commandments. In fact, three of the Ten Commandments are related to how we handle our possessions and the possessions of others.

4 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

8 You shall not steal

10 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, servants, or properties.

Considering that stewardship of possessions is so central in the Bible, there should be more preaching about it. In fact, every ten sermons should be about handling our possessions. But the problem is that we do not hear a lot of preaching about money and possessions because it is truly an awkward topic. Preachers like myself often shy away from the topic because this topic can offend many people. Even I am guilty of not preaching on this topic more often than I should.

We will be looking at Luke 16:10-13:

¹⁰ “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹ So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? ¹² And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

¹³ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

“Someone Else’s Property” (16:12)

“If you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (16:12)

The first thing we need to realize about possessions is the principle of ownership. First and foremost, we must recognize that “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” (Ps 24:1). Everything that we think we own are from the God who gives (John 3:27; James 1:17). This includes our wealth and honor: “Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things” (1 Chron 29:12). Even our employment or the means we gain income are from God: “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deut 8:17-18). As dependent creatures, “we brought nothing into the world” (1 Tim 6:7). There is a spiritual and economic significance of the fact that we are born naked (Ecc 5:15; Job 1:21). Everything we have is only given to us.

The fact that we own nothing in this world is highlighted by the fact that when we die, we cannot take anything with us.

“Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands” (Ecc 5:15).

“We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it (1 Tim 6:7)

“They will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them” (Ps 49:17)

There was gold in the Garden of Eden and everything great (Gen 2:10-12), but when Adam and Eve were driven out, they did not take anything with them (Gen 3:24). Like them, we can enjoy everything on earth, but when we die, there is nothing we can take with us (Job 1:21; Ecc 5:15; 1 Tim 6:7). Whatever we have, whether a 5M handbag or a 25-yr old car, they all remain. We do not own them.

This realization is important because it leads to two other realizations:

1. That since it is God who gives, it is He who also can take: “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21).

2. When we give back to God, it is not as if we are doing Him a favor. Don Moen’s song poignantly makes the point when it rhetorically asks, “What can we give that You have not given? What do we have that is not already Yours?” Therefore, we should not develop pride when we respond to God’s graciousness by giving a little of what He Himself gave. We would not want the mighty God to echo His words recorded in Psalm 50:9-12:

I have no need of a bull from your stall

or of goats from your pens,
for every animal of the forest is mine,

and the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird in the mountains,
and the insects in the fields are mine.
If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.”

When we think what we have is our own, we are tempted to protect them. If we think that what we have are things we have accumulated on our own strength and capability, we will try our best so that they are not taken away from us.

“True Riches” (16:11)

“If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (16:11)

The word “steward” is a compound of two old English words, stig (house) and weard (ward). In its original meaning, the steward is the protector of a house, which is not too distant from the Oxford definition today of the steward as someone “employed to manage another’s property, especially a large house or estate.” This is who and what we are with the earthly possessions that we have.

What is interesting about Luke 16:11 is this: It would appear that God uses our stewardship of earthly riches to determine how much He can trust us with “true riches.” God is grading us or testing with how we use our possessions, and in the light of how we manage materials things entrusted to us, He will entrust us greater things. This means that for us, every financial decision is a spiritual decision.

Some people interpret Luke 16:10-11 as a foundation for a so-called prosperity gospel. Although it is not entirely inaccurate to say that God gives more earthly blessings to those who are faithful, the passage points to something greater. God is looking for people He can trust with real and eternal things, and He evaluates us through our management of entrusted money and possessions. As such, how much we have is not an indication of our spirituality; how we manage what we have is an indication of our spirituality. Our possessions and money can become something like a spiritual thermometer.

How can this be? Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt 6:21; Luke 12:34). What we do with our money and our possessions reveal our real priorities. Jesus is right: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13).

Conclusions

There was on older lady who was protective of her property, and was prepared to act violently if someone dares to take advantage of her. One time, she finished shopping and went to her car. She found four men inside the car. She dropped her shopping bags, drew a handgun, and shouted: “I have a gun, and I know how to use it. Get out of the car!” The men got out and ran like crazy. However, when she went into the car, she realized that the car is not hers. Her car is parked four of five spaces away. Like her, we can make terrible decisions and act terribly, just because we think something is ours. In reality, what we think is ours belongs to someone else. Many people ruin their lives in pursuit of something that they cannot really own, leading to their own downfall.

Because many are unwilling to let go of their earthly riches, they become destitute of spiritual things. Because they serve Money and their selfish wants, they are unable to serve God wholeheartedly. They pursue earthly riches at the expense of true riches. Jesus said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt 6:19-20).

We should not be like monkeys unable to make good decisions. Monkeys are very clever animals, but they are very greedy. In order to catch them, hunters only need to put food inside a coconut fruit tied to a tree. When a monkey grabs on to the food inside, it won’t let go. The foolish act of not letting go what it thinks is precious leads to its capture and demise. Our deliverance from death to life might only be connected to the act of letting go of whatever we are trying to keep. We are not monkeys. We are stewards.