Earn. Save. Give.: Wisdom

The month of November begins our focus, here at Gray Memorial UMC, on stewardship. To help guide us through this important focus, we will be using Jim Harnish's book "Earn. Save. Give." This is a resource that seeks to uncover and contextualize John Wesley's concept of stewardship: “Gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can.” (John Wesley, The Use of Money, 1744). This concept guided John Wesley's life; he was a great steward of what God had given him. This led him to be very generous with his money; he died with almost nothing to his name.

Harnish begins his book with a statement: "we don't need more money, we need more wisdom," and highlights the book of Proverbs 3:

5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not rely on your own insight.
 In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths."

13-14

"Happy are those who find wisdom,
    and those who get understanding,
 for her income is better than silver,
    and her revenue better than gold."


From these words from Scripture, I think we can understand how Harnish can say it's not about how much money we have, but how wise we are. It is wise to trust God with what we have. Wisdom is more valuable than silver or gold. This reminds of me of the stories of squandering money we hear from those who win the lottery. Folks get tied up in greed by over-investing their money, gambling it away, or by being such a target with their wealth that it gets stolen away. Wisdom is more valuable than silver or gold.

This is good news for anyone! Stewardship is not about how much money you give, but how wise you are with your resources (that goes beyond finances, by the way---your time and talents are also resources we must be wise with, for example).

I love the Christian concept of stewardship. God has asked us from the beginning of creation to be good stewards of what we have: "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it" (Genesis 2:15). God has asked us to be thankful for what we have, and understand that it comes from God. That means we can trust God with what we have. We can be generous with our resources because they are not really ours, because they can serve a greater purpose than serving ourselves, because we can offer them up in such a way that gives honor and glory to God. It is wise to do so: I believe that taking care of what you have, giving generously, and honoring God all help us to remain thankful and joyful. This strengthens our walk with Christ as we trust God with what we have.

Prayer:

Oh Lord, giver of life and source of our freedom, we are reminded that Yours is “the earth in its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it.” We know that it is from your hand that we have received all we have and are and will be. Gracious and loving God, we understand that you call us to be the stewards of Your gifts, the caretakers of all you have entrusted to us. Help us always to use your gifts wisely and teach us to share them generously. May our faithful stewardship bear witness to the love of Christ in our lives. We pray this with grateful hearts in Jesus’ name. Amen.


In Christ,

Jack