GOOD STEWARDS
Message Recap
This Sunday, Pastor Dre teaches about good stewardship from Luke 21:1-4. Let’s take a look:
"1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. 3 And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; 4 for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.”
This first thing to mention is that unscrupulous persons have used this verse
to squeeze money out of others. Here, Jesus commended the piety demonstrated by the widow’s action. He WAS NOT recommending that everyone should demonstrate piety in the exact same manner.
The incident fits in with Luke’s emphasis on how true intimacy in our relationship with Christ affects our attitude regarding wealth!
Jesus Carefully Watches How We Give (Luke 21:1)
Jesus taught & healed in the temple, but He also watched worshipers. We see this again in Mark 12:41:
“And Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and began watching how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts.”
Mark is called a Synoptic Gospel, along with Luke and Matthew, because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and similar wording.
If you don’t give yourself to the Lord, it doesn’t matter how much you give
Giving is an act of worship, not a self-serving performance. There is more to giving than simply the dollar amount. What matters is not the amount given but the amount that we keep for ourselves!
Returning to the present case in Scripture, the widow gave all that she had and thereby expressed her faith in God to provide for her needs. The Lord sees what we give and why we give, and He knows those who are giving God their best.
He Is Interested In The Proportion, Not The Portion.
Let’s first define what a proportion is versus a portion. A proportion is a part, share, or number considered in comparative relation to a whole, whereas a portion is part of a whole; an amount, section, or piece of something.
God is more interested in how much is left, not how much is given. Jesus is not recommending a passive and unthinking approach to life and the future. Dramatic rhetoric is used to highlight the inconsistency of claiming faith in God while remaining anxious about daily needs.
There are two questions we must ask ourselves regarding stewardship: How much did you give, and how much did you keep?
Furthermore, we see in verses 2-3 of Luke 21 that the Lord carefully watches what we give.
To learn more, watch the full sermon here.