A Spoken Word Presentation on Stewardship in the Old Testament
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This presentation is approximately 17 minutes. Allow complete download before playing in auto slide show mode. It is useful in teaching the sacrament of stewardship in a group setting or for individuals.
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A Spoken Word Presentation on Stewardship in the Old Testament
- 1. Stewardship in the Old Testament Stewardship AdvocatesTM -A spoken word presentation – (allow full download before using auto slide show mode)
- 2. The Sacrament of Stewardship (c) Stewardship Advocates
- 6. Now I must wear garments of skins and fig-leaves; I am condemned to eat the bread of bitter hardship by the sweat of my brow. The earth is cursed, and brings forth thorns and husks for me. – Vespers on the eve of the Sunday before Great Lent
- 7. Woe to you, my wretched soul! You received authority from God to take your pleasure in the joys of Eden, but He commanded you not to eat the fruit of knowledge. Why have you transgressed the law of God? – Canon for the Sunday commemorating the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise
- 8. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering. For Cain and his offering the Lord had no regard.
- 9. Cain is angry and slays his brother. Cain went away from the presence of the Lord.
- 12. "How long will you be undecided between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, but if Ba’al, follow him."
- 14. Stewardship in the Old Testament King David, Prophet and Saint
- 16. Then said David to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword, a spear and a shield: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts.
- 19. “I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing.” - King David, Saint and Prophet
- 20. We thank you, God, for everything
- 21. Attributions Icon of the Parable of the Talents: by the hand of Fr. Andrew Tregubov Photos of galaxy and earth: National Aeronautic Space Administration Adam and Eve mosaic narrative: Cathedral of Monreale, Sicily, Italy Worship of the Golden Calf : Nicolas Poussin, National Gallery, London, England Moses Smashing the Tablets: Rembrandt von Rijn, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany Elijah in the Cave: Russian, 16th century The Flight of the Prisoners: James Tissot David and Goliath: Keith Newton St. King and Prophet David: by the hand of Deacon Matthew D. Garrett David Purchasing the Threshing floor: William Brassey Hole, artchive.com Cross: The Academy of St. George, Denver, Colorado www.stewardshipadvocates.org orthodoxconsultant@gmail.com 347.831.1848
Notas del editor
- Welcome to this brief presentation on the Sacrament of Stewardship in the Old Testament. It is brought to you by Stewardship Advocates, an Orthodox Consulting Service for Church leadership, development and management. We offer the best practices of the nonprofit community, as adapted for use in Orthodox parishes and organizations according to Orthodox ecclesiology. We assist with strategic planning, board development, volunteer management, stewardship, capital campaigns, endowments, leadership coaching and church growth strategies. You might be surprised to see the words sacrament and stewardship in the same phrase. When we think of a sacrament, we usually think of the Holy Eucharist or perhaps Baptism. However, theologians tell us that almost everything has the capacity to be a sacrament. Fr. Alexander Schmemann wrote that a sacrament reveals the authentic nature of creation. When, as good stewards, we offer back the creation to God in thanksgiving, then we participate in divine life. Stewardship is our loving response to God’s generosity. Here we have an iconic depiction of the Parable of the Talents, as taught to us by the Lord Himself. A parable is a story that teaches a moral lesson. The lesson of this story is that God commands us to return a meaningful portion of all that we have been given, not because He needs it, but rather because when we give meaningfully and sacrificially in a spirit of thanksgiving, then we participate in divine life. We become free, joyful and peaceful, accepting that everything comes from God.
- “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1). God is the first giver, the only true giver, the one who is always giving and blessing us. Every breath and every heartbeat is a blessing. And when these blessings pass, then the yet greater blessing comes: an eternal life of joy and communion with God in a transfigured cosmos. The cosmos is a product of God's free will, goodness, wisdom and love. God did not create the cosmos in order to satisfy some need of His. Rather, He freely created it without compulsion and without force in order that we might enjoy His blessings and share in His goodness. Isn’t this how we also ought to give? Freely and without compulsion or force?
- A steward is a person who has been entrusted with the possessions or affairs of someone else. St. Paul wrote: “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:1, 2). Are we good stewards of all that has been entrusted to us – our lives, our families, our Church? Do we accept that everything we have is on loan to us from God? Are we faithful stewards as the Apostles were faithful?
- In the book of Genesis we read the story of Adam and Eve. St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote, the book of Genesis is “not so much history as ‘doctrines in the guise of narrative.’” The story of Adam and Eve, therefore, is a sacred narrative conveying profound truth about ourselves and our relationships to each other, the world and God. From the very beginning, man and woman were blessed to be stewards. They were given their lives, the garden of paradise, each other and friendship with God. Only one thing did God ask: that they practice the first fast by abstaining from the forbidden fruit. They were so commanded because in doing this they enjoyed the greatest of God’s blessings – free will. By abstaining from the forbidden fruit, they affirmed that everything comes from God. Their task was to offer the world back to Him in thanksgiving, thereby experiencing the gratitude that G. K. Chesterton called “joy doubled by wonder.” Gratitude is “joy doubled by wonder.”
- We know the sad events in this story. Tragically, they partook of the forbidden fruit; they seized the world for their own needs; they took back their lives; they chose not to offer it back to God in thanksgiving; rather, they sought to establish their prideful independence from God. We read of their immediate abdication from responsibility when God asked Adam what has happened and he responds, “The woman that YOU gave me made me do this.” And then when God asks Eve what has happened, she says, “It was the snake that caused me to do do it.”
- The consequences of these acts are with us to this very day: “You shall labor in toil…all the days of your life.” We feel the effects when we put our head down on our pillow at night and worry: “How will I provide for my family?”; when we read the newspaper: “Prices are rising; interest rates are scheduled to go up; inflation is increasing” – “What am I to do?”; when we sit down to pay our bills: “How am I ever going to retire? Why don’t my investments do better?” This demonic assault upon our trust in God is never-ending. It is not trusting God and not believing that He is taking care of us that makes us selfish, uncharitable and grasping.
- The story of Adam and Eve continues in the lives of their sons Cain, who is a farmer and Abel, who is a shepherd. We read in the Bible that Cain offers “the fruit of the ground”; Abel offers “the firstlings of his flock and their fat portions.” Cain’s offering is perfunctory, off-hand and casual. It doesn’t cost him anything. It has all the characteristics of what in today’s terms we call “Dues”. Abel’s offering, however, is the “firstlings” of his flock and their “fat portions”. The wealth of the shepherd are the young lambs. They can be slaughtered for a far better meal than mature sheep yield, which is mutton. Young lambs will grow up to produce more sheep and they will yield a harvest of wool each year. Abels gift was sacrificial, thoughtful, meaningful, carefully considered and offered in grateful response to all the blessings he had received. It’s a very different gift than Cain offers. The sadness continuing sadness is that almost all of us live in the dues mentality and give according to the dues mentality. Oh, we may call it stewardship but in truth our giving is the giving of Cain. It’s not at all sacrificial. Are we changing even the slightest aspect of our lives in order to honor our commitment? Do we carefully pray and seriously reflect upon all the blessings we have received? Do we trust God, that He is taking care of us?
- Cain is angry and slays his brother. Cain went away from the presence of the Lord. Can this be the jealousy we feel when we think that some people are more blessed than we are? Or the envy we feel when we see that others have bigger homes, nicer cars, more extravagant vacations? In a certain sense, it is possible to interpret the entire Old Testament as a failure of the ancient Hebrews to be good stewards of what was given to them.
- Though they were delivered from bondage in Egypt and the pursuing army of Pharaoh and repeatedly saved by God in the wilderness – from famine, from thirst, from poisonous snakes and from losing their way, yet they abandoned their covenant with God to worship a Golden Calf. Perhaps each one of us should pause to reflect upon this question: What golden calves have I built within myself to worship? Success? Prestige? Status? Material acquisition? My career? A sense of superiority? Entitlement? Self-idolatry? Perhaps the dark, secret love and comfort we feel from a growing investment portfolio?
- The failed stewardship of the ancient Hebrews continues when they consistently failed to abide by God’s Commandments.
- The ancient Hebrews failed in their stewardship of the Prophet, persecuting them. In this icon we see the Prophet Elijah in the cave where he rested and was fed by the raven during his flight from the persecution of Jezebel. He had dared to confront Jezebel’s husband King Ahab of Israel for his support of the priests of Ba’al. We read his dramatic confrontation of the King: “How long will you be undecided between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, but if Ba’al, follow him.” Does the Prophet Elijah also ask us, “How long will we remain undecided between superficial stewardship and true sacrifice?” Whom do we follow? God or Ba’al?
- The ancient Hebrews also failed in their stewardship of the Promised Land. Here we see the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the forced deportation of the ancient Hebrews to Babylon. Let us remember her that the failure of ancient Hebrews to be good stewards of all that was entrusted to them is not a consequence of being Jewish, rather, it is emblematic of the entire human race.
- Yet, let us look to one of the most famous people of the Old Testament - King David, who is honored in the Church as both a prophet and a saint. He reigned approximately 1,000 years before Christ. He is the best example of stewardship that we have in the Old Testament. We have been speaking about stewardship as our faith response to God’s unending generosity. Another definition of stewardship, one that we often hear today, is that stewardship is the voluntary, cheerful and sacrificial gift of time, talent and treasure to God. Let us see how David fulfilled each of these. Here we see a traditional icon of King David. One hand is offered in humble supplication; a second hand holds a piece of paper. Written on it is a quote from Psalm 91, which was authored by King David. The quote reads, “I will say of the Lord: He is my refuge and my fortress: My God: in Him will I trust.” “In Him will I trust!” – truly, only when we completely trust God are we empowered to be good stewards.
- In his youth, he gives his time and his talent as a harpist and songster, soothing the headaches of King Saul.
- In his youth he courageously sacrifices his time and his talent by slaying Goliath, the giant warrior of the Philistines. Is it possible that our love of earthly security and the relentless acquisition of material goods is the Goliath within ourselves that we must slay with God’s help?
- For many years after the slaying of Goliath, and at great risk to himself, David sacrificed his time and his talent as a general, leading Saul’s army from victory to victory.
- And then, so important for us in the liturgical life of the Church, King David sacrifices his talent, composing Psalms for worship. Here we read from the Pslam which every priest recites in every Divine Liturgy: “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me.” May God renew a right spirit within each one of us!
- Lastly, we have the beautiful story of King David with Araunah the Jebusite. Here we find a truly remarkable and deeply moving story of the sacrificial giving of treasure. The eight-verse story from the second book of Samuel in the Old Testament is well worth reading aloud: 18 So (the prophet) Gad came to David that day and said to him, “ Go up, erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 David went up according to the word of (the Prophet) Gad, just as the LORD had commanded. 20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. 21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD.”22 Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” 24 However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy these from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the LORD was moved by prayer for the land.” “I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing.” Is this the anthem we each must sing? The words of conviction we feel deeply within? Our own promise to God. “I will not offer to the Lord that which cost me nothing?” Are these words that need to be inscribed not only on our hearts and minds, but explicitly on our checkbooks, our ledgers and our bank statements? Is this a statement that we need to reflect upon when we sign our pledge cards each year? “I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing.”
- We thank you, God, for everything. Truly, as the Psalmist has written, “Thou has shown us the path of life. In Thy presence there is complete joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”