Stewardship with Rev. Susan Ranous
Monday, November 27, 2023
PUT HEART INTO STEWARDSHIP
In continuing my reading the booklet put out by VANCO, titled The Complete Guide to Church Stewardship, I read about the second of eight rules for effective church leadership: Put Heart Into Stewardship!
The Scripture sited was the story of the widow’s offering (Mark 12:41-44):
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
This reminded me of my favorite stewardship program that is offered by Cokesbury. It is Treasure by Jacob Armstrong. It cites Matthew 6:21: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
The widow didn’t give because she had it to give, but because she felt called to, or wanted to. She gave not from her purse, but from her heart.
This is what we have to focus on when we talk about giving with our church. We want our church members to give from their hearts, focusing on God, not on the amount.
When we focus on money as the point of money, we miss the point of why Jesus spoke about money so often. It wasn’t because Jesus thought money was important, but he knew what the world would cause us to do.
We need to focus on what the bible says about money, about giving, about consumerism, greed, society, debt. This is a responsibility for ourselves and for our churches.
If you wish more information on this or would like to discuss stewardship and its relationship with discipleship, please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com. I’d be happy to help.
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