This is the fourth in a series of reflections offered as part of my service with the Stewardship Ministry at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Hickman, Neb., where Anne and I are members.

Thirty-five years ago this June, I was confirmed by Dr. Wallace E. Fisher at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lancaster, Pa. Pastor Fisher has long ago retired and entered the Church Triumphant. Even so, his words still influence me, even after all these years. He wrote a number of books. One of those is entitled All the Good Gifts: On Doing Biblical Stewardship. In it, he said:

The essence of Christians stewardship … is to do God’s will with Christ as guide and support. This stewardship is every Christian’s true vocation. The community of persons called and empowered to take up this task is Christ’s church. The gospel, the church, and God’s stewardship [his total plan of salvation] are inextricably bound together. To separate any one from the other two is to obscure God’s self-revelation and distort the purpose of Christ’s church. Biblical stewardship is not a fund raising process that keeps the church “running.” It is every Christian’s essential vocation. The church is responsible to God for its proper custodianship of his good gifts—life, earth, cosmos, and his Word (p. 35).

Dr. Fisher’s insights are powerful and inspiring. They help me to remain focused on Jesus Christ, who stands at the root and core of our faith. This short excerpt from his book offers several perspectives from which we can view our stewardship ministry together at Shepherd of the Hills Church.

• Stewardship is not primarily about money; it focuses us upon our calling to tend all the good gifts God has given to us.
• Because stewardship runs throughout our lives as Christians, we should expect to hear about, discuss, and pray for our stewardship at every turn in our life together.
• God makes us responsible for stewardship. When he entrusts us with that responsibility, he also blesses us with the insights and the means to serve faithfully.

As we carry out our vocation to serve as God’s stewards, we can pray that the day will come when our Lord will say to us what the master said to his slave in one of Jesus’s parables:

Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.

—Matthew 25:21, New Revised Standard Version

Please pray that God will stir up in us a sense of responsibility for his good gifts, so that we may live as faithful stewards, serving him to his glory.

David M. Frye, Stewardship Ministry