Steward ship

I had known for a few weeks that I was going to speak on stewardship last Sunday.  I prayed about it, I pondered what stewardship meant to me and what it might mean to others in the congregation.  I have listened to Jeanne speak about it along with “interior movement” and “exterior movement” and put some thought into what was moving within me and how to convey all of this and have it be meaningful.

Then, I began to make my own music up about this whole topic.  Most of you don’t know this, but I spend a lot of time making up songs and singing them to my own melodies.  Before you begin to be impressed, I am singing about what I am having for dinner, folding the clothes, riding in the car, or just some random thought I might have in my head.  I don’t write anything down and I can’t remember what I sang even right after I sing it.  I just have fun with goofy things in life.

To make a long story short, I started singing about stewardship one day and Jackie and I were laughing because I was singing about steward ship, two words, steward ship.  It started with something like, “Won’t you please cruise with me on our trusty steward ship…”

Then, in Bible study Jeanne said something about being Stewards of all of our gifts, internal and external.  Suddenly my cruising in a steward ship made sense.  No ship sails unless everyone understands their position and what they are to do.  Even the passengers have to follow regulations and guidelines.  Everyone has some way to share who they are on the journey and they understand the importance of doing so.

Here at UCH, we are gifted to have a great variety of people with different backgrounds, at different stages in life, with varied talents, and a wide variety of energies.  It makes us unique and is a grace to be sure.  We have spent the last two weeks, and have continued in Worship this past Sunday, learning to listen to the Lord speak to us and to speak with the Lord, in other words, to pray in new ways.  We have been learning to be Stewards in our relationships with the Lord.  The Worship has been rich in content and experience.

In my brief time here at UCH, I have learned that I can do some things that I never dreamed I would be able to do.  I have learned that just talking, praying, and encouraging others is not enough.  In the last four years, I have learned that I cannot do a lot of what I thought I would be doing at this point in my life, and I have learned that there is always something I can do to make a difference, even if the difference is just in me.  We all have gifts and we share them well and we have all had to adjust to what we can and cannot do.  

I ask each of you to take these days to think about what and how you can do your part to keep this steward ship of ours afloat; that would be your “inner movement”.  Remember that this ship is large and is outside our doors as well as here in the Sanctuary… that would be your “exterior movement”.  There is much work to do in keeping this church and this world of ours healthy, safe, and sacred.

I’d like to end by sharing a prayer that was shared in the NCNC newsletter.  It is adapted from the prayer of St. Theresa of Avila.Take a moment be comfortable where you are, take a few deep slow breaths, and take these words to heart.          -Chris

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours,                                                                  

No hands but yours, No feet but yours.                                                                        

Yours are the eyes through which is to look out Christ’s compassion to the world;

Yours are the feet with which God is to go about doing good;                                 

Yours are the hands with which God is to bless all of humanity now.”         Amen     -- Chris L.