In Luke 12:16-21 Jesus tells the parable of the rich man who built more and more barns to store his harvest. The parable is apt today. Milk quotas are on the EU agenda again; the Swiss government is advising us to have a stock of food at home in case of swine flu; the credit crunch is the result of banks holding on to money instead of lending it sensibly.
The parable invites us to consider the choices we make about our possessions. By hoarding, do we show a lack of confidence in God's wish to provide for our needs? What are our attitudes towards "now", "the future" and "eternity"?
These are questions about stewardship. In its Christian context, the idea of stewardship tells us that we are not owners of what we have. Our possessions (which include our time, talents and money) are gifts from God and we only have them for a time. A steward has to give an account of the use he has made of the goods entrusted to him. Later on (Luke 19:12-27), we learn that hoarding (putting money in a hole in the ground) is not good stewardship. Money, said the English philosopher Francis Bacon, is like manure: it only does good if you spread it about.
As stewards of our possessions, the account we will have to give to God is how we used them to further his Kingdom. And, because the Church is the instrument of God's Kingdom on earth, we shall have to give an account of how we enabled the Church to witness to the Kingdom and to put its values into practice. In short, as Christians our stewardship requires us to give of our time, talents and money for the work of the Church.
The Church needs money to pay its bills (see the Treasurer's article in last month's magazine) but it also needs money to expand its work or to do its current tasks better. The current questionnaire will no doubt produce a crop of ideas and dreams about what we could do. These will need resources if the crop is to produce a real harvest.
Pray, then, that this year's pledge appeal will produce a good crop and labourers ready to go into the harvest.
Peter