Because of sin, our lives and our future were worthless. Like the Prodigal Son in last week’s gospel, we had sold out and squandered our inheritance and exchanged our glory for shame. Because of God’s mercy, our future has been restored to us. That future is a gift and a grace, it does not belong to us. We are stewards of a future that has been given to us as a grace. From the moment of our baptism, we receive this grace, this sacred trust, this newness of life. We live in the newness of life but how will we use this gift and grace? Will we be good stewards and grow in holiness and become the saint that God has willed us to be? St. Paul reveals to us in his letter to the Thessalonians: “We earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God - and as you are conducting yourselves - you do so even more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. This is the will of God, your holiness…Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God, who gives his holy Spirit to you.” (1Thes 4,1-3.8)
God wills for us to be good stewards of the gift of grace that he has given to us. God wants our holiness, our happiness and our well-being. Jeremiah the prophet gives us this Word of the Lord: “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the Lord, and I will change your lot;” (Jer 29,11-14) God has entrusted to us a future full of hope and that “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Rom 5,5) as St. Paul instructs us. As good stewards of God’s grace, God does not want us to squander our future by neglecting the good that we are meant to accomplish in his name and to his glory, in the service of our brothers and sisters who do not yet know God’s plan for the fullness of life.
The good steward is faithful in the small everyday matters of life. It is in the little acts of love, mercy and charity, that we can accomplish everyday, that we reveal our hearts and the true treasure that we hold in trust from the Lord. As Jesus teaches his disciples in the gospel today, “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.” (Lk 16,10) Sometimes the world tells us to “not sweat the small things in life,” but it is in these small matters that we show our faithfulness and commitment to our Lord. Jesus counsels his disciples, “Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” (Lk 12,33f) We think that it is a small matter what we place in the offering basket each week in our local parish but it is in this small act of faithfulness that we are building a future of greater hope! In our gift at the offering, we are only returning to the Lord a portion of his blessings and what belongs to him in the first place. As Jesus tells his disciples, “If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?” (Lk 16,12)
What does good stewardship look like? St. Paul tells Timothy today, “It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.” (1Tim 2,8) Amos describes to us poor stewardship: “When will the new moon be over,” you ask, “that we may sell our grain, and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?” (Amos 8,4) We might say, “When will church be over that we can get back to work and make money and serve our own interests?” Do we come to worship the Lord just to “get it over with” or do we truly lift up our hearts and hands in prayer, serve the Lord, and build a future of hope for all. Jesus cautions us today: “You cannot serve both God and mammon.” (Lk 16,13) In heartfelt prayer and humble devotion we serve the Lord - in an early exit we serve only our own needs and worldly interests.
I would like to conclude with some words from Bishop Ken Untener in honor of Archbishop Oscar Romero: “It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us. No statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything. This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.”
The future is a beautiful gift and grace entrusted to us by our Lord. It is not our own. We are stewards, ministers and servants of this wondrous future and grace. It is meant to be a future full of hope and filled with God’s compassionate and merciful presence. We can’t do everything but we can do something, and we can do it with hearts filled with love and joy. As good stewards, our plans for the future should always be mindful of our future encounter with our Lord and the full possession of the promised gift already in small part entrusted to us of heaven and eternal life. What we build for ourselves may one day fall around us but what we build for our Lord will never pass away. With unwavering faith, step into a future of indomitable hope and love. For, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8,28) Be good and trustworthy stewards and serve God’s purpose for our lives! Amen!