Stewardship – again with that word. Last month, I talked about stewardship in connection with our relationships with one another. Another aspect of stewardship is the call to be good stewards of our relationship with God. A relationship suggests a two way street that if we give something to God, we get something back or if God gives something to us, God gets something back. A give and take relationship is what we expect with our friends and family. At times in our lives, we give more than we take. At other times, we get more than we give. However, our relationship with each other isn't always that simple nor is our relationship with God. Kelly Fryer, a Lutheran pastor, recounted in her book, Reclaiming the “L” Word, a story about one of her seminary classes. One day, her class was specifically rowdy and was struggling to follow their professor or even take him seriously. The professor, tired of their inattentiveness, finally turned to the board and drew a large arrow pointing straight down and said: “If you understand that, you understand everything you need to know about what it means to be a Christian... who also happens to be a Lutheran.” And then he left the room. Fryer goes on to say, “We just sat there staring at it, this enormous, stark ARROW pointing straight down. And then I thought the most logical thing I could think, given everything that had just happened, 'He thinks we're all going to hell.'” Upon the next class period, the class gathered and the professor again drew a large arrow on the board. This time, he had their attention. “'Here's what this means,' he said. 'God always comes down. God always comes down. There is never anything that we can ever do to turn that arrow around and make our way UP to God. God came down in Jesus. And God still comes down, in bread and in the wine, in the water and in the fellowship of believers. God ALWAYS comes down.'”

This relationship we have with God always begins with God and never with us. We are always compelled by God's actions in our lives and in our world to respond to God's love and grace. Our relationship is not a give and take, but rather a God gives and we respond. Scripture is filled with responses to God's grace and mercy in the lives of God's people. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, reacts to being chosen to carry the Son of God, Jesus, by singing God's praise. I can imagine her dancing with a light step, her face upturned towards heaven, and her hands stretched out to all of creation as she sings her praise to God, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for God has looked with favor on the lowliness of God's servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is God's name. God's mercy is for those who fear God from generation to generation. God has shown strength with God's arm; God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty” (Luke 1:47-53). Mary proclaims to all of creation that God ALWAYS comes down and is coming down in the form of a man named Jesus Christ to turn the world upside down.

Part of our stewardship of our relationship with God is to respond to God's love and grace in our lives. For in our response,we remember and speak that we are not in charge, that we are not God, and that we depend on God for everything that we are and have and know. Scripture is filled with various ways to respond to God and be stewards of our relationship with God.
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A Few Ways of Being Good Stewards of Our Relationship with God:

This list is not inexhaustible but a few simple suggestions. Stewarding our relationship with God doesn't always need to take significant amounts of time, but rather asks for our intentionality and constituency. Our Christian calling is not about how how well we respond to God but rather that we simply respond.

1. Pray

“Prayer expresses our relationship with God. It should not a surprise us that this relationship parallels in significant ways our relationships with other persons. It cannot be forced, but grows best in the soil of freedom and mutual commitment. The health and vitality of this relationship depend on clarity and frequency of communications” (from Marjorie Thompson's book, Soul Feast).

2. Read Scripture

Scripture speaks of a multitude of different situations and people. Some of these situations are of praise and some situations are of sorrow. The people of God in scripture also range from God using murders and liars to the very righteous and faithful. The beauty of scripture is that it speaks of a people's relationship with God and thus speaks to our relationship with God. When we read scripture with a relationship in mind, we don't have to worry so much about understanding each and every piece (that is what Bible study is for). The question we are to ask is “what is God speaking to me today?”

3. Worship

Worship is both a time to gather as a community and support one another and also a time to strengthen our relationship with God. In worship, God comes down in both Holy Communion and Holy Baptism and we in turn respond with praise and thanksgiving. Worship a profound way in which God speaks to us and we have significant opportunity to respond in prayer and song.

In Christ's peace,