In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Today marks the 4th Sunday of Great Lent. In the Armenian Church this Sunday is called the “Sunday of the Steward.” The story of the Steward is about our daily faith. It is about putting our lives in proper order and taking care of the future while living in the present.
We heard the parable in its entirety read just a few moments ago and there is a synopsis of this story in today’s Sunday Bulletin. This parable gives us a clear message. We are called to be Stewards of our faith, Stewards of our lives and Stewards of the Gifts God has placed in our hands. How we deal with these “gifts” makes a difference in the eyes of God. In other words, at the end of life, God wants an accounting of what we did with the “gifts” He placed in our lives.
The other night, I returned to my home late from a flight back to Boston and I wanted to unwind after traveling and so I picked up the T.V. remote and I began flipping through the channels. We all do this, I know. We use the remote from our television to flip through the channels until we find a program that satisfies us.
Well, today’s Bible story leads us to believe that our lives can become just like that. Our lives have different channels. One channel is for family. Another is for our job. A third is for our faith and spirituality. Another is for our political views. Another for our social life and heritage and maybe we even have one for our personal life. Every day we switch from one channel to another but rarely is there a connection between all these channels. The truth is we are called to spread our faith into all channels of our life and that forms the connection between them.
All areas of our life should be connected to our faith and to our core Christian values. Being a follower of Christ should affect how we raise our families; how we do our jobs, how we treat other people; how we spend our leisure time; and how we set our priorities. Our faith should affect and speak to everything we do because there is no “time off” from being a Christian.
One of the questions we should take away from this parable is this. Do we apply the same thought to our spiritual life as we do to the other areas of our lives? Think about people we see every day. Many of us put much more effort into taking care of our bodies than we do in caring for our souls. Some of us don’t give a second thought about going to the gym three times a week but have difficulty finding time for church. Others of us spend more time studying our portfolios than we do in deepening our faith. Others put much more effort into buying a car or a phone than we do in seeking the will of God in our lives. Still others spend more time planning for vacations than we do for our future in Heaven.
This parable is very straightforward. It urges us to take as much care of our spiritual side of life as we do for our physical side because that investment will last forever. Think about it. The stock market may be up today but may be down tomorrow. Wealth can be taken away by a medical crisis. Popularity comes and goes like the changing of the seasons. Careers come to an end and yet the company continues on without us. The fashions of today are laughed at tomorrow. Neighborhoods change and once cherished landmarks are replaced. Bodies weaken and appearances change but our soul, unlike every other investment we make, lasts forever. So, the message on this Sunday of Lent is to take care of our “daily faith,” to take care of the gifts God placed in our lives today and to take care of our faith for tomorrow.
Today’s Lenten message is about our “everyday faith.” So let’s ask ourselves: What are some ways to remind ourselves that God is present in our lives every day and that His presence can affect our attitudes, our decisions and our actions and have we put God at the very center of our lives? Today’s Lenten message is about our “everyday faith.” Have we put God at the very center of our lives? Something for us to think about.
Amen.