Are we owners or stewards? What’s the difference? Why does answering the question matter to those who follow Christ?

We live in a world that’s largely, if not entirely, based on ownership. Nations own lands and roads and technologies. Individuals own homes and vehicles and family heirlooms. In many ways, the measure of our individual worth is based on what and how much we own. The concept of ownership is vital to our understanding of how to navigate this world in which we live and equally valuable to our personal and collective identity. Ownership speaks to who we are, what we have and, to a large degree, the amount of power we have over our lives.

Yet, as Christians, we know that everything we are and everything we have is a blessing from God. We may believe we own the blessings of a home or a piece of land, but, in truth, it is only for a short while. In the reality of faith, all that we have has been given to us in trust by God, not to own but to gratefully care for as good stewards of those blessings. Stewardship is the response of those who believe in the generosity of God and gratefully live as caretakers, responsible for the way we use and share the abundant blessings of the Creator of everything.

I imagine we all understand how to take care of the needs of our loved ones, making responsible decisions about how to use what we own to benefit our household and those entrusted to our care. We know how to be good stewards of the God given gift of those we love. The question is, do we see ourselves as stewards of Milford First UMC and the people of our community? Do we see our church and community as gifts from God, entrusted to our care for a while? Do we understand ourselves as more than owners sharing a space, but as stewards, gratefully sharing the blessings of God, as the Body of Christ known as Milford First UMC?

We have each been blessed to be counted as part of God’s family, living and serving together in this corner of God’s Kingdom. As the blessed members of this church, I invite each of you to consider what we are; owners or stewards? I then encourage each of you to measure your blessings and pray for God's guidance in using those blessings to care for your church and your community for the cause of Christ. Then complete your estimated Loving Declaration, your response to God’s call to support the mission and ministries of God’s church, known as Milford First UMC. Determine how you, a steward of God’s blessings, intend to offer yourself with your gift of time, talent and treasure.

As caretakers of God’s great blessings, we look at 2023 and choose to fully, faithfully and gratefully support all the need of our church, in order to empower the church to do the work of good stewards, freely sharing the Light of Christ with all the world, because the world and all who live upon it, are gifts from God, that we might live.

Pastor Steven

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