‘And this I remember of Boromir as a boy, when we together learned the tale of our sires and the history of our city, that always it displeased him that his father was not king. ‘‘How many hundreds of years needs it to make a steward a king, if the king returns not?’’ he asked. ‘‘Few years, maybe, in other places of less royalty,’’ my father answered. ‘‘In Gondor ten thousand years would not suffice.’’ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings #2)

Starting with “Stewardship” it took a couple of transitions to get to a word where I only thought partially about money.

Stewardship -> Good Steward -> Steward

And then another before I thought only about managing, and being a caretaker.

Stewardship -> Good Steward -> Steward -> Steward of Gondor

But Merriam-Webster’s definition of Steward looks like this: steward noun

1: one employed in a large household or estate to manage domestic concerns (such as the supervision of servants, collection of rents, and keeping of accounts)

And concludes with

5: one who actively directs affairs : MANAGER

So it does more mimic the idea of steward that I understood from reading The Lord of the Rings, even though it misses the idea of managing in place of the king, until the king’s return.  And in Tolkien’s tale, we meet the familiar experience of wanting to be kings ourselves, to own the things ourselves, and to not have to relinquish our position when the master returns.  But that is contrary to the core of stewardship.

This October we are unpacking the Biblical teaching that we are stewards for God, including:

• What we manage belongs to God, and we manage it for Him
• Faithful stewards are always prepared for their master to return
• Faithful stewards use their blessings to benefit others and make friends
• Faithful stewards will be blessed with even more to manage and use
• Faithful stewards share generously with those who are in need

Join us as we learn about and practice the challenges of stewardship, and experience the blessings.

“Come, Lord Jesus, revive our stewardship of your blessings. Everything we have is yours, and we manage it while we wait for you to return.  You provide, you give it to us to share, to help and to have fun, and you promise to give even more when we faithfully manage it as you want.  Come, Lord Jesus, quickly.  And help us to live as if you are returning quickly.  Revive our stewardship of your blessings so that our household WELLs actually share with those in need, have fun and make friends, and connect more people to life in Jesus. Amen”