The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

We are all stewards. All that is belongs to God. He is the creator and He has placed the things of this earth in our hands in order for us to use them to give greater honor and glory to Him. Thus all that we have and all that we are are His. We belong to Him along with everything else. And on the Day of Judgment we will have to give an account of this stewardship that He has placed in our hands.

What a frightening scene it will be for those who have misused the things of God; and for those who have misappropriated to themselves God's goods. We do not even belong to ourselves. And strictly speaking we have no rights except those which God gives us and these come with great responsibilities attached to them.

What do we have that we have not received? Power? Wealth? Health? Beauty? Intelligence? Wisdom? Understanding? Not one of these things can we give to ourselves. They all must come from God.

Woe to that foolish man who thinks that he can do whatever he likes with the gifts of God. That day of giving an account will come and the wrath of the judge will be most frightening and painful.

The pitiful "rich man" who has been given (or stolen) a lot of the things of this world will have to give an account of everyone of them. For every single penny that passed through his hands. Has he used all these things for the honor and glory of God? Or has he used these very gifts of God to offend Him? Has he attributed all these things to himself as if he were God and did not have to give an account to anyone? The temptations are very great for those who have a large share of the things of this earth.

The material things of this earth that were created to draw us closer to God all too often become obstacles to this goal because in the use and enjoyment of them we forget about God. We attribute them to ourselves or we make false gods (idols) out of these things and begin to live and worship God's gifts rather than God Himself.

Woe to the rich man! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into Heaven. The words of Blessed Giles of Assisi come to mind: "He who has the smallest portion of this world has the best portion and he who has the largest portion of this earth has the worst portion."

Our fallen nature makes this all too true. Those who are given much think that they are great because they have much and they abuse and look down upon their fellow men that have less. Whereas they should be the first to realize that all that they have has been given to them by God and that they have been entrusted with these gifts for the better honor and glory of God and for the assistance of those who are in need or have less.

The alms offered by the rich to the poor offer an abundance of grace for all. When we give for the honor and glory of God, not only is God glorified and our neighbor relieved of some of his burdens but our own soul is lifted up higher. And if we be the ones on the receiving end we are humbled by our need and dependence on the mercy of others which is a reflection of the mercy of God; and if we accept our station in life with patience and resignation to the will of God our souls are also purified and drawn closer to God. Those who may witness such charitable acts are edified and encouraged to similar acts and thus grace abounds through this one simple and apparently insignificant act.

So we see that it is not strictly the riches that are the obstacle to our eternal happiness, but it is rather our inordinate attachment to them. We must learn that disinterested use of the gifts of God so that we can truly use the things of this earth as if we used them not. Not because they are worthless or useless (All that God has made is good.), but because our love for these things becomes an obstacle to the love that we must have for God.

As good stewards we must realize the goodness and worth of all the things that God has placed in our care and we must accordingly not abuse, waste, or destroy them. And at the same time we must not overestimate their value and goodness and begin to serve them and thus deprive God of that which belongs only to Him.

Let us pray for and seek to always be good stewards of the things of God. Let us never forget that these things belong to God and that we must use them for His honor and glory; and for the help and assistance of our fellow men and ultimately our eternal salvation.

Franciscan Benefactor Seraph Subscription Vocations Have you remembered God?