Steward's Covenant

We are all stewards - the only question is what type of stewards we will be. Will we act with open eyes, responding to reality, or will we act out of ignorance, led by our fears?

Did you ever hear the alarm in the morning, knowing it was time to get up, but unable it seemed to put out the effort to open your eyes? Or wake up suffering from allergies or an eye infection, and find your eyes glued shut by gunk that had accumulated during the night? Our how about this one, did you ever dream you had gotten up and showered and started your day only to wake up and realize you had been dreaming and overslept?

Sometimes opening our eyes seems impossibly hard. Sometimes we need some help. We need the help of communities, worship, scripture, quiet listening time, and prayer, to have the strength and wisdom to live as good stewards. Above all we need God's help. God steps in, but only if asked. Not by accident is the New Testament filled with parables of Jesus healing the blind, but only when asked. When we make the decision to live a steward's life, this isn't a unilateral action. We move into covenant relationship with God. A covenant is a mutual agreement, made between two parties one of whom is usually stronger than the other. We don't just pledge to God, God pledges us. That relationship is expressed in the Wesley Covenant Service and this  prayer.

I am no longer my own, but Yours.  Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will.  Put me to doing, put me to suffering.  Let me be employed for You or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low for You. Let me be full, let me be empty.  Let me have all things, let me have nothing.  I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.  And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, You are mine, and I am Yours. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. This is no small pledge, or something to be repeated by rote because it's printed in the bulletin. Ready to enter the covenant? Take some time to read it line by line and meditate on what each line means. I spent a day or a week on each sentence before I could say "So be it." I didn't have to wait until I could actually accomplish everything before I entered the Circle of Stewards. I committed to try to live out each of these agreements, and my fellow stewards at FUMC have helped me on the way. That's what the circle is for. It's our safe place to try new spiritual exercises, grow, fail, be forgiven, and find a new way.