Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-05

Lord.-Matthew, 25:21.
Stewardship furnishes us a practi-
cal demonstration of our religion. 1t
reveals Gods trust in our fidelity to
the tasks He has assigned to us. 1t
proves conclusively our faith In Him
and our confidence in His gospel. our
loyalty to His cause and fidelity TO
our trusts establishes itself In the eyes
of men by our faithfulness In the lit
tie things of life, which pertain to the
glory of God and the establishment of
His kingdom.
Some people would substitute trus-
teeship for the old-fashioned word
stewardship. True, it is not used as
much as formerly and not practiced
as it ought to be by the followers of
Christ, who spoke clearly and made
known in the closing days of His min
istry His views concerning steward
ship. The meaning of this word has
been traced to ancient Anglo-Saxon
times when a steward was stig-
Weard, which translated meant sty-
ward. In those ancient days. a stew
ard meant one who looked after the
pigs. Swine was the principal pos
session of the Anglo-Saxons, SO that
in time a steward was one Entrusted
with the management of estates or af-
fairs not his own It is this fact that
has suggested trusteeship because it
would be definitely understood, while
due to the emphasis placed in recent
years upon tithing, as stewardship,
it's meaning has not been clear.
The practice of Christian steward
ship calls for more than tithing, yet
the observance of that method would
hasten the Lords return by the de-
velopment of the great missionary
cause that was so close to Christ's
heart that He proclaimed it in His
last commission to His church. The
followers of Christ, whose failure to
practice stewardship has seriously
crippled the missionary cause through
their failure to use the moneys that
God has intrusted to their keeping
for His kingdom. One is unable to
understand the thoughtlessness of
professed Christians, who are indiffef-
ent to the Masters teachings con-
corning stewardship not only in the
parable assigned for our study this
week, but in His prayer, pleas and
program.
Christian Stewardship.
Christian stewardship is one of the
greatest words in the vocabulary of
the Christian church" Jesus packed
its great truth into parable based
upon the well known Oriental prac-
ttce of intrusting to a member of his
household, frequently a slave, the use
of his possessions. The foundation
of one of the worlds greatest for
tunes is said to be due to the use that
Rothschild made of the fortune of the
Emperor of Russia. Christian stew
ardship calls for us to recognize that
all that we are and have is a trust
from God. Physical life and health
are His. I'm Him we live, move and
have our being" Without His pres.
ence our physical life would disap-
pear. He has bestowed time, in
fiuence and education In our care to
be used by us for the advancement
of His kingdom, or until He shall
come again.
Our Lord has intrusted to our care
and use His wealth. 1t may appear
upon the statute boks and In the rec
ord book of titles to real estate, bonds
and mortgages in our names, but they
belong to Him and should be used in
His name. The gold and silver of this
world belong to Him. The timber of
the forests and the metals of the
mines are His. The precious stones
and minerals have been planted in the
earth through His handiwork. The
civil law may assign the ownership
to US, but ''the earth is the Lords,
and the fulness thereof"
We cannot evade our stewardship.
1t Is a personal one that belongs to
us as Christians, church members
and citizens, for He will call for an
accounting when He comes. While
there exists an individual responsible.
ity for the personal possessions in
trusted to us personally as trustees,
we nave a share in seeing that our
church and country fulfill our d.
vinely assigned task, as stewards of
God, In the work of extending His
kingdom.
Jesus did not deal in small figures
when he spoke of the talents, for one
was worth $32.S05, a vast sum for
any bond servant to handle in those
days. 1t would possess a very much
larger purchasing value today. The
Master has distributed to us accord
ing to our ability. He has put the
whole responsibility upon us and ex-
poets us to do our duty. While both
Judaism and Christianity recognize
the value OF gold, the most valuable
contribution that they can make is
not of wealth but of ideals. The prin-
oiples, precepts and preaching of the
two faiths that in the commencement
OF Christianity were so closely linked
together. have enormous possibilities
or development. depending upon how
we each use our talents.
Gamers or MASTERS.
Whether we will present gains or a
loss in our life depends upon our rec
ognizing clearly that our possessions
belong to God and that He will require
from each of us a strict accountable
ity. In the parable emphasis was
placed upon the faithfuIness Of the
two servants. It was not the total
amount gained. but the fact that he
was faithful, for Paul tells us that
ut Is required Of stewards that a
man be found faithful"
We have just been emphasizing
through Thrift weew'' the value OF
thrift in our personal affairs. Both
stewards that were commended had
the spirit that marks thrift in that
straight way. They commenced to
trade with Gods talents and kept at
it until He unexpectedly returned.
when they presented the evidence OF
their fidelity Immediately. satisfied
that they had done their best for the
Lord. HaNe we done all that we
could do? The true steward reveals
his fldelityFto his trust by aCtivo and