Musings of a Poor Lutheran Steward

I have been instructed through pastoral lectures that one of the defining characteristics of my Lutheran faith is the belief that there is nothing that I can do to attain salvation. I can spend every waking moment performing benevolent deeds and I will not make it one step closer to heaven. I am utterly helpless against sin. The key to my salvation lies instead in the love of Jesus and his sacrifice for me, which grants me the grace and forgiveness of God. It is only through him that I am saved. This concept is a very passive view of salvation.

If there is nothing I can do to save myself from sin, then I must ask, what purpose does it serve for me to be a good steward? As a Lutheran, I am called to be a good steward. It is my understanding that a good steward makes thoughtful and benevolent use of his time, talents and treasures. In other words, he does good things. But why? As a Lutheran, good deeds get me no closer to heaven, correct? All I should have to do is accept Jesus as my savior and offer him my heart and praise and I am saved. Forget this notion of being a good person. I’m sinful by nature, and I cannot possibly make myself good enough for God on my own.

How then do I reconcile this seemingly contradictory concept of the Lutheran steward? Perhaps I must give up the notion of “doing” altogether in favor of the notion of “serving.”

Inherent in the concept of doing is the concept of control or dominion. If I believe that I have control and dominion over my life and my time, talents and treasures, then when I make use of them, I create the illusion that I am “doing” something with them. If I make good use of my life and my possessions, then I am doing something good and I am being a good steward. However, this manner of thinking only fosters the contradiction described above, and I am still left asking—what’s the point?

However, if I recognize that everything that I have and everything that I am is not mine at all, rather it is all God’s, then I realize that I cannot do anything with my life or my time, talents and treasures but for and through God’s grace. I act not through my own accord, but through God’s grace. It is he who directs my actions through the Holy Spirit. I have no control or dominion. I have only to listen and I will be directed.

This is the essence of a steward. A steward serves a master. He protects the master’s property and uses it as the master directs. A steward is loyal and faithful to his master and serves not out of obligation, but out of love for his master. And just as the steward loves the master and protects the master’s possessions, the master loves and protects his steward. It is this loving relationship that defines the steward and his master, and it is this relationship that a Lutheran steward has with God. In fact, a Lutheran steward understands that it is through his faithful service that he cultivates his relationship with God.

When understood in this light, I begin to understand that being a Lutheran steward is not an oxymoron (self-contradictory) at all. I am a steward not when I “do” but rather when I serve. It is through my service that I cultivate my relationship with God, and it is that relationship through which I receive God’s saving grace.