The story is told of a very wealthy man who had never been known for his generosity to the church. The church was involved in a big financial program and they resolved to pay him a visit. When the committee met with the man one afternoon, they said that in view of his considerable resources they were sure that he would like to make a substantial contribution to this program.

In the days of the circuit riders a minister was out riding one afternoon and came upon a man out working in his field.

Two psychiatrists were talking and one asked the other, "What was your most difficult case?"

The moment you mention this word, Christians see all kinds of different meanings. Most notably since the 1950’s, the mention of Stewardship means, to put it crudely, “give us money”. It is a great pity that the word has been diminished in this way. It is a word that is rich in meaning and has great application in this modern world. Part of my life is working on various building sites (long story!). The one thing that concerns me is the way that we are creating high density housing in a country that is rich and beautiful and above all BIG. To see the demolition of homes and the creation of two new homes on the same block is the “norm” and recently, i.e. yesterday I was on a site where instead of two there were three being built. The surrounding homes were still there – back yards, front yards, lawns, gardens and space. The new homes – there is little point in having windows as there is no view anyway, except the fence, and in some cases, it is so narrow you cannot get a wheelbarrow in between the two homes. I have often, laughing, commented that it is possible to pass the shampoo from open house to the other whilst showering. Whilst it makes me smile, it also makes me sad.  We are being bad stewards of our property and the land that God has given to us to care for. (Genesis 1:28). There is an element of greed that has created this anomaly – for local government – they see a doubling of rate income on the same property, for the owner- they see the possibility of two sales instead of one for the same land area, for the builders – it is two houses to build and the list goes on. But do we stop to count the cost and reflect on what we are doing to our environment. The diminishing of the ground that provides space to enjoy, the diminishing of garden, lawn – the living plants that filter our air, that cool our homes and areas in the hot summer, that give places for bees to pollinate and for the world to heal our surroundings. All is wiped away in the supply of homes that are not homes but houses, that have no garden or trees to replenish our world, that have no natural light causing us to be a prisoner to supplements to get our Vitamin D- it is a sad event. I had thought that it was a modern phenomenon until I was reminded of our early history in South Australia. The English novelist, Anthony Trollope (one of my favourites), visited South Australia in the 1870’s. It was he who made comment that Adelaide was a “city of churches”. However, what did take his attention was those who were taking up land for farming. He noticed that their farming practices were poor. What he took issue with, was that they were not manuring the land, or rotating cops, and “he knows nothing of the word fallow”, he makes no attempt to give back to the land, “anything in return from what he takes from it and consequently the land deteriorates from day to day. Unless he mends his ways, soon the land which he now ploughs will cease to give him the plenty he desires”. This was the 1870’s and we have not learnt nor heeded the message. If anything, we have become even worse stewards of the world that God has entrusted to us to care for and delight in. Let us reflect on what a rich word that stewardship is, let us reflect on how we are as stewards.

Everybody wants to be somebody. Since the dawn of history, human beings have been trying to move up the scale of importance. The clincher used by the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve was "when you eat of [the tree of good and evil], your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5). Henri Nouwen says that ever since then, we have been tempted to replace love with power. "The long painful history of the church is the history of people ever and again tempted to choose power over love, control over the cross, being a leader over being led." This is a theme running through the Bible, through human history and through our own psyche.

The French have a story about a millionaire in his palace who spent his days counting his gold. Beside the palace was a poor cobbler who spent his days singing as he repaired people's shoes. The joyful singing irritated the rich man. One day he decided to give some gold coins to the cobbler. At first the cobbler was overjoyed, and he took the coins and hid them. But then he would be worried and go back to check if the coins were still there. Then he would be worried in case someone had seen him, and he would move the coins and hide them in another place. During all this, he ceased to sing. Then one day he realized that he had ceased to sing because of the gold coins. He took them back to the rich man and said, "take back your coins and give me back my songs."

All too often, gossip, silence, and exclusion serve just these purposes, cutting off the prophetic from the congregation. This is what the Apostles were doing to this one man "caught healing." They were demanding that Jesus hobble his powerful works because he wasn't one of them.

Paganini, the great violinist, came out before his audience one day and made the discovery just as the applause ended that there was something wrong with his violin. He looked at it a second and then saw that it was not his famous and valuable violin, but a cheap substitute. He felt paralysed for a moment, then turned to his audience and told them there had been some mistake and he did not have his own violin. He stepped back behind the curtain thinking that it was still where he had left it but discovered that someone had stolen his violin and left this old second-hand one in its place. Paganini remained back of the curtain for a moment, then came out before his audience and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I will show you that the music is not in the instrument but in the soul." And he played as he had never played before; and out of that second-hand instrument, the music poured forth until his audience was enraptured with enthusiasm, and the applause almost lifted the roof off the building, because the man had revealed to them that the music was not in the machine but in his own soul.

If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

A young man once came to a great rabbi and asked him to make the younger man a rabbi. It was wintertime then. The rabbi stood at the window looking out upon the yard, while the rabbinical candidate was droning into his ears a glowing account of his piety and learning.

A church member who had been devoutly active for many years suddenly was absent. One cold winter evening the pastor knocked at his door. Actually, the pastor and the church member had been long-time good friends.

I'm reminded of a true story of a soldier who was severely wounded. When he was out of surgery, the doctors said that there was a good chance for recovery, except that the soldier wouldn't eat anything. The nurses and nuns tried everything, but he refused all food-drinking only water and juice.

During World War II allied armies marched into Germany on their way to Berlin. Retreating German soldiers switched road signs and destroyed landmarks in an effort to confuse their enemy. And, to an extent, it worked, for many a G.I. followed a false marker only to end up in the wrong place. That just goes to show the need for landmarks, the importance of reliable signposts by which to steer.

In the 1988 Olympics, the world assumed that the United States would be victorious in the 400-meter relay. They simply were the best. The gun cracked and they were off and running. After the last curve the unthinkable happened. The United States was ahead by 10 meters with no real competition in sight. And then, with victory in their grasp, it happened. They dropped the baton. The thousands in the stands gasped in disbelief. The United States team--sleek, muscular, and fast as leopards, lost the race. Why? Someone dropped the baton.

I would hate for us as a church to be the people who dropped the baton. What is God calling us to be and to do as God's people in this time and this place? It's not a question of resources but a question of faith.

There is an old story that has often been re-told in especially the Eastern Orthodox part of the church. According to the tale, a devout abbot from a monastery decided to take a prolonged spiritual retreat in a small cabin located on a remote island in the middle of a large lake. He told his fellow monks that he wanted to spend his days in prayer so as to grow closer to God. For six months he remained on the island with no other person seeing him or hearing from him in all that time. But then one day, as two monks were standing near the shore soaking up some sunshine, they could see in the distance a figure moving toward them. It was the abbot, walking on water, and coming toward shore. After the abbot passed by the two monks and continued on to the monastery, one of the monks turned to the other and said, "All these months in prayer and the abbot is still as stingy as ever. After all, the ferry costs only 25 cents!"

Humour aside, the point of the story is that it's amazing how easily we may sometimes miss the significance of something that is right in front of us. We think we know the meaning of this incident of Jesus' walking on the water, but do we really?