“God’s Trustees”
November 17, 2024
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Heart of the Rockies Christian Church (DoC)
Wendell Berry is a gifted poet, novelist, and essayist who lives and farms in northern Kentucky. He wrote a book of essays years ago titled What are People For?[1] How would you answer that question? What is it that distinguishes human beings from the rest of creation? Some say homo sapiens is unique in that we’re a species of animals who stand upright and have opposing thumbs. Others point to our highly developed brains and our capacity to reason as that which sets us apart. Still others say it's our moral nature. We’re able to distinguish right from wrong and make choices that reflect the true, the good, and the just. So which one is it? Is it the way we stand, our ability to understand, or our capacity to take a stand that sets us apart?
According to the Bible, what human beings are for is revealed in the opening chapters of Genesis and echoed in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. In the second chapter of Genesis, God places the human beings in the Garden and says, "Till it and keep it" (2:15). We've been named beneficiaries as well as executors of God's estate, entrusted with the care of all creation-- Plants. People. Ponds. Penguins. The whole planet is ours to enjoy… and take care of. We’re to be God’s trustees, stewards of a sacred trust.
Which is how Paul says he wants to be remembered. In 1 Corinthians, Paul shares how he hopes he’ll be remembered in one brief, beautiful line. “Think of us in this way,” he says, “as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries” (1 Cor. 4:1).
Which raises a question: How do you want to be remembered? Pastoral ministry is marked by many holy moments. One that Wendy and I and all pastors are privy to is gathering with the loved ones of someone who has died to compose their Memorial Service. We want to thank God for the life lived in our midst and the new life that is theirs in Christ, so we say, “Tell us about So-and-so. How will you remember her? What words would you use to describe him?” And then we pastors sit for an hour or so amidst tears and lumps in throats and nearly always laughter. Oh, he was a character. She was special. God threw away the mold when she was born. I can think of a lot of stories about him, but I’m trying to think of one you can use in church. I can’t remember a single time when in answer to my question, “How will you remember So-and-so” someone went off and brought back a bunch of framed certificates, trophies, or awards. What I hear in inviting others’ remembrance is not awards or achievements but beloved character traits, virtues, glimpses of grace incarnate in a particular human life.
David Brooks, the New York Times editorial page writer, wrote a book called The Road to Character a couple years ago. In it, he talks about what he calls resume virtues and eulogy virtues. Both, he says, are part of a life well lived. Resume virtues, Brooks explains, are the list of achievements, accomplishments, and awards one accumulates throughout one’s life. These are often listed in an obituary. Eulogy virtues, by contrast, are “those virtues that exist at the core of our being: kindness, bravery, honesty, faithfulness, … the relationships we formed.”
I don't know who did Paul’s funeral, but if Wendy and I had done it, we’d have worked into the service something along the lines of, “We could rehearse Paul’s academic and ministerial credentials and name all the churches he founded from Troas to Timbuktu, but those who knew him best think of him “as a servant of Christ and a steward of God’s mysteries.”
As I was thinking about a person’s legacy, I got to wondering about churches. Do churches create a legacy? How would a church hope to be remembered? I remember several years ago a book that asked: If your church disappeared from the face of the earth tomorrow, would anyone in the community grieve? I believe Heart of the Rockies would be missed because for over thirty years now you’ve strived to be “servants of Christ” and “stewards of the mysteries of God” in your worship, your education for discipleship, and your outreach.
Speaking of your outreach, Jennie and I had the pleasure on Friday of witnessing the raising of the walls of the first two Habitat houses to be built on Heartside Hill. We met the homeowners, both as proud and grateful as can be. We learned the walls were built by students of Poudre High School taking a class called Geometry in Construction that was initiated decades ago by Tom Morgan who, with Melissa, have been attending Heart of the Rockies for several months now. I’m not a math whiz, but I see how geometry informs construction: right angles, hypotenuses, squares, rectangles. I remembering hearing that the strongest geometric shape is a triangle. Two lines leaning on each other, each planted firmly upon a foundation. Friday it dawned on me how this congregation has gifted a foundation born of your faith – land – upon which you’ve invited others of goodwill to lean in toward each other, each offering their gifts (high schoolers, Habitat for Humanity, L’Arche, CARE) to provide something powerfully strong – a community of safe, affordable housing for 100+ soon-to-be neighbors. Heart of the Rockies, how do you want to remembered? “Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.” What a lovely, life-transforming legacy!
Ultimately, of course, we’re accountable to God. Paul says, “It is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court… It is the Lord who judges me… [One day] the Lord will … disclose the purposes of the heart… Then each one will receive commendation from God.” Think of that: receiving a commendation from God for being found a trustworthy trustee.
Speaking of being named a trustee of an estate and being held accountable, I recall the day thirty-some years ago when my father-in-law, Dick Taylor, who last Monday, 11/11, would have been 111 years old, shuffled out to his Buick to make the two-hour drive from his retirement apartment in Harrisonburg, Virginia to the state capital in Richmond. After 25 years, his court date had arrived. He was going to stand before the judge. Twenty-five years earlier, one of Dick’s relatives had died and Dick was named executor of the estate. It was a complicated estate and among the countless stipulations included in the man’s will was his provision for the lifelong care of a beloved woman who had been the family’s housekeeper for decades. The executor of the estate was to be Ada’s lifelong guardian as well. My father-in-law, Jennie’s dad, accepted that responsibility and from 1967 until 1993 he served as a faithful trustee for his ancestor’s estate, paying the bills, distributing assets, staying atop the mountain of paperwork he inherited, and providing for Ada’s well-being until she died in her nineties. I’m trying to imagine how the words of the judge must have sounded to my 80+ year-old father-in-law that day when at long last his earthly trusteeship was complete and he stood before the judge in Richmond. After 25 years of going it alone, guided only by his honesty, integrity, and desire to be a good steward of what was bequeathed to him by another, I wonder what it felt like for him to hear the judge say,
Richard F. Taylor. This court has reviewed the records of your trusteeship. In my estimation, sir, your work over these past twenty-five years has been extraordinary. I commend you for the diligence with which you have carried out your trusteeship. I say to you—Well done, sir.”
Can you imagine what it would be like to stand before the Judge at the end of your days and hear God say, “I have reviewed the records of your trusteeship of your life and all that I gave you to ‘till and keep.’ You’ve done justice. You’ve loved mercy. You’ve walked humbly. You’ve used the gifts and graces I gave you at birth to make a positive contribution to this world. You joined your life with other people of goodwill dedicated to the good, the right, and the true. I say to you – well done.”
It’s Remembrance Sunday. We’ve remembered those who have gone before us. We remember, too, congregations that served God and neighbor faithfully and have concluded their active ministries, including Metropolitan Community Church, whose members who are now our siblings in Christ established an Endowment Fund with Heart of the Rockies that will perpetuate their beloved congregation’s ministry. We remember, too, others who have bequeathed endowments and memorial gifts that keep on giving.
Wendell Berry asked, “What are people for?” How do you want to be remembered? What is Heart of the Rockies’ legacy?
May we be thought of in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries” (1 Cor. 4:1).
May it be so. Let all God’s beloved trustees say, AMEN.
[1] Wendell Berry, What are People For? New York: North Point Press, 1990.
