Diocesan Mission Statement on Stewardship:

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Diocesan Mission Statement on Stewardship Orthod
ox Christian Stewardship is a Christ-centered
lifestyle, which acknowledges accountability,
reverence, and responsibility before God.
Orthodox Christian Stewardship is a call to all
of the faithful to share willingly and cheerfully
the gifts that God has bestowed on them including
sharing these gifts for Gods work in His Church.
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GODS ECONOMY - OUR STEWARDSHIP A Word Study on
Stewardship XXII Diocesan Council-Sobor Christ
the Saviour Cathedral and Educational
Center Johnstown, Pennsylvania October 21, 2013
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Oikonomia
The word stewardship comes to us as an English
translation of the Greek word for economy
oikonomia.
We are going to talk about the economy of God.
How the word stewardship originated, and how it
is used in its original form both from a Biblical
and Patristic point of view.
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The economy of God incorporates the answer to
every question raised by man
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• What is the purpose of human existence?
• What is the goal of human life?
• Why is God one yet threethe Father, Son, and
  Spirit?
• Why does God so love the world?
• How is Gods tremendous love for man manifested?
  
• What will be the consummation of every matter in
  the universe?

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Gods economics answer all the questions we
have How can we know Gods plan? How does He
carry it out? How can we participate in it?
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Oikonomia is a compound noun composed of oikos,
which means house, and nomos, which means law.
Hence, economy denotes the law, administration,
or management of the resources of a household.
Butmore generally economy refers to a plan or
arrangement designed to carry out a certain
purpose.
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Gods economy is his plan to carry out His
eternal purpose in man. Ephesians 15 speaks of
the good pleasure of His willsomething that
makes Him happy. The crucial focus in Gods
economy is the provision of a way for man to
return to the image in which he was created. God
provides this Way through Himself and the Holy
Trinity.
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In Gods economy, Christ is everything. His
person and work constitute the center as well as
the circumference of the entire sphere of divine
activity in the economy of God. According to
Ephesians 311, God initially made His eternal
purpose in Christ Jesus.
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Christs human nature is the very nature of all
people, making possible their full salvation and
growth back into that image in which they were
created. So, as we Orthodox teach, we live both
in heaven and on earth at the same time.
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The goal of Gods economy is to transform us by
Christ1 and to conform us into His glorious
image.2 Those in the process of this
transformation constitute the church, the Body of
Christ in the present age.3 Ultimately, Gods
economy will consummate in the New Jerusalem,
which will exist throughout eternity as the
complete expression of the Triune God in
humanity.
1. 2 Corinthians 318, 2. Romans 829. 3.
Ephesians 122-23 and Colossians 118.
The New Jerusalem, Worship before the throne of
God, Bamberg Apocalypse, 11th century, Bamberg,
Staatsbibliothek, MS A. II. 42
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Bible translators have employed a variety of
English words in their attempts to translate the
term oikonomia. In some instances, such as 1
Timothy 14 and Ephesians 110 and 39, oikonomia
denotes Gods overall plan. Other verses, such
as 1 Corinthians 917, Ephesians 32, and
Colossians 125, refer not to Gods economy in a
general sense, but to mans participation and
service in Gods economy. In such cases,
oikonomia is more accurately described as
stewardship.
The Burden of Christ
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Stewardship in the Scriptures
The term oikonomia can be found at Luke.
162-4 1 Corinthians 917 Ephesians 110
Ephesians 32, 9 Colossians 125. A related
term oikonomos (a steward, a freed-man or a slave
of what God or others give us or we are trusted
with), can be found at Luke 1242 Luke 161,
3,8 Romans 1623 1 Corinthians 41-2 Galatians
42 Titus 17. These words are used in the
context of money, management, economy and
stewardship. The oikonomia, stewardship,
described in the book of Ephesians refers to a
distribution of Divine treasure which has been
committed by God to chosen representatives, that
they may be faithfully administered by them.
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Stewardship in the Scriptures
Ephesians 32, 9
To Paul was committed the 'stewardship' or
administration of God's grace. Pauls specific
calling was to reveal this previously unknown
grace, revealed to him through the Person of
Christ, to the Gentiles. The revelation of that
secret is in effect, the world-wide distribution,
through the steward of God, of the good news and
the blessings of the Gospel.
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St.Peter and Tabitha
As each one has received a gift, minister it to
one another, as good stewards of the manifold
grace of God. This exhortation by Peter (1
Peter 410) for one to minister (diakoneo) as
good stewards (oikonomos) certainly recalls the
Lord's word to Peter to feed His sheep/lambs
(John 2115-17). . . The word is preached and
regeneration results (1 Peter 123) the newborn
is fed by the milk of the word (22) and each
believer is built up into a spiritual house with
others (25). This is God's stewardship.
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The Just Steward
Just who is the steward? Every apostle is a
steward of God. As an apostle, Paul was a steward
who dispensed the riches of God to His children.
Here "stewardship" can be clearly distinguished
from "economy. All the saints, no matter how
insignificant they may seem to be, have a
stewardship according to God's economy. This
means that every saint can instill Christ into
others.
The Unjust Steward
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We should never separate money and finances from
our spiritual life. The distinction that the
material world is not for the Christian is an old
heresy called Gnosticism. The material world is
Gods too, and we are the stewards, the
caretakers, of it. How we allocate the resources
that God places in our care is a prime Christian
duty. All the areas in our life of work,
learning, relationships, spiritual gifts, and
resources will come through our obedience or our
laziness--to Gods glory or to waste.
Patriarch Bartholomew is sometimes calledthe
green patriarch for his support of environmental
causes.
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The concept that is missing
Your Heart
IRA
God owns everything!
Money Market

God does indeed own everything, including even
what is in your name! The Church is the oikia
(that is, the house) the Churchs members are
the oikeioi (that is, the ones living in the
house), the plan on which God distributes His
blessings is called the oikonomia (that is the
great economy, the great Plan of God). God
Himself is the great oikonomos (that is the
owner, the dispenser of everything to those
living in the house).
Annuity

Your Soul

Trust Fund
Your House
Your Body
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(Titus 17) Paul tells Titus that one "of the
qualifications of the elders" is that of "being
the overseer as a steward of God." The overseer
referred to here is, of course, the bishop. The
commission of the episcopos (bishop) is, in the
end, from God and not from man. He is God's
steward, the steward of His mysteries (1
Corinthians 41) and of His manifold grace (1
Peter 410). It is to God, not to man, that he is
responsible for the due discharge of his office.

Paul and Titus Holding the Island of Crete
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Toward a Definition of Stewardship
Stewardship is the care of someone elses
resources. All we have is Someone elses
resources. We do not truly own anything. God owns
all and we are only stewards, caretakers of Gods
things. We give Him gratitude for what He did
for us and recognize His sovereignty, which is
His control and ownership of all things. In this
way we can honor Him with our worship as well as
with our material goods and abilities.
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Stewardship is a priority! We need to take what
we have and put it to the right use.
Stewardship is exercising the gifts He gives,
not letting them waste away. We are to find them
and put them to use with joy. To do otherwise is
a waste and a travesty. Stewardship is being
His faithful servant. It is the under-standing of
who we are in Him and being grateful for that.
Stewardship is recognizing that we
belong to Him. It is recog-nizing that the Church
is not the building, but the Body of Christ!
Gods special gifts at Pentecost. Coptic Icon.
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Stewardship is proportionate to what we are able
to give. The poor persons small gift is just as
important as the rich persons big gift!
Sometimes, we cannot give as much as we would
like to, due to economic realities, job loss,
business not good, sickness, etc., so, we give
honestly whatever we can.
The Widows Mite
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Stewardship is the wise use of our materialistic
goods and abilities, as well as with our time.
Stewardship is being neither reckless or hiding
from our duty by playing it safe. Stewardship
is the comfort of knowing that everything comes
from God. He gives us our clarity and the vision
and character of what to be and do. We can trust
in Him, and not in our materialistic goods.
Stewardship is the giving of ourselves and our
resources with joy and gratitude for what we have
been given. Stewardship is not something that
results from a forced obligation or a bad
attitude.
Joyful Giving St. Nicholas
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Stewardship is not worrying, but rather, trusting
in Christ. Stewardship is not just focusing on
our self-interests, but on His interests and on
the interests of others as well.
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Stewardship means knowing that God is concerned
with us personally--what we go through, deal
with, and how we manage what He entrusts to us.
Stewardship is focusing on God and not on the
material things in and of themselves. We are
always to view the material world with the
perspective of being Gods caretaker of it, not
with a view toward accumulating wealth, nor of
wasting what is His.
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Stewardship is the attitude of gratitude, being
thankful in all things, even when we do not feel
gratitude or see it. Stewardship sees every
purchase as an investment, from food and gas, to
houses and cars.
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Camp Nazareth, 2009
Stewardship is about being in community, working
together and complementing one anothers gifts,
and abilities, and with what we can offer. It is
the way we use the gifts He has given us in order
to benefit the people in our church and those
around us
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Questions
Matt. 2514-30 What is the meaning of
unfaithfulness?
Psalm 241 Acts 2035 2 Corinthians 97 James
117 What are the standards for stewardship we
are to have?
Matthew 6 25-34 How are worry and the ability
to give tied together?
Hesychast, Oleg Korlev
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Ephesians 515-21 What are the priorities in my
life? How do they line up with Gods? What must I
do to line them up the Gods? Romans 123-8, and
1 Peter 410 What are your gifts and abilities?
Are you using them for the glory of God?Why does
Our Lord so often use money as an
illustration? Hebrews 610, 1316 Our giving
for God is never in vain. Why do most people
including Christians hate sacrifice. What can you
do to sacrifice wisely and pleasing to God?
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Proverbs 2010, 227 Luke 1215 16 10-11
Ephesians 428 1 Timothy 610 Why is money
important to you? Why and how is it important to
the Lord? 2 Corinthians 96-15 gives
principles of giving.
Peter finds tribute money in the fish (detail)
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Mark 12 41-44 Romans 1210 1 Corinthians
316-17 619-20 3 John 2 What does it mean to
you that God considers you His temple? With this
information in mind, how are you going to respond
to Him, and with the time, treasures, and talent
in your life? How can you take better control
and care of your body? Psalm 50 14-15
Proverbs 229, 2813 Job 3611 Isaiah. 4817
Luke 638 Philippians 419 What are Gods
promises regarding stewardship?
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• A Sampling of Modern Definitions of Economy
• (a) Careful, thrifty management of resources,
  such as money materials and labor learned to
  practice economy in making out the household
  budget. (b) An example or result of such
  management a saving.
• (a) The system or range of economic activity in a
  country, region, or community. Use development
  in 19th and 20th centuries (b) A specific type
  of economic system.
• Efficient, sparing or conservative use.
• Theologys Definition
• The method of Gods government of and activity
  within the world.

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Stewardship in Saint John Chrysostom
If we were to seek the closest term in John
Chrysostom, such a term would most certainly be
eleemosune, in English, almsgiving. In fact,
the English word "alms" is an abridged form of
that Greek word, eleemosune. He understood the
plight of the poor and the necessity of
almsgiving. St. John frequently used the theme
of investment for the benefit of his rich
parishioners, who believed there was an
uncrossable social gulf between themselves and
the poor.
Saint John wrote at least three sermons that we
have that have come to be titled On Almsgiving.
He also wrote a seven-sermon series on Lazarus
and the Rich Man.
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Saint John poured scorn on the pursuit of money
and social status as both unchristian and, here
is where we find Chrysostom less modern and
politically correct, unmasculine. On the other
hand, Chrysostom insisted that real wealth and
lasting prestige should be pursued. Here is where
his investment imagery comes in. Real wealth and
lasting prestige should be pursued more
effectively, through almsgiving. Almsgiving is an
investment in ones long-term future, ones
eternal future.