To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14
“The stewardship is the holding, as you know, of another man’s goods for a time — proprietorship for a time. Of course it involves great responsibility, and it naturally demands that at some time an account of the stewardship must be given… What I want you this morning to do is, as it is in the Gospel, to bring up your ledgers, and just see, just think, for if you think you must pray. Bring up the ledgers; take them to the altar. Ask God to cancel the items with blood — smear the page with the blood of the covenant. It is the blood of Jesus Christ only that can take away my sins. And when the sacrifice is offered, put your hands together, say to your own soul, and to your God, “ God be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Arthur Henry Stanton in his sermon “Faithful Stewardship” in Faithful Stewardship and Other Sermons (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1916) 1, 7.
I enjoyed another stewardship sermon today that is more than a century old, and it’s content is as relevant as the eternal gospel from which it quotes repeatedly.
This phrase struck me in particular: “Bring up the ledgers; take them to the altar.” Let me give a short explanation as to why.
In launching a new organization that champions faithful administration of God’s work globally, God is leading me to focus on three things this year: prayer, fasting, and confession.
“Bring up the ledgers; take them to the altar.” is a beautiful picture of confession. We have not administrated the Master’s house rightly and we need his blood to wash away our sins.
How about your stewardship? The only thing that can clean up your mess is humble prayer, fasting or setting aside your desires and plans, and confessing your need for God’s cleansing.
As today’s passage from Luke’s Gospel recounts, only those who humble themselves will be exalted. “God have mercy on me, a sinner” comes into view as the only right place to start.
Bring up the ledgers; take them to the altar.