Stewardship is, “All that I do with all that I have after I say, "I believe."

Offero was a mighty warrior of the first centuries of the church. He was incredibly strong and skilled—and not at all good looking—some say he had the head of a dog. He was aware of his prowess on the battle field, and being a good warrior and soldier, he began to cast around, looking for a king worthy to serve. He would know who it was by whether or not Offero could best him in a fight. King after king failed his expectations, and he began to despair of ever finding a worthy lord. Then one day he saw the greatest of human kings cross himself at the mention of the devil. From this he deduced that this king feared the devil, so the devil must yet be stronger. He decided to go look for the devil. He came across some marauders one of whom called himself the devil, and he joined them. Then one day they went by a roadside cross and the one who called himself the devil stepped to the other side of the road, and Offero deduced that the devil feared Christ, so he decided to serve Christ.

He wandered far and wide, and finally, in a desert place, he came across a hermit monk named Babylas, who instructed him in the faith and baptized him. He told him that Christ required that he fast and pray. But Offero was unable to perform the service, so instead, due to his size and strength, he built a little cottage by the river and served people by carrying them across the turbulent waters.

One day a small child came to him, bearing a sphere in one hand. Offero picked him up and began to carry him across, but the farther he got the heavier the child became. Finally with the last of his strength he struggled up onto the far shore, sustained only by planting his great staff in the soil of the far shore.

“Child, who are you? As I bore you across the river I felt as if I bore the whole world on my shoulder.”

“Indeed you did,” replied the child, for I am the Christ Child, and this orb is the whole of creation.”

The next morning the Offero’s staff had rooted, grown palm leaves, fruited, and had ripe dates on it, and Offero added “Christ” to his name to become “Christ-opher,” which means “The Christ-Bearer,” the patron saint of travelers.

I tell you that story today because it is Rally Day. I would warrant we are all better looking than Christopher, but nonetheless we are all blessed with strength in one area of our lives or another. And like Christopher, we are called upon by our heavenly King to use those strengths, those gifts, in His service. When we do so we, too, become in our own way, bearers of Christ—little Christophers—in today’s world.

This is what Jesus teaches in today’s Gospel lesson. When Jesus asks the question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” He is asking a stewardship question. The question is, “Am I your King?” The question is not so much, “Who is your King?” as, “Do you put me on that level in your life?” Obviously, many did not. They said He was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. But when asked Peter declares Jesus to be the Son of God. Peter is saying, “You’re more than just one of the great fathers of the faith reincarnated, You’re more than the fiery preacher John come back to life. You are the One to whom all the rest pointed—You are the Messiah, the very Son of God.”

Jesus’ response is very important: “This is a revelation to you by the Father—you’re listening to the right source here.” And then Jesus promises to build His church on Peter and on what he said. Whatever is bound on earth is bound in heaven and whatever is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven. What we do matters, it has eternal consequences, for it is all part of God’s redemptive plan for the world that we would be His helpers and stewards in bringing it to completion. This plan may sound flimsy, but the power behind it is not ours, it is His; therefore, the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

Stewardship is all that I do with all that I have after I say, “I believe.” What applies to the individual Christian applies as well to us as a body of Christ. Stewardship at St. Christopher’s is, “All that we do with all that we have after we say, ‘We believe:’” Music, Preaching, Honduras mission, Preschool, Administration, Bible Study, Sunday School, Coffee Hour, EYC, Eucharists—ALL of it is stewardship.

As I said, today is Rally Day. In the Parish Hall are a whole host of opportunities for you to activate your stewardship, opportunities for you to tithe your time and talent. But there are those who can tell you better than I just what opportunities there are, and how you can get involved. St. Christopher’s ministries are broken up into five major categories.
Each category corresponds to a core value of St. Christopher’s as identified several years ago:

Worship—Barnett Carthey
Education—Barbara Snipes
Fellowship—Becca Davis
Service and outreach—David Miller
A fifth category supplies the support command for them all: Administration—Charlene Smith.

The name listed after each heading is the staff person in charge. They can give you all the information you need.

So now the question is, “You, of the body of Christ we call St. Christopher’s? Who do you say that He is? How are you a bearer of the Christ in the context of your parish?”

Fr. Paul Moore+