Steward
Like good stewards of the grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. – 1 Peter 4:10 (NRSVUE)
Among the few regrettable losses attached to the decline of monarchy is a functional understanding of what exactly a steward is, apart from being the wine guy at the restaurant.
Fans of Lord of the Rings have a pretty good sense, though. When the last King rode off into the sunset, he left his Steward in charge of the city, with virtually all the powers and dignity of kingship. By the time of the story, the Stewardship has passed down through kingless generation upon generation, until the Steward has become king in every sense but the name, and which chair he sits in.
But then back comes a descendant of that last King, and the current Steward doesn’t like it one bit. He’s started to believe his own hype. Forgotten that he’s just a stand-in and that his power is actually somebody else’s. Thinks he has a right to it. He eventually loses his mind and wrecks a whole lot of stuff, including himself, because he can’t handle the return of the king. Problematic notions of hereditary rulership aside, it’s a pretty good metaphor.
If only the Steward had been a churchgoer. Maybe then he’d have had a stewardship season every year where somebody reminded him that all he has has been entrusted to him to invest on behalf of its owner. Maybe he’d have read texts like First Peter periodically to remind him. Maybe then somebody would have told the Steward that everything he has—power, money, office, talent—is a loan, and maybe then it wouldn’t have been so hard on him when the Owner came back.
Prayer
Let me hold all I have in open hands, so it’s harder to cling to it when you get back. Amen.
About the AuthorQuinn G. Caldwell is Chaplain of the Protestant Cooperative Ministry at Cornell University. His most recent book is a series of daily reflections for Advent and Christmas called All I Really Want: Readings for a Modern Christmas. Learn more about it and find him on Facebook at Quinn G. Caldwell.