“Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” – Luke 19:8
When I read the story of Zacchaeus, I see a model of the stewardship way of life. Zacchaeus was a man who had been conducting his life according to the world, not according to God’s law. He had been cheating people for selfish profit because the systems in place in his world made this acceptable somehow. But something inside him was moved to climb a tree to seek out pure goodness and truth: Jesus Christ. By climbing the tree, Zacchaeus makes his first exit from a worldly point of view.
Then just one encounter with the Lord changed Zacchaeus forever. When Jesus called him down, he responded to the Lord with holy haste: “And he came down quickly and received him with joy” (Luke 19:6). He was moved to repent from his sinful pattern of life, make restitution by paying those he cheated back in abundance, care for the poor, and follow Jesus as His disciple from that day forward. He was moved from his worldly, selfish point of view to God’s most wonderful point of view, and this led him to live a life of abundant generosity. His reward was nothing less than salvation and eternal life.
Monsignor Thomas McGread is known as the “Father of Stewardship” in the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, Kansas. He said, “A stewardship way of life is a thanksgiving way of life, living life as God intended it to be lived. It’s not a program. It’s a way of life.” The first step in this way of life is simply seeking the Lord’s viewpoint instead of the world’s. The world tells us to keep our time, talent, and treasure for our own use. Through the stewardship way of life, the Lord offers us the chance to give a portion of what we’ve been given back to him in thanksgiving, the giver of all good gifts (James 1:17).
I can ask myself this week do I live a truly generous life, putting a portion of what I have at the service of God and my neighbor? What selfishness is God calling me to let go of to bring me to a more abundant generosity?
Jesus, help me to respond to you with joy and holy haste! Help me let go of selfishness so I can live this one life you’ve given me with abundant generosity.